Cool Hotels

The Pelican

Key Largo’s The Pelican is an old-fashioned, Florida Keys seaside resort. The hotel consists of 23 airy, casual beach cottages that are an ideal jumping off point for enjoying fishing, boating, swimming, diving and all other mellow Keys-related activities. Tucked away in a private-feeling tropical garden, each cottage, room or suite is individually decorated in appropriate beach house style with tile floors that can be easily cleaned of sand and seawater. The hotel has a private dock for those guests who arrive via their own boat. There’s even a picnic and grilling spot in the gardens, a great dining spot for those who have caught their dinner that very day.

Edited to Add: The Pelican is also known as The Hungry Pelican

The Wigwam Motel

Admit it; you’ve always wanted to live in a tepee or a wigwam, haven’t you? Well, living in one may not be all that practical, but you can stay in a wigwam if you are traveling through Arizona on the famous Old Route 66.

The Wigwam Motel, in Holbrook, Arizona, was built during the mid-twentieth century heyday of the road trip by a man named Chester E. Lewis. Mr. Lewis, whose family still owns the motel, has seen similar Wigwam villages built in Kentucky and conceived a similar village along Route 66 as a family attraction and an example of architectural innovation. Today, the stucco, wood and chicken wire wigwams stand as a proud monument to cool hotels everywhere. In 2002, The Wigwam Motel was put on the National Register of Historic Places.

The wigwams themselves are cozy (14 feet at the base) and comfortable, with their own bathrooms, televisions and window air-conditioning.

West Point Lighthouse

Lighthouses have an undeniable romance to them. I suppose it’s a combination of isolation, picturesque locations and the old-fashioned work ethnic represented by the lighthouse keeper. Now, sadly, most lighthouses are automated and even if they weren’t, GPS systems probably could prevent most shipwrecks. But that’s neither here nor there.

Those wanting a taste of the mystery, romance and history of the lighthouse and its keepers, can find it at Prince Edward Island’s West Point Lighthouse. The square, tapered lighthouse was built in 1876 and is painted with stripes, as befitting its period and function. Once a manually operated lighthouse that prevented ships from crashing into the shore below, the building has been restored and transformed into an Inn, where guests can get a taste of what life was like for the keepers who tended the flame. The Inn itself is cozy, with each room decorated to evoke the lifestyle those who lived and worked here. There’s also a museum, giftshop and restaurant.

It may not be the biggest or fanciest hotel on PEI, but darn it, you certainly feel connected to the island. And the views are appropriately spectacular. And although I could not find and confirmation of hauntings, I wouldn’t be surprised if you heard an eerie sound or two while spending the night.

Great Minds Think Alike

Anything that promotes cool indie hotels is all right by me. And apparently, Forbes Traveler and I think alike because they posted a little article about strange and interesting hotels today.

Of course, I think I could have added a few more examples, but that is neither here nor there. I also would have refrained from using the word unique.

The Gage Hotel

I’ll wager Texas is a state with as many myths and legends as all other states combined, including Alaska and Hawaii. It’s a big, sprawling state of cowboys and desperadoes and, if you are out west, panoramic sunsets that Hollywood would have had to invent, had they not existed in Texas.

And no hotel fits better into the idealized, epic story of Texas than The Gage Hotel. Built in 1927, the old-fashioned ranchers' hotel is located in Marathon (pronounced Mar a then), a tiny little town on the edge of the sublime Big Bend National Park. This desert town really sits in the middle of nowhere, residents and visitors alike would not have it any other way. The Hacienda-like hotel, fully renovated with a Tex-Mex flare befitting the ranchers who still love to come here, is the social center of the town and transports its guests to the days when cattle, not oil, ruled the Lone Star State. Especially cool is the garden and its flowers, fountains and rustic ornamentation. Cooler than that? Those aforementioned sunsets and later, skies filled with more stars than you’ve likely ever seen.

The Gage is always mentioned on those “Best Small Hotel” lists, has been featured in more than one Hollywood film and even hosts New Age-y Yoga events. In fact, it’s so pretty and elegant, that a vegetarian I know overlooked its cattle ranching history and held her wedding here.

The rooms in the original hotel are small, but larger, more modern rooms can be had in some of the newer, adjacent buildings.

The Admiral Fell Inn

Fells Point, a waterfront neighborhood of pubs, antique shops and cobblestone streets, is probably the most visited neighborhood in Baltimore not counting the Inner Harbor, which is really more of a development than a neighborhood. The business owners in Fells Point know that the very lifeblood of the neighborhood depends on keeping out homogeneous chains and letting history and character thrive. So, if you want to get a sense of the real Baltimore, with its John Waters-weirdness, its colonial history and its tough edge, you should stay at in Fells Point. And the best place to stay is The Admiral Fell Inn.

The Admiral Fell Inn, a historic inn and pub named for the neighborhood’s founder, sits at the heart of the neighborhood, right near the water. It’s been revamped, updated and remodeled in sleek boutique style, but the designers incorporated the colonial history of the place with antiques and other period details.

Oh, yes, and the hotel sometimes hosts historical reenactments. And ghost stories. And allegedly real ghosts live on premises and occasional spook the guests.

Dalvay by-the-sea

Dalvay by-the-sea, a sprawling mansion built in 1895 by the wealthy businessman Alexander McDonald, sits on a big, green meadow overlooking the ocean on Canada’s far-flung and bucolic Prince Edward’s Island. Conceived as a vacation home for the McDonald family, the house was built with all local materials and to fit in with the island’s architecture, but nevertheless with all opulence expected of a high-society family during the gilded age.

Now, Dalway by-the-sea is a luxury seaside resort and has a place on Canada’s historical register. Each of the 26 guest rooms has been furnished with antiques appropriate to the period of the house, and there is also gourmet dining and plenty of activities on premises. It is, however, a summer resort and only opens in season.

And yes, there is an Anne of Green Gables connection. The Dalvay was used as a location in the television productions based on the books.

The Morgan

I don’t associate Dublin’s Temple Bar neighborhood with anything chic. I associate it with throngs of piss drunk tourists, mostly from London and Manchester. Bachelor Parties and all that rot. However, there is another layer to the cobble-stoned historic district, which doesn’t just house touristy bars but also cultural institutions like the Irish Film Archive and The Project Arts Centre.

And it is into that layer of Temple Bar that the sleek, bright and airy Morgan fits. Like many boutiques, it boasts furniture by Philippe Starck, a see-and-be-seen bar scene and funky bath fixtures. And unlike many boutiques, The Morgan also offers well-designed extended stay apartments with kitchens, if you plan to stay in Dublin for a good while.

And, I don’t think I have to tell you that Dublin can get a bit dreary with the James Joyce and all the rain. But there’s nothing dreary about the Morgan. It goes out of its way to bring light and peace to your stay, and that’s very cool.

Hotel Chelsea

Screw the Plaza. No New York City hotel is more notorious, bohemian and steeped in the city's history than the Hotel Chelsea. Built in 1883, the red brick edifice takes up a chunk of the block of 23rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and has been home to a significant number of artists, writers, musicians and other assorted figures of the counter culture.

Mark Twain stayed here. Dylan Thomas not only stayed here, he died here after a night of drinking at the White Horse Tavern. Arthur C. Clark wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey here. William Burroughs stayed here. Also Alan Ginsberg, Quentin Crisp, Charles Bukowski, Tennessee Williams and Jean-Paul Sartre all stayed here. So did Patti Smith, Dee Dee Ramone, Henri Chopin, Edith Piaf, Janis Joplin and Jimmy Hendrix.

The novelist Charles R. Jackson committed suicide here. And Sid Vicious allegedly stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen here.

Some people claim to have seen the ghosts of Dylan Thomas and Sid Vicious here. No word on any less famous spirits.

And if you need a description of the rooms, you probably don’t want to stay here. Although, they did recently add Wi-Fi service.

The Inn at Perry Cabin

Visiting the lovely seaside town of St. Michaels, Maryland, I got the feeling that the idyllic, Eastern Shore village wanted to attract visitors to it charming cafes and antique shops – just not too many visitors and the right kind of visitors. In other words, this is a symphony and NPR kind of place, not a beer and pretzel kind of place.

So, it would follow that the best hotel in this little, low-key town with its yachts and white jackets would be home to one of the world’s finest hotels. That's right, the world. Not just the Eastern Shore or the great state of Maryland. The Inn at Perry Cabin, owned by the Orient-Express company, was once the private waterfront residence of one of Maryland’s most prominent citizens. It’s now a top-drawer spa and resort facility that attends to every detail of its guests stay. Since it was built in the early 1800s, the white colonial-style mansion has been expanded and restored multiple times and now can house up to 80 guests.