We were fortunate to have a handful of people to stay with while on our vacation – Lesli and Jimmy, Aunt Debbie and Uncle Bob, and my parents – but while Chuck and I were away on mini-trip without the kids, we elected to stay in out-of-the-ordinary places.
In fact, that’s usually how we like to travel. Why stay in a boring hotel when you can sleep in a room from the future, where you have to check in via computer at Mission Control?
The Yotel was clever and unique. Based in London, this hotel requires some level of tech-savviness from its guests, considering that Mission Control (i.e., the lobby) is entirely computerized. The cabins are compact and function off sensors (turning everything off and on when you leave or enter), and there are docking stations for all of your electronics (iPod, iPad, iWhatever). The couch-bed was decent, but it wasn’t a mattress I could sleep on for very long. Two nights was sufficient.
(The next two photos were snagged off their site.)
Upon arriving at Mission Control we checked in and explored the property. There’s a lovely terrace (with a great view), a restaurant (that we didn’t try) and a huge bar area where they serve breakfast each morning and drinks each night.
The location of the Yotel was especially convenient. At 42nd and 10th, we were only two blocks from Times Square but still nestled in a neighborhood with plenty of local restaurants. (Major props to the Irish Rogue Pub for its fabulous brunch.)
Switching gears completely, and going back in time, we stayed at a historical bed and breakfast in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, for the next leg of our trip. We’re big fans of B&Bs (our favorite thus far being the Adobe on Green Street in Santa Cruz) so we wanted to get a little New England experience. We stayed at the Delano Homestead, which was the childhood home of Sara Delano, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s mother. The house was built in 1832 and originally belonged to FDR’s great-grandfather. It remained in the family for decades, making it a home the young would-be president visited in the summertime.
The house was beautiful. I’m mean, really. Huge rooms, period furniture, old family photos on display and creaky wooden floors. Everything that required updating had been – like the third floor bathroom that was solely ours:
It was a charming house close to the seashore and a few local restaurants.
However.
Had not been for my Ambien I probably wouldn’t have slept a wink because I was quite sure Great-Grandpa Delano roamed the corridors at night. Or maybe it was Grandma who kept a ghostly eye on the place while guests slept in her old rooms. Either way, by bedtime I was fully spooked and listened carefully for creaking down the hall. And Chuck knew it.
“I’m doing everything in my power not to take advantage of this and scare you,” he confessed.
Ahem. I’ve seen “The Others.” I know what goes down in old houses like these. So I took my Ambien, laid awake wide-eyed for approximately eight minutes looking for roaming ghosts, and then fell into a deep sleep. (What about that empty closet on my side of the room, you ask? Oh yes, I absolutely locked it with its skeleton key before going to bed. Because in my world ghosts can’t come through locked doors.)
Overall, our stay at the Delano Homestead was lovely. It was inexpensive, it had everything we needed – including charm – and it was centrally located for our Cape excursion.
The walls of old photos was quite interesting… in the daytime, at least.
