Where are the great hotel lobbies?
Immediately I think of the Peninsula Hotel in Manila in the Philippines. What a grand three story lobby, which just speaks to everyone who walks in that “this is the place to meet”. And this is literally where business is done with so many tables and accompanying chairs. All attended to by great service staff.
This past week I had the opportunity to stay in a hotel which had a lobby that has to be one of the great hotel lobbies – at least in my mind.
Similar in so many respects to other hotel lobbies with a registration check in desk, a couch and chairs to lounge in, a little café for snacks and coffee, and a place to plug in your laptop computer and do some business or check in on your emails. All pretty standard stuff.
However, the lobby of the Hotel Paseo in Palm Desert California has two things that I have never seen before in a hotel lobby.
One, a car. Yes, a car. Right smack dab in the middle of the lobby. You cannot miss it. in fact, you have to walk around it to get to anything else in the lobby. It is a classic, red Cadillac but I am not sure what the year is.
What this does for me is get my attention. I say to myself, whoa. What the heck is this? Why would anyone put a car in the middle of a hotel lobby. The best answer I can come up with is to get my attention. If that is the reason, it succeeded.
Two, and this is the real killer. There is a long board shuffleboard in the lobby. Yes, sir. I am not kidding.
There is no greater game in the world than long board shuffleboard. It takes skill, strategy, moxie and hutzpah to play.
A few facts about long board shuffleboard for those that are not familiar with the sport.
On a long smooth wooden table 22 feet long, players rotate shots until all eight pucks have been shot. The players then determine who scored by counting only the pucks closest to the end of the table that are of the same color. Only one color can score per frame. Games are usually played to 15.
Long board shuffleboard means a tremendous amount to me for a reason. Almost 50 years ago I was a young professional working for state government in Olympia Washington. The best sandwich place in town was the Brotherhood Tavern. My friends and workmates would frequent the tavern quite a bit for lunch. The tavern had a long board shuffleboard. I had never seen one before. Myself along with my friends started to play a little bit.
Little did I know that long board shuffleboard is a very important sport in Olympia Washington, especially during the drizzly, overcast and cool winter months. Almost every tavern in the area has an official shuffleboard team, with a captain and players. They all belong to a league, which has games every week. one home game at your tavern, and one away game at another tavern somewhere in the local area.
This is taken very seriously. After three months of games, the league divides into two divisions. The first Division is made up of the teams that won the most during the first half of the season. The second or B Division is made up of the also rans. Then for the last three months of the season you compete just in your division.
The Brotherhood Tavern had a team in the league. One that was made up of individuals who were seasoned veterans with long histories in the tavern, having played shuffleboard for years, and were all local residents.
But one day something happened that changed everything. Eating lunch that day, the bartender/owner came over to our table and looked straight at me, and said “you are our new shuffleboard team captain”. I said, “what? what are you talking about?”
He proceeded to tell me and my lunch mates that the tavern’s shuffleboard team had been beaten badly the night before – really badly. So badly that the entire team quit and said no more, no mas. He then added “you better get yourself a team.”
Flummoxed, but unable to resist a challenge, I got to work, recruiting my friends in state government. None had played seriously before. Most wore totally out of place collared shirts with ties. Most were not used to two nights a week staying up all hours to compete in a shuffleboard league, drinking beer the entire time. In short, we were not in shape for the competition. Nor did we have any experience. We were all rookies.
Nevertheless, we approached the rest of the league season with enthusiasm and energy. And we were absolutely terrible. We continually got shellacked by the opposing teams. We had no idea what we were doing. But we had fun drinking, talking and competing. At the half way point in the season, we were the worst team in the league of 14 teams. We were assigned to the second division for the second half of the season.
The good news is that for the second half of the season each team starts with a 0-0 record. They wipe away the results of the first half of the season and start over.
Undaunted, we started to get a little bit better. We started to win a few matches. Amazing. By the end of the season we were so proud to come in third in the B Division of the Olympia Shuffleboard League. I have never been so proud.
At the awards ceremony at the local fire station we received the trophy for coming in third in the B Division. As I went up to receive it, I could not believe it. it was the largest trophy I had ever received. It was at least 2+ feet tall. And then each one of my teammates and myself received individual trophies that were huge. It is the largest trophy that I have ever received in any sport in my life. It means so much to me that I have it sitting right next to my sofa in my living room to this day.
So, you can understand why I was so excited to see a long board shuffleboard in the middle of the lobby of the Hotel Paseo. I have never seen a long board shuffleboard in a hotel lobby before. To me, this makes the lobby of the Hotel Paseo one of the great hotel lobbies in the world.
Neil, that looks like a 1955 Series 62 Cadillac that I only dreamed of owning. Instead I could only afford a 10 year old 1954 red Chevrolet rag top which I drove for a couple of years. Have driven several red converts “chick magnets” ever since. Current one I’ve driven since 2003 is a 1994 Cavalier Z24 that goes like a scalded cat.
Ahh! The Peninsula’s, Have spent time in the one in Kowloon Hong Kong and in New York, quite impressive, I’m a flaneur and enjoy sitting in hotel lobbies observing humanity’s bustle in all its forms.
Regarding shuffleboard, you must have an eye for it as well as great hand eye coordination that I recall during our ORI pickleball days or is it daze?
As a result of this column, I will look much closer at hotel lobbies and brush up on my long board shuffleboard skills. It is a great game. Maybe there will be a surge in Tavern shuffle board like what has happened to pickleball.
This is a great memory! We played long board shuffleboard at the camp we went to every summer in Betula. PA when we would go visit mom during the last 20 years! It is such fun and anyone can play! We put Danny and his little cousins on a stool so they could reach!
I love shuffleboard! One of the best games. And a good shuffle board table is not easy to find
Thanks for the memory of being with you at the Peninsula in Manila. As I recall it was the place to meet because the hotel had its own generator to keep the lights on during frequent blackouts.