Little hotel, big mural

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Casa Marina

Sunny seating

Hey Mark…

Next time you get to Buffalo you should check out the Richardson Hotel. It appears they have plenty of room for you. 

The Richardson

Originally an insane asylum and New York State Hospital built in the late 1880’s. After standing abandoned for about 40 years it was extensively restored and updated at great expense into a first class hotel. 

The building was designed by the famous architect Henry Hobson Richardson and the grounds designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. Now known as The Richardson Hotel. 

Beautiful but still a little spooky. 

Hotel Opus XVI

Back from a trip to Scandinavia and have a number of photos to share. Pictured is a hotel in Bergen Norway... a re-purpose of a fine old historic building.

Stairway to nowhere

This famous stairway can be found in the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. It is so called because it was added to the lobby for the purpose of allowing ladies to make an "entrance" to show off their evening wear. Stylish women would enter the hotel and take the elevator to the second floor to check their wrap in the cloakroom, then be noticed as they descend the stair.

The stairway can be seen in one episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. 

Sunny hallway

Magic doors

Magic Beach Hotel in Villano Beach Florida. A retro gem due for teardown to make way for a bigger more conventional hotel.

Extreme perspective

The curve of the wall makes the perspective even more powerful.

Walkway

La Fonda window view

My hotel

Maybe I am posting too many images from Santa Fe but it is a really and interesting town. We stayed at the La Fonda right on the old Santa Fe plaza. The hotel is historic having being built in the '20s, but compared to the native pueblos in the area, it is a modern youngster. Those pueblos are several thousand years old!

Having said that La Fonda has been updated, restored and thoughtfully modernized and is indeed a first class operation even though it looks like it could have been standing for much longer than it has. It is filled with amazing original and authentic art.

An example of how much effort has been made to keep it looking authentic... here is a photo of part of the hotel, but the structure in the foreground is actually a parking garage.

An elegant spot

Hotel lobby detail

Hotel Casa Monica in St. Augustine... an interesting mix of shapes, colors and history.

Window view

Hotel detail

Seat in the sun

Waiting for the elevator

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