Perks at Travelodge include goldfishOne couple has spent 22 years staying in a Travelodge, but why would anybody want to live in a hotel permanently?
Perks at Travelodge include goldfishOne couple has spent 22 years staying in a Travelodge, but why would anybody want to live in a hotel permanently?
Some people who stay in hotels all the time to love complaining about them. Whether it's rock stars who are on the road permanently or footballers waiting for construction to finish on their McMansion, there is ennui.
Some people who stay in hotels all the time love complaining about them. Whether it's rock stars who are on the road permanently or footballers waiting for construction to finish on their McMansion, there is ennui.
Alan Partridge was famously driven to such despair by life in a motorway Travel Tavern that he railed: "I was at a friend's house the other night. I was trying to make a phone call, I thought there was something wrong with the phone. I'd been hitting nine. I felt like a ruddy idiot. I just left, I couldn't stay there after that."
Alan Partridge was famously driven to such despair by life in a motorway Travel Tavern that he railed: "I was at a friend's house the other night. I was trying to make a phone call, I thought there was something wrong with the phone. I'd been hitting nine. I felt like a ruddy idiot. I just left, I couldn't stay there after that."
Fiction's other well-known permanent hotel guest, Major Gowan in Fawlty Towers, seemed to while away his time with the fortunes of the England cricket team, casual racism and looking forward to his first drink of the day in the bar. Why he was living in the hotel was never quite made clear.
Fiction's other well-known permanent hotel guest, Major Gowan in Fawlty Towers, seemed to while away his time with the fortunes of the England cricket team, casual racism and looking forward to his first drink of the day in the bar. Why he was living in the hotel was never quite made clear.
Luxury
Luxury
Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, says permanent hotel residents are not a common phenomenon, but he can see the benefits.
Martin Couchman, deputy chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, says permanent hotel residents are not a common phenomenon, but he can see the benefits.
"It used to be more common - people who had the money, perhaps people who would otherwise live in old people's homes.
"It used to be more common - people who had the money, perhaps people who would otherwise live in old people's homes.
"A lot of things are done for you, you don't have to change the sheets or tidy the bathroom. On the other hand you are limited in the amount of possessions you can have."
"A lot of things are done for you, you don't have to change the sheets or tidy the bathroom. On the other hand you are limited in the amount of possessions you can have."
No one knew why Major Gowan lived at Fawlty TowersUp until the 1980s the Crieff Hydro hotel in Perthshire did have a cadre of elderly, permanent residents, but now these hotel lifers have passed away. Some luxury hotels have apartment blocks attached where guests might get some of the hotel services, but they are not aimed at the elderly.
No one knew why Major Gowan lived at Fawlty TowersUp until the 1980s the Crieff Hydro hotel in Perthshire did have a cadre of elderly, permanent residents, but now these hotel lifers have passed away. Some luxury hotels have apartment blocks attached where guests might get some of the hotel services, but they are not aimed at the elderly.
Residential homes have apparently taken up the slack, offering luxury to those people not in need of nursing care who might once have plumped for a hotel.
Residential homes have apparently taken up the slack, offering luxury to those people not in need of nursing care who might once have plumped for a hotel.
Not that permanent hotel life was just for the elderly. With his father a senator, former US vice-president Al Gore lived in a hotel for much of the year during his childhood.
Not that permanent hotel life was just for the elderly. With his father a senator, former US vice-president Al Gore lived in a hotel for much of the year during his childhood.
Biographers David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima wrote: "He grew up in a singularly odd world of old people and bellhops, separated from the child-filled neighbourhoods of his classmates."
Biographers David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima wrote: "He grew up in a singularly odd world of old people and bellhops, separated from the child-filled neighbourhoods of his classmates."
Artists
Artists
It has been suggested this might have contributed to his occasional difficulty in self-presentation.
It has been suggested this might have contributed to his occasional difficulty in self-presentation.
There is also a long tradition of writers and artists living for long periods in hotels, their physical needs catered for so their mind could run unfettered.
There is also a long tradition of writers and artists living for long periods in hotels, their physical needs catered for so their mind could run unfettered.
The Savoy Hotel in London - which counts Monet and a string of writers among its former customers - now has a writer in residence scheme.
The Savoy Hotel in London - which counts Monet and a string of writers among its former customers - now has a writer in residence scheme.
The humorist and novelist Kathy Lette spent nearly four months occupying a suite overlooking the Thames as part of the scheme and never tired of dialling nine for an outside line.
The humorist and novelist Kathy Lette spent nearly four months occupying a suite overlooking the Thames as part of the scheme and never tired of dialling nine for an outside line.
New York's Chelsea Hotel is famous for its artistic residents"It was divine. A life of luxury, of dialling your fingers to the bone to room service. It's like living in a giant ocean liner. You have the endless fabulous drama of people coming and going, and the mistresses and lovers.
New York's Chelsea Hotel is famous for its artistic residents"It was divine. A life of luxury, of dialling your fingers to the bone to room service. It's like living in a giant ocean liner. You have the endless fabulous drama of people coming and going, and the mistresses and lovers.
"I had a staff of 500 at my beck and call, maids delivered fresh flowers every day. I got my own dish on the menu a Kathy Ome-Lette. I wouldn't leave."
"I had a staff of 500 at my beck and call, maids delivered fresh flowers every day. I got my own dish on the menu a Kathy Ome-Lette. I wouldn't leave."
Afterwards, her months of living in luxury left her keen to do writing workshops in prison to redress the karmic balance, but she remembers the hotel being helpful to the point of doing her children's homework.
Afterwards, her months of living in luxury left her keen to do writing workshops in prison to redress the karmic balance, but she remembers the hotel being helpful to the point of doing her children's homework.
"The concierges have to do whatever you ask them. I would ring up and say 'what's the square root of the hypotenuse?'."
"The concierges have to do whatever you ask them. I would ring up and say 'what's the square root of the hypotenuse?'"
The hotel's most famous permanent resident was Richard Harris, who lived there while in London. Hotel archivist Susan Scott recounts an anecdote that when he was being taken out of the building on a stretcher shortly before his death he raised his hand and told the diners "it was the food".
The hotel's most famous permanent resident was Richard Harris, who lived there while in London. Hotel archivist Susan Scott recounts an anecdote that when he was being taken out of the building on a stretcher shortly before his death he raised his hand and told the diners "it was the food".
It's a long way from the Savoy to the Linton Travel Tavern, but the joy of not changing your own sheets remains.
It's a long way from the Savoy to the Linton Travel Tavern, but the joy of not changing your own sheets remains.
