I had an e-mail this morning from a tour operator in Mongolia asking (in German for some reason) if we would work with them to bring tourists to the country. It isn’t unusual for CD-Traveller to be asked this sort of thing and all are declined. But what struck me about this e-mail was the address it came from; Wedding Palace, Room 3. What a great address at which to stay and so different from the Bide-a-Whiles, Marine Hotels and Beach Plazas that crop up so often.
I got to thinking about some of the more interesting names which I’ve come across. There was a Fat Camel Hotel in Auckland but I don’t think they ever had camels in New Zealand. There was the Crouchers Bottom in Chichester which I think is more refined now as it has become the Crouchers Country Hotel. I won’t tell you where The Old Toilet Block Motel was but that motel is still around under a more welcoming name. There is a Hotel Snob in Rio de Janeiro and a Fred Hotel in Paris. In German, messe means mass but there are hotels in Frankfurt and Vienna called Hotel Messe. Depending on how you say it might encourage you not to stay there! But you might prefer the Hotel Funi in Switzerland or the Hotel Merriment in Turkey. And that is before we look at hotels in odd sounding destinations like Peculiar in Missouri and one I like, Suggan Buggan in Australia.
At least they are more interesting than some of our names. Maybe we should have names that reflect the hotel. I can think of a Hotel Smelly in Edinburgh, a Hotel Never Ever Cleaned Under the Bed in Miami (they also have a Hotel Hole in the Roof) and there must be dozens of Hotel Creaky Floorboards throughout our seaside resorts. And this doesn’t even cover the Hotel Stroppy Staff in Malta and probably every other resort or the Hotel I Couldn’t Care Less in Dallas. Which is worst though, the Hotel I ‘m Too Important To Deal With Your Trivial Request or the Hotel We’ve Have The Same Menu Every Day?
Any you want to add to the list would be welcome.