Quirky Hospitality In Ouray, Colorado

by Jessica Festa on

There are many interesting cities to visit during a trip through Colorado. While Denver has excellent artisanal shops, you can find the world’s highest distillery in Breckenridge. If you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, the little known town of Ouray offers various ways to receive quirky hospitality.

Quirky Restaurant: The Outlaw

Located at 610 Main Street, The Outlaw is the oldest operating restaurant in Ouray, open since early 1969 with the same sign still hanging. It has a very “Old West” feel, with a pianist playing upbeat tunes in the corner, walls of cowboy hats and a dimly lit room littered with wooden tables. While the steaks are delicious and the cocktails strong, the biggest draw to this place is the fact you can wear one of John Wayne’s hats. It’s the one located behind the bar, above the beers. During the shooting for a film, Wayne was staying in Ouray. One day, he called up The Outlaw to order some food for pickup. The owner’s wife answered, and when he said it was John Wayne calling, she responded by saying “yea right” and hung up the phone. Wayne became so enamored with her crassness; he ended up eating there everyday during the entire movie shoot.Quirky Dessert Shop: Mouse’s Chocolates & Coffee

Not only does Mouse’s Chocolates & Coffee have unusual chocolate flavors like bacon clusters with Chardonnay salt and coconut bark with pumpkin and sunflower, it’s also home of the locally-loved Scrap Cookie. After making their chocolates for the day, the staff takes the scraps and add them to their family recipe cookie batter. When customers order a Scrap Cookie, they won’t know what they’re getting until they take a bite. One thing is for sure, though, it’ll be delicious. Local tip: Buy two Scrap Cookies and have them make an ice-cream sandwich for you. While they’ll often say they don’t do it, tell them a local told you about it, and they most likely will.

Quirky Brewery: Ourayle House

Also known as the “Mr. Grumpy Pants Brewing Company,” the Ourayle House is a bizarre experience. It resides in the garage of the cranky owner, Hutch, who takes pride in making snarky comments to customers. The place looks like it’s made of scrap wood – mainly because most of it is – and old and broken sports equipment and dirty board games litter the space. If you leave your business card you can expect a rude comment to be written on the back, and if you’re a beer snob you can expect any diva-esque quotes to be written on the board behind the bar. For example, when I was there, one customer made the mistake of saying, “I only drink IPAs and Coors Light.” Of course, this was quickly noted for all to see. Hutch even has a countdown for how many “days without a beer Madonna” have passed. It’s also fun to read the unfriendly and weird signs that adorn the walls, reading things like “Welcome to Mr. Grumpy Pants Brewing Company Cheers! ‘Welcome’ being a relative term,” and “It has always been out policy to accept game meat for beer, from good hunters and careless drivers.” Hutch makes all his beer on site, and rotates his drafts to keep things interesting. You can even order based on a brew’s “sq,” meaning “slamability quotient.”

Quirky Accommodation: The Christmas House Bed & Breakfast Inn

While most B&Bs have a certain unusual charm to them, Ouray’s The Christmas House Bed & Breakfast Inn is another animal. The old Victorian home has been around since 1889, although it officially became a bed and breakfast in 1998. For those who have read “The Painted Ladies,” the property was featured in the book. It’s a very quirky accommodation, as it’s Christmas all year long here. Along with the outside and common rooms being decorated with festive decor, each guest room features a Christmas tree with seasonal accents. Along with yuletide cheer, rooms also have saunas, Jacuzzis and cable television.

Unusual Tourist Attraction: Japanese City Unveils World’s Largest Toilet

by Jessica Festa on

While most travelers spend time visiting sites like churches, castles, parks and museums, Ichihara City in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan is hoping to bring in tourists with a new kind of attraction: the world’s largest toilet. In fact, they’re so hopeful that the unusual attraction will bring in travelers; they’ve spent 10 million yen (about $125,945) on the project.

The site, which sits in front of Itabu Station on the Kominato Railway Line, is actually your average-sized toilet; however, it’s housed in a giant clear box and sits on an expansive 2,153 square-foot plot of land. While it doesn’t provide much privacy on the property, there is a surrounding fence to hide the toilet from outsiders. The city is hoping the beautiful new toilet will provide an enjoyable reprieve for drivers and passengers of the train, as well as attendees of next year’s Ichihara Art Festival.

Right now, the lavish restroom is only open to women, although the designer of the toilet, Sou Fujimoto, wants it to be open to the public for everyone to enjoy.

“I could enjoy the spectacular view while still feeling protected,” the architect told the Japan Times. “No other toilet would allow you a feeling like that.”

Hanoi’s Oldest Hotel Will Open Secret Bunker To Visitors This Week

by Jessica Festa on

During hotel renovations last August at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi in Vietnam, construction workers discovered an unknown bunker thought to be used during the Vietnam War. While drilling near the poolside bar, they found a flooded hallway, numerous rooms and a staircase leading to the secret 500-square-foot bunker. Moreover, wine bottles, unbroken light bulbs, graffiti and air ducts were also found, according to VietNamNet.

“In the hotel’s history, there is a story of the American folk singer, Joan Baez, who sought shelter in this bunker during the Christmas Bombings in 1972, and who sang some songs beside a Vietnamese guitarist,” explains Kai Speth, the hotel’s General Director. “We don’t know of any other hotels, in Vietnam or anywhere else for that matter, that maintained a shelter for guests and staff.”

The luxury hotel is the oldest in Hanoi, boasting a 110-year history that has welcomed guests such as Charlie Chaplin, Jane Fonda, Fidel Castro and Somerset Maugham. That will be celebrated, along with the opening of the bunker to guests, on May 21, 2012. Likewise, people who actually spent time in the bunker, such as Bob Devereaux, the Australian diplomat who carved his name into the bunker in 1975, will also be present at the opening ceremony.

[image via The Metropole Blog]According to the hotel’s blog, some guests were given a sneak-peek of the Bunker. As a recording played of “Where Are You Now My Son,” a song Baez made there in 1972, each guest was brought back in time to those scary days.

“I knew that my guests were the beneficiaries of a powerful feeling for a place, and the past,” writes Speth on the blog. “Usually, people travel beyond the confines of a hotel for such experiences. But how lucky, I thought standing there with those 10 Americans, that my guests could experience that right here with us.”

Las Vegas’ hotel supervisor tells all in Reddit Q & A

by Jessica Festa on

An alleged Las Vegas‘ hotel supervisor, Front_Desk_LV, decided to host an “AMA” (Ask Me Anything) Q&A discussion on the online community site Reddit earlier yesterday afternoon. While some of the questions seem blunt, the answers are shockingly honest.

The following questions were posed by members of the Reddit community and answered by the anonymous contributor. You can check the thread over on Reddit for more of the vivacious discussion.

Q: How big is the hotel? Number of rooms? Are your maintenance guys in-house or contracted out? What about the gambling machines? Does the hotel have techs to work on them, or is there an outside company that fixes the machines?

A: Our hotel has around 2,000 rooms. Our maintenance guys are in-house. And, I have no comment on the last question. I am not commenting on anything gaming related. It is just one of those issues you don’t f*ck with.

Q: What’s the best story you can remember [about] throwing either a person or party out?

A: One of the first few days I was working at my hotel there was a bachelor party in town. They ended up getting a midget stripper for entertainment, which is fine by us. As long as everything is confined to the room and nothing is illegal that we know about, it is okay. About three hours later I see the midget run by the front desk completely naked being chased by four guys. Naturally we threw them out, but I couldn’t stop laughing during the eviction process. Sadly, most of the evictions are due to drunk people getting out of control and throwing things off their balconies and then lying to us when we have them on camera. If they just tell us the truth and say it won’t happen again we generally let them stay.

Q: What kind of illegal activity do you get?

A: We know prostitution and drug use will happen in the hotel; however, as long as it doesn’t disrupt our daily operations or you don’t do it right in front of us we don’t mind. We are not the moral police. I actually had a guest checking into the hotel and she just reeked of weed. During the check-in process she put her purse up on the counter and I see a bag of weed, around an ounce. I let her know I am unaware of what that flower is but tell her it smells nice. She discretely places her purse in a better spot. She invited me back to the room with her; however, I declined because I love my job, but also because she was gross. More because she was gross.Q: What professional organization would you perceive as the least professional when conferencing?

A: I am still the low man on the totem pole, so I am not involved in conference calls. I mainly oversee the front desk, bell desk, and valet services. Since I work overnight I am technically the highest authority during overnights; however, I never actually reprimand anyone from a different department; I merely send a message to their boss. Generally, engineering is the least professional in my experience because they have limited engagement with the guests and seem to get away with the most.

Q: I imagine that once the party is over, the rooms can take a beating. What’s the weirdest/grossest/best thing you have seen after the guests checked out?

A: When someone decides to trash a room all that happens is we charge them and we charge them a lot of money. Normally it’s someone having a fun time in their tub and it overflows because they forget about it, causing damage to not only their room, but multiple.

Q: Have you heard of the “twenty dollar bill trick”? Does it really work?

A: I am assuming you are talking about putting a $20 in between your I.D. and your credit card. It really depends on the front desk agent. Some will take the money and will still give you a crappy room because they are bitter, some will give you a better room, and some would have given you the best room they could have, period. Our hotel doesn’t have ANY complimentary upgrades to a better suite, so it’s really only higher floors or views/balcony.

Q: Have you ever dealt with or met any celebrities?

A: I have. I have met numerous celebrities and have yet to meet a rude one. They normally have their managers check them in while they wait; however, they are extremely nice to the staff. I have heard horror stories; however, our guests have all been nice. We have a harder time with people who are just important enough to be on our radar; however, think they deserve the world. Like “special” casino guests or a relative of someone important in the company.

Q: Any recommendations for first time Las Vegas travelers?

A: Get here early. If we are oversold on rooms, it is normally the last people who show up who get sent somewhere else. I had someone arrive at 1 AM the other night after driving for ten hours with his wife and kids, only for me to tell him he “cannot stay here and we have made accommodations elsewhere for him”. He was livid.

I recommend seeing some shows while you are here. Jersey Boys, Beatles Love Show, Mystère, and Ka, in that order. Hotwire apparently has the best rates; however, if you book directly through the hotel you have a better chance that the hotel can work with you.

Don’t see the Michael Jackson show. It was terrible. Terrible.

Q: How fulfilling is living in Vegas socially? I imagine someone who likes variety and new things would find it engaging. Does it offer general recreation or hang outs?

A: Right now I am working overnights and I dislike it. I’m not someone who enjoys going to clubs, but overall I enjoy living in Vegas. The bars have amazing specials all day long to attract locals, it is cheap to live here, and there are no state income taxes. I plan on living here while I potentially earn my Master’s Degree in Finance.

To read the unedited version of this interview, click here.

Undiscovered New York: Flea market mania

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Here at Undiscovered New York, we often find ourselves wondering why our city is so expensive. It’s usually the first question from friends and family who come to visit us here in New York, and truthfully, they’re kind of right. Want a beer? That’ll be $7 (plus tip). Headed to a Broadway show? $60 for the cheap seats. Hotel room? Unless you’re staying at the Hotel Carter, expect to pay at least $100-$200 per night.

But as New Yorkers will tell you, there’s plenty of places to get a bargain if you know where to look. That is especially true when it comes to weekend flea market hunting, the city’s unofficial hobby. Whether it’s vintage clothing or costume jewelry, antique furniture or formica countertops, rare vinyl or a delicious vanilla pastry, New York’s flea markets offer a little something for everyone. And the best part is, New York’s vibrant community of artists and independent craftmakers ensure there’s just as much new merchandise for sale at flea markets as there is old gems.

So forget about blowing your vacation savings at Saks Fifth Avenue or down in SoHo. This week, Undiscovered New York is taking you inside some of New York City’s best flea markets and telling you where to find them. Click below for our picks of the best.
Annex / Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market
For the past 15 years, one of New York’s best flea markets was along 24th and 25th street in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. That all ended in 2008, when rising rents forced the market to close and move shop. Thankfully, the change has been for the best, combining the fantastic variety of Chelsea’s once thriving vendor scene with the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market on West 39th Street.

The market now combines an enormous range of items, everything from African tribal artifacts to Mid-Century Modern furniture to fine silver. It’s one of the first stops for the city’s bargain hunters and those on the lookout for a truly unique item to decorate their apartment, in New York or beyond.

Brooklyn Flea
True to the quirky and eclectic tastes of its neighborhood’s residents, the Brooklyn Flea is among the newest additions to New York’s wide array of weekend shopping markets. First opened in 2008, this smallish market is held each Saturday in the courtyard of Fort Greene’s Bishop Laughlin Memorial High School and during colder months at two smaller “pop-up” markets in DUMBO. Don’t let the size fool you though – what this market lacks in size it more than makes up in a very well curated selection of items and great food.

In addition to a great selection of vintage records, the market stocks a nice mix of interesting vendors selling home furnishings, jewelry handcrafted by local artisans and some of the best food this side of the East River. Even if you’re not the shopping type, it’s a fun place to spend a weekend afternoon chowing down on a delicious taco and checking out the crowd. If you want a unique New York souvenir, check out the vendor who sells vintage tin ceiling tiles!

The Market (Nolita)
Each weekend, a crowd of visiting trend hunters descends on Nolita, a hip neighborhood “North of Little Italy” that is home to a large number of boutiques and unique businesses. But before they browse Nolita’s sometimes pricey shops, New York City bargain-hunters head straight for The Market, a weekend market for young designers on Manhattan’s Mulberry Street. Unlike the Annex / Hell’s Kitchen market, Nolita’s The Market is all about brand new stuff. It’s also a great place to find unique one-of-a-kind items like clothing and bags you can’t find anywhere else.