Homeless Hotels

The City

The City

The coolest thing about Breather.com, new startup by Julien Smith, is not that it offers an alternative to noisy cafes, expensive hotels or crowded co-working spaces. In fact, people who use them often look for crowds, luxury service, or even noise of the city. The best part about Breather, however, could well be the fact that it opens doors to new spaces and places that are not only more quite and solitary, but also more intimate than anything we experience beyond our homes. And it's not a matter of decor, which is probably going to have a nice hostel feeling to it, but it's a matter of location, function and space design.

Places offered via Breather are mostly just regular apartments converted for specific use by the startup. That means that they are more likely to be in districts and buildings you could only get into if you were actually owning or renting an apartment in the city, or staying at someone's place. And those are quite different from what's being built with public function in mind. Apartment spaces tend to be more native to the city. They are like cells of our body that are very many and alike, but are what makes our organism and body so distinct and unique. 

The big question, however, is wether this is the right model for business of short-term private space renting? Hotels today already own real estate and could have capacity to rent rooms for a shorter time, benefiting from the economies of scale in providing services and keeping the place clean. If they adopt this model, they could get extra cash for rooms which do not get booked for the whole night, and which are usually staying empty during the day anyways, between early check-outs and late check-ins. For this to work, hotel operators will definitely have to shorten the time required for preparing a room for the next guest, but that should hardly be a problem.

There are a couple of other companies that could potentially go into this space today, like hoteltonght.com - last minute hotel booking app, or even AirBnb, which is actively looking for new opportunities in the sharing economy niche. Co-working offices could also offer spaces that are more private and include amenities for relaxation.

Well, new hotel is not technically a startup, especially if founded by the 2nd largest boutique hotels group in the US. But it’s definitely a new start in Silicon Valley, and I would like to see it scale.

If you visited Silicon Valley and tried to stay in a hotel, you probably will understand why I am so excited about this new place. Not that San Francisco and Bay Area ever tried to claim the name of the fashion hub (deep sigh...), but I am still not losing hope that there are places here also for those who want to live with taste and style, not just sustainability and efficiency.

It’s still very much a hub for tech cloud and they brand themselves so, but there are two things that make it stand out from the crowd. One - it’s new and so it has the most modern look and feel one can find here. Two - it’s a more social place due to its location, design and its focus on connecting with local community. I am still hoping that this hotel will also get its own Instagram or Tumblr to share events and and experience with the travel and hotel freaks like myself.

There’s another important fact which should not be forgotten that will tell quite a few things to hotel-aware folks. This is a hotel from San Francisco-based Joie de Vivre Hotels, proud owner of a few dozens boutique hotels in California and around the US. Two of my favourites among them are Saguardo in Palm Springs and Lincoln Hotel in Chicago.

And so here comes The Epiphany - the youngest in this sophisticated family, but well positioned for success. I just stopped by to say "Hi" to this new and warm property, and wanted to share a few things that attracted my eye.

This is possibly the newest and coolest hotel in Silicon Valley, which opened its doors on Mar 10th in Palo Alto, just a couple of blocks away from The University Avenue - center of life around Stanford.

On the outside this hotel looks really organic, woody and warm. A 8-story pine tree painted on the side wall looks like a reflection of the actual pine tree growing right next to it.

The restaurant terrace with French windows looks truly edenic, and allows you to enjoy not-so-mild California sun in a cool shade with an unobstructed view of the street (the best of California & Berlin combined).

Their cocktail bar also looks really spiced up, so you would not be bored even if you spend your evening alone there.

Lightning inside is guaranteed to catch your eye even during the day. It’s a coordinated dance of 100 lights moving in a slow mo fashion like swan dance that makes you realize this place is up for tech + art.

  But don’t hide yourself from the sun all the time. When the weather is nice, nothing will serve you better than a green balcony with colorful lounge chairs and fun animals as a company. Check it out!

Palace may not be exactly an ideal definition of a hotel for you. Neither it is for me. Generally I prefer hotels which don’t have marble floors, chandeliers and towers on top. But, haven’t we all once in a while got carried away by tales in which a Palace or Castle becomes the center stage for the events. Harry Potter, Games of Throne, 10th kingdom - anyone? )

Well, Fairmont is not exactly a Neuschwanstein, and at times it feel more like Vegas. But as in any tale, you should not take everything you see literally. Same with Fiarmont - let yourself be fooled by it’s somewhat artificial opulence and flairs and add some sepia to your mental image of the place, and you’ll get yourself immersed into the world of its past glory and myths.

Here are some of my snapshots and tips to get your imagination flowing.

Start your day with an in-room breakfast. Go for fresh juice & oatmeal with fruits - a royal set without having to go to the lobby and experience the usual morning hustle and bustle of a hotel.

Now it’s time to get out of the room, but don’t leave the hotel too soon, there are things to see inside, and especially outside.

If you are not staying in the Penthouse suite, chances are, you won’t have a view on the city which is advertised on the website. But don’t get this as an offense, instead, make sure you explore the hotel as much as you can beyond your room. So let’s get started.

Roof garden:

Being atop of the Nob Hill, even the 2nd floor, where the roof garden is located, gives you a feeling of being above the city.

Hotel Tower:

Make sure to take the Tower elevator to the 23rd floor, where you’ll see a small window which gives you what I called ‘New York view of San Francisco”, like you get from being atop of the Rockefeller building in the Big Apple.  

Rooms on other floors:

If you work at Fiarmont SF hotel - please kindly skip this part. This hotel has 500+ rooms, which means that almost at any moment there are some rooms in service, i.e. they are being open for repairs, furniture or lightning change, art installation, or things like that. So if you are lucky, you may find rooms with doors open wide enough and nobody around.. but I didn’t tell you that.

Tip: This is not exactly budget hotel, but there are ways to get a room for as little as 200 USD / night, which is over 50% reduction from their lowest regular price. Just download the HotelTonigh.com app and watch closely, they show up on the list every now and again. Use SSAMUSEV invite code to get free 25 USD credit for your first booking.

As it turns out, you don’t have to be a president to live like one, at least if you are in the Bay Area. Just cross the Golden Gate bridge and take your first right turn after the Vista Point (don’t stop here yet, you’ll have a better view soon).

They say it’s a ‘perfect destination for an intimate escape, fun-filled getaway or family vacation.’ Really?

I mean, there are many people who happily celebrate their birthdays, weddings, and have other types of ‘fun-filled’ money-give-aways, I have no doubt about that. But frankly, I think those people have no taste in this life. Why would you pick such a traditional, historic and romantic place for any event which is already deeply berried in the customs and sweet memories of our folks.

How about an alternative outlook on this place.

How often do you drink coffee on the balcony with a view on the Golden Gate bridge?

How often do you eat breakfast with the best view on the San Francisco and boats sailing past you?

How often does your dog go to shit on a soccer-field-sized lawn in a historic Covallo Point? (don’t forget to clean it up:)

So how about just going about your day like you’d normally do here. Doing some shopping in SF, going for a bike ride or hike in Sausalito, or maybe even being a complete tourist and checking out Pier 39 and Alcatraz. Nobody is making a big deal out of it, so don’t make a big deal of Covallo Point Lodge stay, just enjoy it, just like a president would do B)

To be a complete shrift, just stop buy for breakfast/brunch at their terrace with the Golden Gate bridge view. Their fresh juice, seasonal berries and coffees won’t disappoint you.

If you've been traveling around Poland, or even anywhere in Eastern Europe, you probably know that the hotel scene in these countries is not the most bright and diverse. Large cities in Poland have a mixture of traditional chain hotels, like Marriott or Sofitel, and local types of historic boutique hotels, scattered around old town squares. And while the later ones could be a good choice for first-time visitors, since they will make the experience more native, there's lack of affordable and cool luxury in both of these hotel types today.

But there may be some new promising spring in the garden. In 2011 five Nordic entrepreneurs and as referred by their hotel stuff 'hotels and design freaks' came to start something so fresh and cool, that it almost instantly stood out as a new breed of hotels. And I can argue it’s one superior to anything available today on the market.

The chain opened by five eccentric gentlemen has a name Puro Hotels, which underlines their overall clean and fresh style. There are only two open properties at this point, with the last one opened just a few month ago in Krakow. My own encounter happened however in Wroclaw, where they have their first property. To anyone unfamiliar with the location, I should just say its the 4th largest city in the south-west of Poland, with really significant number of students and expats, both of whom enjoy the city 24/7, with the exception of bank holidays, when Wroclaw turns into a ghost city, like every other city and town in Poland. I am also positively biased towards this place, since it's been my hometown for the last 3 years. But I hope it will make my view more of an insider.

Location:

While the city itself has many real jewels to enjoy (my personal favourites are Ul. Norwida or Wybrzeże Wyspiańskiego), there's no better place for staying in Wroclaw for anything up to 3 month visit than Wlodkowica street, where Puro Hotel occupies the top spot. On one side hotel allows access to what I call local ‘Hudson river park’. It runs along old city moat, surrounding the city’s limits and creating a perfect space for running, cycling, walking the dogs (hotel allows guest to bring their pets), or just enjoying a morning coffee. As an extra bonus, the hotel has bikes which guests can borrow for free. There are also a few city-bike stations in the vicinity. The other side of the hotel opens its door to a quiet street, which on its opposite side hosts back entrances to city's most timeless and loved by locals restaurants, pubs and bars. On place specifically worth mentioning is called ‘club-cafe Mleczarnia’, and offers really special atmosphere for breakfast or dinner, with outside tables located in the yard of an old Jewish synagogue, the only one that survived in the city after WWII. Walking through the synagogue yard and across the next street will take you to beautiful stairs and the arch, which make up an entrance to city's smaller market square, called Pl. Solny (Salt square), which now hosts city's largest florist kiosks and also serves as a meeting place for bikers for the reason I don't really understand. Fun fact about the florists: while they stay open pretty late, some even 24h in the summer, you can also attempt to buy flowers from the local homeless dudes, who serve as guards during the night time. Across Pl. Solny there's 'entrance' to Rynek - city's largest market square, with all the restaurants, bars and clubs being located inside the share or on the surrounding streets. I can't say most of them deserve attention, but that's where most tourists want to spend their time. Thus, the location of Puro Hotel, while being close to the city's hotspots, is also nicely protected from the noises, crowds, and other side effects of the city which has people in clubs even on Monday mornings.

Property:

The whole property to me looks like an oasis surrounded by the old historical and mostly gray architecture. This contrast highlights hotel’s modern and bright look, and makes it a spot you can't resist approaching. While on one side the street enters the hotel’s transparent walls right into its cozy (European cozy) social lobby, the side overlooking the river and park has its own lawn with outside tables, lounge chair, and tall and slender trees, which provide an intimate shade on warm sunny days. This area gives to the hotel the look of luxury residential apartments, secured from the outer world by both nature and beautifully-wrought iron fence. My small secret: a few times I was enjoying the day on the hotel’s lawn without being their guest. But seems like it’s not something the hotel is strictly trying to control.

The restaurant, which has a bar, and tables both inside and outside, offers very reasonably priced, small, but well balanced menu. But it's the seasonal dishes I would advise to pay attention to, including hot drinks and cocktails. Given the quality and variety of food within 5' walk, you probably won’t end up eating in the hotel often, but if you are short on time or really lazy to get outside, it will keep you well fed and served.

Lobby of this hotel is probably its most unique spot. Equipped with tablets for self check-ins and open to the street view, it provides perfect level of comfort and privacy, and can be used for both play and work. In fact, it reminds me of modern offices of tech companies like Google or Airbnb, where people have space created to inspire collaboration and allow for privacy at the same time.

Other than that, hotel has machines with not at all bad coffee and tea, as well as futuristic vases filled with seasonal fruits. There's no wellness area in the hotel, but that is probably the right decision to offer less things but without compromise. I am personally very skeptical towards hotels spas and saunas, unless they really serve as spa centers. But such places can be found in Wroclaw elsewhere.

Rooms:

There are only two types of rooms, which differ by the size of their bed only. While not very large, rooms offer modern and functional space which is devoid of thing you are not going to use. My favorite part is the bathroom and shower, which is placed within a glass box inside the room. You can of course hide yourself with curtains, but such design makes the room much more interesting and also intimate, since you are essentially walking naked in your room. That is what usually happens in places and with people you are really close to. And I didn't even mind the fact that taking the shower floods half of the bathroom. This is almost inevitable with such a design. Apart from TV, everything else in the room is controlled from wall-mounted screen, which allows, among other things, to check the weather, make calls, and control intensity and color of the lights in the room. The lights in each room make up important part of the design. Not only do they allow to change the atmosphere within the room, but also define the look of the hotel from the outside. Beds and bedclothes are really perfect, and night stands are equipped with all kinds of outlets to charge any possible devise. One thing I was missing though is the ability to stream music and video from my own devices. Something that could today be easily fixed with device like Google's Chromecast.

Service:

People who work in the hotel are young, dressed in casual and smart outfits with predominantly black colors. There's no US style '32-teeth smile’ service, but I was really pleased by all my interactions in the hotel. I was refused in my request to borrow party rope for my private reasons, but that is type of test I don't think even the best US hotels will pass.

Time to visit:

While the city is at its best in spring and summer, when most cafes and restaurants have tables outside and the city can be travelled by bike, Puro Hotel offers the best option for any time of the year. In spring and summer the hotel’s lawn and outside tables will allow you to enjoy doing outside whatever you would otherwise be bored with inside you room. During fall and winter months cozy, comfortable and vitamin-color light lobby space will be your perfect shelter for lazy moments.

Feedback:

I guess I am not going to complain much, though I did mention a few minor details earlier. I would suggest that hotel could have a roof-top bar with terrace, but since there's no Bosphorus to look at and only 3-4 month in a year are really warm, it probably would not be the best use of the space.