Field Work Hotel Wackiness Photos

Last week I wrote about the hotel in which I was staying for my recent fieldwork.  On the one hand, it was only the latest in a long line of very odd hotels that I have stayed in.  On the other hand, unlike some of those hotels, it was actually a pleasant place to stay, if odd.  So, here's a few photos of the place, to give you a taste of the sometimes pleasant oddities that can come with field work.

The place is called the Snowline Lodge, and is...well, "quirky" isn't quite the right word, but it's the closest that I can find.  We checked in here on Tuesday, not knowing anything about it other than that it was within the price range allowed for lodging by our client.  When we arrived, we saw the front, and noticed that the porch had all manner of odd objects on it, including a piano that did not appear to be in working order.

And then we noticed the hallway with graffiti in it from various visitors, further making us wary.

It wasn't until later that we realized that all of the graffiti were positive and from people who seemed to like the place.

A sheep (which I was unable to get a photo of) was running about the place, acting very much as if it were a playful domestic dog.  Indeed, had I not heard it "baaaa"-ing when I first saw it, I might have initially mistaken it for a weird looking dog until I got close.

A fellow missing all but one of his top teeth checked us in, and proceeded to, for reasons that weren't entirely clear to me, try to convince my crew and I to take a room with multiple beds rather than taking the three separate rooms that we had actually reserved.  He also tended to talk far more than necessary, and his wife yelled at home from another room most of the time that we were talking with him. He informed us that he and his wife lived in one of the many trailers that were parked around the hotel, though from what we could gather they had spent most of their time in various rooms of the hotel itself.

Suffice to say, we were nervous as the the quality of this establishment.  But, we need not have worried as it turned out to be nice, if odd.

The place was originally built as a bar, and later had rooms added on so that it might be used as a hunting lodge.  The bar area now functions as a lobby and common room - yes, a common room in very much the "Medieval inn" sense: it was a room that remained open 24-hours a day, which had tables, couches, and stools on which the patrons might relax.  There are drinks available, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, though this isn't really a bar or restaurant of any sort.  There is a piano, and atop the piano is a mannequin, as you can see:

Then, there's the nude photo of Marylin Monroe on one wall, accompanied by a portrait of John and Jackie Kennedy, a line of baskets allegedly from Africa, and a Bible where one would expect the sheet music to be on the piano (and I checked, this isn't a Bible with a hymnal appendix, so it's presence in the sheet music location is decidedly odd).

And then there was the back room, a secondary common room, with couches, a fireplace, a television (one of only two in the hotel), and a seriously mishmashed collection of old books available for anyone to read.  Oh, and for no apparent reason, there are children's bunk beds in this room.

The hallways that led to our upstairs rooms rather reminded me of the Shining, but the rooms themselves were pleasant.

 

All in all, the Snowline Lodge was a good place.  The only downside was that there was no food on-site, and no fridges or microwaves in the room, so that we had to drive a good 15 miles in either direction to eat.  But we slept well, the staff turned out to be both efficient and friendly, and I would be happy to stay there again, which is not something that can be said for most of the hotels in which I have stayed for work.