HotelChatter

According to Embassy Suites, the hotel's atrium lobby is designed to be a setting of serenity, so they welcomed the idea of Royal Swans greeting guests upon arrival. These swans are called Royal because they were once pets of the English royals and kept in the family home. Fed twice a day, the pairs can live up to 25 years.

Each hotel has also given them quirky pet names, from “Pa & Graham” at the Embassy Suites Houston to “Elvis & Priscilla” at the Embassy Suites Las Vegas. For “Butch and Sundance” at the Embassy Suites Austin, same sex marriage is clearly a possibility- but no one can be sure. For “Barron & Queen” at the Dallas Embassy Suites, they've enjoyed seven years of uninterrupted wedded bliss. No matter the case, its clear each swan couple is a beloved member of its respective hotel family.

Embassy Suites celebrates the swans’ birthdays too, and encourage guests to do the same. With so much celebration of swan life- perhaps they’ll commemorate their eventual death by serving Mexican Swacos and Italian Swasagna. Swatwurst, anyone? We kid! We kid!

With over 200 Embassy Suites, eight feature swans, two locations in Florida, three in Texas, and one each in Virginia, Nevada and California respectively.

Unfortunately, none of the Embassy Suites we reached had any salacious swan stories to share, so you're out of luck for any lunchtime reading you were hoping to get in. Funny enough, other locations featuring ducks have interesting tails, erm, tales.

In 2007, a 26 year-old man reportedly ripped a duck's head off after a particularly drunken night out at the Embassy Suites in Minneapolis' downtown St. Paul. According to the Star Tribune who reported the story, the offender, Scott D. Clark, simply told onlookers he was “hungry.” Raw duck head better than a Wendy’s Crispy Chicken Deluxe? Go figure.

If you’re lucky enough to visit a Royal Swan location, be sure to ask if you can feed them as the kitchens are happy to give you some lettuce to throw their way.

Brand representatives aren't too sure why some hotels include swans and others don’t, saying simply that “swans are not a brand driven initiative.” What they did say was the atrium is a key part of the Embassy Suites experience– so they do try to create a comfortable, place for guests which often includes natural landscape and water.

Maybe someday the lobbies will include a Swan Song, too.

[Photos:HotelChatter/Embassy Suites Hotels]