Hotel Shpennsylvania

So I finally got around to seeing Gone Baby Gone today. Holy shit, what an incredible movie. I haven't felt that conflicted about a movie, particularly an ending, in a really long time. I can't recommend it enough, and will definitely be picking up the DVD sometime soon. For his directing debut, Ben Affleck did an amazing job, and Casey Affleck was great as usual.

Now as many people know, this blog wouldn't be complete without some bitching and moaning on my part, the current of which centers around the hotel I'm currently staying at in New York City, the Hotel Pennsylvania, perhaps better known as the "World's Most Popular Hotel" (yes, it really does say that on their website). Yes, it is the 4th largest hotel in New York, and yes, the hotel has the distinction of having the New York phone number in longest continuous use. However, that's pretty much where the niceties stop.

After being rudely told by the receptionist at around noon that my room would not be ready until the 3:00 check-in time (not a big deal in and of itself. I wasn't expecting it to be ready, but just thought I'd ask), I was directed into the dungeon-like basement to check my bag for the low low price of 4 dollars. I then decided to walk around town for a little bit, then came back a little after 2:30 to check in, but not before waiting in line for over 25 minutes. More problems ensued when I discovered that there was no way to get internet access in my room, something I was hoping would be standard in a $100+ per night hotel in New York City, arguably the busiest business travel destination in the world. Meanwhile, in a move that isn't quite apparent at this point, the hotel is in the midst of installing 14(!) high definition televisions over the front desk. From my current view, all 14 Samsung televisions look to be about 42 inches in size, and are attached via wall mounts. So sports fans, if you're taking notes at home, I'm guessing that this new project is costing the hotel AT LEAST $15,000, based on conservative estimates of $1,000 per TV and $100 per wall mount. Gaudy and unnecessary? You bet. Here's a picture:



If you can't tell (this was taken from a camera phone), that black bar towards the top of the photo is the row of TVs.

So those are my thoughts on the Hotel Pennsylvania. But don't take my word for it! Here's Dave Barry's stance on the "The Hotel Shpennsylvania. It's in midtown Shmanhattan, across the street from Shmadison Square Garden". http://web.dailycamera.com/community/stories/02pbar.html