Saturday, December 3, 2011

The Charm Of Hotel Rooms

To those of you who think that hotel rooms are impersonal and lacking in charm and warmth, let me assure you that they are far from that. For the diehard traveler, hotel rooms are a haven of relaxation at the end of the day, and a place to chew the cud of their wanderlust in. When the daytime adventures come to an end in a new place, and those legs beg to be put up after hours of wandering around and taking the sights in, there is no better place on earth than a cozy, comfortable hotel room. They are a home away from home, however temporary that might be. I consider my stay in hotel rooms as an extension of my whole travel experience, imbued with its own characteristic magic and romantic charm.

I have stayed in very many hotels in North America these past 15 years with my family, and one thing we always do as soon as we check in is to take a picture of our hotel room before we actually start using it and mess it up. Thus those pictures have become an intrinsic part of our travel adventures, and bring back fond memories of those fascinating places we stayed at. Be it in ritzy, glitzy Vegas, or magical Disneyland, or mountaintop retreats, or fabulous getaways with killer ocean views, every single hotel room has an undeniably unique charm to it. I love to take a tour of the room and check it out in detail, while the kid loves to roll and tumble around in bed and test it out. The husband watches us with amusement, and if there's a fantastic view through the window, then he too gets caught up in its charm. Please see below the most recent one we stayed at in Las Vegas.


At the Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas


Our room on the thirtieth floor


A view of the Strip from our room


Yet another view from our room

It has always been my wish to run a cozy bed and breakfast after my husband and I retire, one particularly for book lovers. I dream of this place being somewhere in the heart of nature, in the countryside, or on a mountaintop, or on the oceanfront, a place where handpicked guests with a passion for books retreat to. I see myself sitting along with my favored guests, quietly devouring our books, and sharing with each other what we've read about. On a hot summer's day, we would take our books out into the garden to be read or go out on nature walks or just putter around in the garden by way of relaxation, and on a cold winter's day, we would sit snug by the fire, reading to our heart's content. On a stormy day, we would sit by the windows, watching the storm raging outside, or would snuggle under the covers in bed, with our books for company. In addition, I would love to invite writers to my cozy retreat and have them read aloud from their works to my guests. How idyllic that sounds, not to mention that the background for my dreams is a hotel of sorts! Wishful thinking it might all be, but I'll take whatever is a reality right now. Here's to more travels, more stays in hotel rooms, more room service, and more indulgences to come!

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