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Anti-View
Hotel Lindenhof and the Case of the Orange IKEA Tablecloth
November 20, 2008 at 12:53 PM | 0 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
This room at the Hotel Lindenhof (in Brienz, Switzerland) would have a pretty killer view of Lake Brienz, but we seem to have a bit of a roof situation — and a seemingly-un-used balcony type thing has a mysterious orange IKEA-esque table cloth distracting from the beautiful lake and skyline.
The hotel, which was originally the "Horticultural School for Young Ladies" (according to the website), is only open March til the beginning of January. But, um, this photo was taken in July, so it's not like the outdoor space or the hotel as a whole was closed for the winter or anything. We're not sure why this balcony (and mysterious orange tablecloth) looks so... abandoned.
No worries, though: you don't really have to spend all your time in your hotel room or spend much time looking at it. If the weather is nice, heading outdoors and exploring the hotel's grounds would be your best bet: lots of trees, fantastic lake views and a "rustic glacier garden" await you on the other side of the orange IKEA tablecloth view.
[Photo: thisisbossi]
Anti-View
New Four Seasons Kinda Taints the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront's View
November 6, 2008 at 3:25 PM | 0 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Well, the scene outside the window of the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront would have been worthy of the coveted HotelChatter Killer View honor (and one if its views actually was worthy), but unfortunately the hoity-toity Four Seasons has to come to the party and ruin it for everyone.
The previously not-so-bad view of the Inner Harbor now has a big ol' Four Seasons Residences in the works (the building has no hotel rooms -- just private residential living). The construction is slated for completion in Spring 2009, but as a lovely Four Seasons staffer said on the phone, "that's not guaranteed."
Whether construction is finished or not, the structure will still be there -- which we suppose is not so bad, considering you can still see the water and the boats and such. At least the cranes and noise won't be there forever.
[Photo: TomBarnes]
Anti-View
Hotel Diva is a Repeat Anti-View Offender
October 30, 2008 at 11:50 AM | 1 Comment
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
We're not usually ones to let photos speak entirely for themselves, but really. Look at this photo. This is a view from out a guestroom window at the Hotel Diva in San Francisco's Union Square.
And this isn't even the first time we've heard of Hotel Diva offering up offensive views. Our own Markj stayed there back in '07 and was less than impressed with the (entirely different) scene out the window of room 616:
If you get a room at the front of the hotel you will have a view up and down Geary, but that is hardly a reason to specially request such a room.
And then we came across this mess on Flickr: JasonEscapist stayed in a room with a view of an alley. But not just any alley, people: apparently, it was "the ugliest, scariest, loudest alleyway you could ever hope to see" leading directly up to the window. Yikes.
He also says of his stay:
Everything was broken or missing. The television remote could handle channel+, but no channel-. There was a dark, echoing alley immediately outside my window. They told me they were overbooked and could not move me. I thought evil, mean, nasty things about them to myself, and was convinced that made us even.
Oh noes. For what it's worth, we think posting incriminating photos to your Flickr account also helps get even, too. Check out another shot of the classy alley here.
[Photo: JasonEscapist]
Anti-View
Room with an Anti-View :: The Five Hotel's Top Floor
October 23, 2008 at 12:46 PM | 0 Comments
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
As you know, we loved our stay at The Five Hotel in Paris. We had one of the rooms on the top floor, nifty mood lighting, relaxing L'Occitane amenities and super comfy suspended bed.
In addition to that we loved the neighborhood and the friendly staff. Heck, we loved it all. Just like we pretty much loved all of Paris (except for stepping in dog poop on our last day but that's another story.)
The only thing however, not to love about The Five is this view from room 603. You are basically looking into other people's apartments. On the bright side, you're at the top so you do get some sunlight. That is, if the sun is shining.
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View :: Hotel Pelayo Barcelona's Unsavory Rooftop
October 9, 2008 at 11:00 AM | 2 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
In theory, the Hotel Pelayo in Barcelona is rather lovely: rooms start at only 70 euros, which works out to less than a hundred bucks in US dollars. It's located close to the Plaza Catalonia, and according to the hotel's website, "Picasso Museum and the Gothic Quarter are some of the attraction located in the surroundings."
But a 70-euro hotel apparently gives an appropriately cheap view. User andym_uk posted this gem of an image on Flickr -- a view from a hotel room at Hotel Pelayo. Let's play a little game called "Spot the Unsavory Item," shall we? We spy a gigantic gym sock, a clothespin, unidentifiable trash and an object that appears to either be an empty pack of Spanish cigarettes or an old, weathered flask. Or another an unidentifiable piece of trash.
[Photo: andym_uk]
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View: La Quinta Inn Inherits Anti-View from Ramada
October 2, 2008 at 11:05 AM | 1 Comment
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Since obsessive hotel room view collector Jim took this anti-view, the hotel has changed from a Ramada to the La Quinta Inn in Joplin, Missouri, but we're guessing the view probably hasn't changed too much. Sure, the semi-trailers have probably taken a hike, but they're almost the most interesting part.
To be fair, the La Quinta Inn seems more about location than views--it's a motel on route US 71 at I-44 close to Missouri Southern College. Room rates average a low $79 a night, so you can hardly expect a spectacular view to be thrown in for free. Of course, we can still dream of a decent view and a low price turning up together.
[Photo: Jim Frazier]
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View :: Mandarin Oriental Excelsior, Hong Kong
September 25, 2008 at 12:35 PM | 3 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Yet more evidence to support our claim that you can't believe everything that's written on a hotel's website. On the Mandarin Oriental's Excelsior Hotel site, they say that this Hong Kong hotel has
A prime location overlooking Victoria Harbour and the luxury of 34 floors with spectacular views.
We presume that this particular view is not one of those, although some might say that it's spectacular in its scariness. There probably are decent views to be had from other rooms, and the Excelsior is in Causeway Bay, an interesting area of Hong Kong to stay in and a bit different from the usual downtown or Kowloon stops.
Cheapest rates at the Excelsior start at HK$1,180 (US$150--it's a bargain internet only rate) and they also have a range of packages both for business travelers and families headed to Hong Kong Disneyland--yep, both ends of the market. And both kinds of views.
[Photo: Swami Stream]
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View: Chicago's Essex Inn
September 18, 2008 at 9:50 AM | 0 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
How's this for a suspicious advertising tag line: "Spend less on the room and more on the town". We get it: this hotel won't break your budget, but perhaps it's also not the best place in town.
This slogan belongs to the Essex Inn in Chicago and we now know one of the reasons why the hotel's cheaper than a big night out. It's because of this very unappealing anti-view.
If we had the option of sitting in our hotel room and staring out at this unattractive view, or heading out on the town, we'd definitely take the latter--ain't it lucky we'll (apparently) have enough money left over to do that. Of course, we're slightly grateful that the bottom half of the anti-view includes environmentally-friendly solar panels, which redeems it all just a tiny bit.
Ironically, the Essex Inn also offers a "Room with a View" package starting from $149: the view doesn't come from the room, but from the Sears Tower Skydeck! They throw in two tickets with your room. Clever.
[Photo: kacleaveland]
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View: Centrally-Located Holiday Inn Markham in Toronto
September 11, 2008 at 10:35 AM | 0 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
When the hotel's own publicity chooses the opening words of its advertising blurb to be "Centrally located near major highways", we're imagining rooms with views over spaghetti freeways and wasteland. At the Holiday Inn Markham in Toronto, it's slightly better than that, but still fits into our definition of an anti-view : car parks, flat roofs and boring straight roads as far as the eye can see.
The standard of the hotel seems just slightly above the standard of the view. Neat, mostly clean and mostly decent service prevail, but previous guests have complained that they've paid too much unless they win a cheap room on Priceline at around C$60 for a double. Don't pay too much, don't look out the window, and you'll be fine.
[Photo: Julep67]
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View: Bland Rooftops at McCamly Plaza
September 4, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 0 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
The McCamly Plaza Hotel in Battle Creek, Michigan has just spent $3 million on renovations : new beds, new linen, new bathroom amenities. But unfortunately none of that will change this mighty unpleasant anti-view. In another picture in her series from this trip, traveler Rrrrred was optimistic enough to see a patch of blue and say "The sky was nice, at least."
The McCamly Plaza is well-located if you're headed for the Kellogg Arena or the Kellogg's World HQ; there's also tons of shopping and dining spots surrounding it. Therefore: bad views. Average rates around $110 don't seem to promise better views so it's something McCamly Plaza visitors will have to live with.
[Photo: Rrrrred]
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View: Satellite Dishes from the Charterhouse Hotel, Hong Kong
August 28, 2008 at 9:23 AM | 0 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
So perhaps a satellite dish manufacturer might be interested in having a view like this out of their hotel room window, but we're guessing most people would be closing those curtains up tight. This anti-view comes from the Charterhouse Hotel in the Wanchai district of Hong Kong.
The Charterhouse is basically just a budget hotel, but it's popular because it has a really convenient location. In fact, the good location is pretty much the only feature that previous guests consistently talk about, because other than that, it's not the most attractive place--although the Business floor and the S Signature floor do look neat and modern (but are no longer really a budget price).
The cheapest, standard rooms have a rate of around $80 a night; for HK$1,150 (US$150) you can get a renovated "S Classic" room including breakfast and free use of broadband in your room. Just don't look outside.
[Photo: Photocapy]
NewYorkology
Kids Get the Better View From the Alchymist Hotel in Prague
August 21, 2008 at 1:16 PM | 0 Comments
A while back Amy Langfield from NewYorkology headed off to Prague and went through a little bit of drama pre-flight with Tablet Hotels about her lodging situation. But as we told you back then, everything worked out ok and Amy and family was sent to a nice suite at the Alchymist Grand Hotel & Spa.
Since today is Killer/Anti-View day, we thought it fitting to post these views from her suite.
The above view is the Killer View from the kids room. While it's mostly buidlings, you can see the castle jutting out in the far background. So what kind of view did the master bedroom aka the parents' room have? Click after the jump to see.
