Flea-Bag for the Half-Cheap of San Francisco
I’m here! I made it to San Francisco and I’m ready for the Game Developer Conference. I got a room at the Hotel Kerouac, only a mile or so from the Moscone Center. They promised it was a “boutique hotel” but also “colorful.” They got that half right.
The lobby’s garish. The staff wear turtlenecks and goatees - even the girls - and that’s okay, but the peeling wallpaper ain’t. The bathroom is just touchable. At least the water’s hot. I don’t mind the feel of crashing in someone’s place, but at $99/night?
You be the judge. Here are the attractions:
- It’s not a room, it’s a “pad.” I’m in Pad 626.
- Where most hotels have a wine and cheese night at five, Hotel Kerouac serves “hashish” (really gluten-free) brownies and cheap beer.
- Every Tuesday, beat poetry in the lobby.
- No room service, but any time, day or night, come down and someone’ll whip up some eggs for you, and just kind of hang out.
- A hot pink neon sign in the alley tells me there’s a massage parlor right behind the hotel. Hmm, maybe if my back gets tense I’ll look into that.
- For sale in my closet I find a leopard-print negligee. $20. Can’t tell whether it’s been worn before.
- And of course, free wifi.
So I go on my first real “business” trip and end up here. But I’m just a blogger on a budget, so maybe that suits? Either way, here we are.
22/03/2009 at 4:23 pm Permalink
All you need is a usable bed, a hot shower, and the rest is gravy. You’re there for GDC, so just be sure to stay busy with that until you can barely stay awake anymore, then crash. You won’t even care if the front desk girl’s goatee hair is in your brownie.
22/03/2009 at 6:04 pm Permalink
Goodness me! Are you making this up? Maybe a case of the truth is stranger than fiction, but… Beat poetry? Just ‘hang out’ with the staff? Wow. Just wow.
22/03/2009 at 8:23 pm Permalink
Beat poetry, huh? Sounds like what Wednesday nights used to be at Jive on Hindley Street in Adelaide. I described the evening as “a gathering of wankers.” When asked to clarify, I would say “imagine a fat, bald headed guy in his early thirties wearing a black beret and matching black turtle neck, reading poetry under a spotlight.” Most people tend to get my point.
Oh, and rubber chicken raffle, with donations going to the entertainment.
What’s sadder, I performed their once.
Except my track “Whose Whore” did better at offending the crowd than anything. I was pleased — http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=436511075
23/03/2009 at 6:27 am Permalink
Hotel Wanker has a nice ring …
(And btw, did you mean this URL? http://www.myspace.com/djpurverse )