Back at the Jumeriah Emirates Towers in Dubai again. This time, in a cupboard, I find slippers in a can. Why?
Isn’t this a bit forced “high-design”? Or is it cute?
Hotel oddity #23
In the most staid of Dubai’s many elegant hotels, the most conservative and sedate, the Jumeriah Emirates Towers, provokes a little smile.
This after the awe of seeing Burj Kalifa right out our window, within waking distance. Unfortunately, Dubai is not a walking city. A long, convoluted taxi ride involving on-ramps, cloverleafs, and off-ramps was required to reach the block-away tower.
My favorite thing about Dubai: fabulous South Indian food. Second favorite thing: stunning architecture, fascinating by day, spectacularly lit by night. May as well mention my least favorite thing: giant malls. I don’t like any malls. The bigger the worse.
As we stood at our window wall gaping at the nearby Burj Kalifa, it slowly disappeared before our eyes. It was a dust storm, the likes of which I’ve never seen. The desert’s great magic trick.
Hotel Oddity #22
This very cup, holding this very fine pen, sat on a desk in our room. The coffee cup was from the hotel’s restaurant. The pen is our own.
When we returned to our room, housekeeping had straightened up and the cup was gone. So was our pen. Stretching a bit, I can understand that the maid might take the cup and return it to the property’s restaurant, even though it was being used (as a pen-holder). But how could she take the pen along with it? Is she blind? Was she so rushed that she didn’t notice? Didn’t it rattle or clink as she carried the cup away?
She returned the pen eventually, before we had to ask for it.
Hotel Oddity #21
I have no idea what this thing is. It’s on the floor in the carpet, in front of a window. About an inch and a half across, no screws in the holes that look like screwholes. I saw only one of them. With quite a bit of force, the rubbery center part can be depressed.
Where were we? Somewhere in England. In a hotel, of course. I forgot to ask the front desk staff what the thing might anchor or support.
Hotel Oddity #20
Our hotel room in Paris had these gorgeous bathroom doors. Each door is made of one large plate of thick translucent glass in a wood frame. Bronze crossbars float above the glass without touching it, and there’s a little bronze ball of a handle on the inside. The doors are eight feet tall.
But what’s that little wire on the back of the door? It comes out of nowhere, emerging from the wall, loops a little, and connects to the door. I had to stand on the tub and stretch to take a photo of the top surface of the door. I thought I’d find a sensor for the lights, or trailing wires, or some clue. Nothing.
Still curious at checkout time, I asked the front desk staff who, of course, didn’t know. But they didn’t leave it there. They found a manager who explained.
Care to guess?
Hotel oddity #19
Yeah, we know already, like “leave a message after the beep.” But this is odd… “A towel on the rack means ‘I’ll use it again.'” What rack? In this Hilton Hotel bathroom, there wasn’t a rack, a hook, or even a peg for a towel.
Look at the photo. You can see the entire bathroom. No place for towels.
Hotel oddity #18
China World Hotel, Beijing— Very nice room. In an effort to think of every detail, there’s a little glass shelf installed on the bathroom wall, toiletside. Lest you load it up with toiletries, which might seem the obvious thing, it’s etched with the image of a mobile phone. And for those over-actively vibrating phones, there’s a tiny guardrail. Cute!
Hotel oddity #17
I have to say, there’s something rather cozy about a warm toilet seat. Definitely got used to that in Japan. I came to expect the full panel of services, too, from waterfall or babbling brook sound effects to various water-jet options. I was a little taken aback the first time I entered and the lid saluted me, opening on its own. And I was just plain amused by a toilet with a lit bowl. Maybe even a little horrified.
Oh, and yes. They flush and close by themselves, too. Any more questions?
Hotel Oddity #16
I stay in a lot of hotels, some of which are the best or most unique in the world. This one in Hong Kong—not so hot.
Why was there a bucket under the sink? And in the bucket, a smaller bucket.
Fill it up to flush the toilet? Bail out the bathtub? Store up drinking water? I don’t think I want to know…
Hotel Oddity #15
The Wellington in Madrid is a lovely, old hotel full of charm, the official temporary residence of visiting bullfighters. Our room was large and faultless.
I was puzzled by the sliding glass door in the bathroom, which separated the toilet from the sinks. It was even lockable. Why clear glass? What is the purpose of a transparent door? Isn’t the point of a toilet stall… privacy?
The back wall of the bathroom is all mirror, making the photo confusing but also reflecting the fact that the bathroom does have an ordinary solid door.
