Hotels , B&B`s Or Places You Stayed In. - Page 11

**Sir Honkers** · December 31st, 2016, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaxJoker

Plus ample breakfasts

If you've the guts to go all out and embrace the artery hardening

[/COLOR]

How you English chaps reach the age of thirty I'll never know.

**bloke57** · December 31st, 2016, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loosegoose

How you English chaps reach the age of thirty I'll never know.

We need it to slow us down. If we went back to our old selves we'd be out conquering the globe again - and that got a bit embarrassing the first time.

As to hotels, I have had the privilege to stay in many lovely places. But foremost in my affection is "The Rose in the Vale" Mithian, Cornwall. Absolutely beautiful place and surrounds.

Room with a four poster bed. So romantic - I think we made love four times there in a 21 hour stay!

**scoundrel** · February 28th, 2017, 10:35 PM

It has a well regarded restaurant and 14 rooms conveniently located near the railway station and near the historic old town area of Parma in Italy. But I remember it as one of the weirdest hotel experiences I have savoured.

I was riding down towards Florence in 2007. It was the third day of my motorcycle excursion, and I had stayed overnight in Strasbourg and Lucerne. I stopped at Parma because it was getting late and I needed to stop. Since there was no tourist information office obviously available (always my first port of call when searching for a room) I headed for the railway station. Railway stations always have motorcycle parking and there is always a hotel across the road from any railway station. In this case it was (is) the Leon D'Oro.

The first thing I noted was that the front door was open and no one was home. But on the right as you walk in there is another door which opens into the restaurant and bar. There were no customers and no one was dining: even on a Tuesday evening that seemed strange. It was a really nice summer evening in Italy and you'd think people would come out to dine and socialise.

There were three people at the bar: two men and a young woman in her twenties, and it was not hard to tell that they had been there for a while. Presently they noticed me and the lady walked across to see what I wanted. It was a sort of stately undulating course in which she chicaned around a series of invisible obstacles.

Yes, there was a room. In fact I could take my pick and the price was €20, cash. All the guests had just left and the owners had just filed for bankrupcy: the door was open because the gentleman from the insolvency people had not closed it when he went home. The three staff, all from overseas, had been informed that their overdue wages weren't going to be paid and that their work permits would probably be forfeit since they no longer had employment. The lady was from Russia. The two men were from somewhere in Eastern Europe. They had taken a very rational course of action. They were camping out in the bar and weren't going to leave until all the booze was drunk.

Very candidly the lady warned me that there would be no one in the hotel when I woke up and I would have to find my own breakfast in the town. But the room keys came with a front door key so I could let myself in and out.

The room was enormous and gracious, with an en suite bathroom. It had a single bed in the middle, simple iron framed thing which was utterly dwarfed. I slept like a baby.

Sure enough I found the hotel deserted: I was the only living person in it. I found my own breakfast in a pavement cafe near the statue of a WW2 Italian resistance hero and couldn't resist the suspicion that the city must have been a hotbed of fascism in the war to have a statue like that. How I laughed when I got back to the hotel and the front door key wouldn't turn in the lock and all my shit was inside the hotel where not a living sould remained. After several profane minutes and for no reason I could work out the key turned and I was reunited with my luggage and bike gear.

I got out of the Leon D'Oro while the going was still good.

**deepsepia** · March 6th, 2017, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoundrel

I got out of the Leon D'Oro while the going was still good.

That is a wonderful tale, wonderfully told.

Brits who find themselves in an odd hotel on the Continent-- reminds me of M.R. James ghost stories, a few of them start that way.

And here's the funny thing-- that story is so much better than the predictable "I made a reservation, and it was as I expected".

**AmateurEmale** · March 6th, 2017, 06:48 PM

I stayed at two different Embassy Suites hotels in Chicago in 2004 and 2007.

The first of these appeared to me as if in a dream, quite literally: I saw the restaurant and lobby with their lush plants in the dream, then was surprised to see it in real life. Also, in 2004, the first hotel's room number was 1001, as in 1001 Adventures.

The second of these was the better hotel, closer to Lake Michigan and Navy Pier, featuring the interesting Sky Lobby, and my room was way up above floor 10.

MaxJoker · March 7th, 2017, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loosegoose

How you English chaps reach the age of thirty I'll never know.

Sheer tyranny of will

IronMan · March 8th, 2017, 10:38 AM

If you go to Reno I would reccomend staying at the Peppermill. Just make sure you stay in the newer part of the hotel. Good dining, nice layout, reasonably priced.

February 28th, 2017, 10:35 PM	#103
scoundrel Super Moderator Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: England Posts: 26,266 Thanks: 162,479 Thanked 278,818 Times in 26,211 Posts	Hotel Leon D'Oro, Parma It has a well regarded restaurant and 14 rooms conveniently located near the railway station and near the historic old town area of Parma in Italy. But I remember it as one of the weirdest hotel experiences I have savoured. I was riding down towards Florence in 2007. It was the third day of my motorcycle excursion, and I had stayed overnight in Strasbourg and Lucerne. I stopped at Parma because it was getting late and I needed to stop. Since there was no tourist information office obviously available (always my first port of call when searching for a room) I headed for the railway station. Railway stations always have motorcycle parking and there is always a hotel across the road from any railway station. In this case it was (is) the Leon D'Oro. The first thing I noted was that the front door was open and no one was home. But on the right as you walk in there is another door which opens into the restaurant and bar. There were no customers and no one was dining: even on a Tuesday evening that seemed strange. It was a really nice summer evening in Italy and you'd think people would come out to dine and socialise. There were three people at the bar: two men and a young woman in her twenties, and it was not hard to tell that they had been there for a while. Presently they noticed me and the lady walked across to see what I wanted. It was a sort of stately undulating course in which she chicaned around a series of invisible obstacles. Yes, there was a room. In fact I could take my pick and the price was €20, cash. All the guests had just left and the owners had just filed for bankrupcy: the door was open because the gentleman from the insolvency people had not closed it when he went home. The three staff, all from overseas, had been informed that their overdue wages weren't going to be paid and that their work permits would probably be forfeit since they no longer had employment. The lady was from Russia. The two men were from somewhere in Eastern Europe. They had taken a very rational course of action. They were camping out in the bar and weren't going to leave until all the booze was drunk. Very candidly the lady warned me that there would be no one in the hotel when I woke up and I would have to find my own breakfast in the town. But the room keys came with a front door key so I could let myself in and out. The room was enormous and gracious, with an en suite bathroom. It had a single bed in the middle, simple iron framed thing which was utterly dwarfed. I slept like a baby. Sure enough I found the hotel deserted: I was the only living person in it. I found my own breakfast in a pavement cafe near the statue of a WW2 Italian resistance hero and couldn't resist the suspicion that the city must have been a hotbed of fascism in the war to have a statue like that. How I laughed when I got back to the hotel and the front door key wouldn't turn in the lock and all my shit was inside the hotel where not a living sould remained. After several profane minutes and for no reason I could work out the key turned and I was reunited with my luggage and bike gear. I got out of the Leon D'Oro while the going was still good. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

March 6th, 2017, 06:48 PM	#105
AmateurEmale Vintage Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: The 513 Posts: 1,825 Thanks: 16,644 Thanked 15,799 Times in 1,755 Posts	Embassy Suites Chicago (Riverside / Lakefront Area) I stayed at two different Embassy Suites hotels in Chicago in 2004 and 2007. The first of these appeared to me as if in a dream, quite literally: I saw the restaurant and lobby with their lush plants in the dream, then was surprised to see it in real life. Also, in 2004, the first hotel's room number was 1001, as in 1001 Adventures. The second of these was the better hotel, closer to Lake Michigan and Navy Pier, featuring the interesting Sky Lobby, and my room was way up above floor 10.

March 8th, 2017, 10:38 AM	#107
IronMan Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 485 Thanks: 514 Thanked 3,209 Times in 432 Posts	If you go to Reno I would reccomend staying at the Peppermill. Just make sure you stay in the newer part of the hotel. Good dining, nice layout, reasonably priced. __________________ Daydreaming keeps the misanthropy away. Love the country, hate the government. Love the planet, hate the people.