Ode on an Airport Hotel
For she is fairer that she seems
She is not fancy.
She knows of no trend.
Her Instagram Story, untold.
Nary an influencer has glimpsed her (or, if she has, would ne’er admit it).
She will never be a Rosewood or an Aman or a Belmond.
But she is sturdy. Stalwart. She is always there waiting, with open
arms, any time of day.
She is the Sonesta Airport Hotel. The Hyatt Centric. The Choice.
She knows that she’s never really anyone’s choice, but that’s okay.
She knows who she is.
Her bedspread is thin and floral, but will keep you warm. Her TV set,
eager to illuminate with the scrolling cable guide of 1,000 channels.
Surely you’ll like one?
Oh, Netflix? Oh, Apple TV? She wants to cast them so badly for you. If
only she had stronger wifi.
The airport hotel has no Le Labo to offer. No Aesop. No Molton Brown.
Her soaps are hard and white, enveloped in waxed paper with serrated
edges. Take one home if you’d like.
Her stiff bath towels smell of bleach. Her wall-to-wall carpeting of
cigarette smoke that her owner was sure he had removed in the 2000s.
(He did not.)
But she has something that the chic hotels downtown don’t. Something
that those sprawling towers with their sparkling city views could
never.
Reliability.
She’s never more than three miles from the closest international
airport. She will bring you to and from her reception in a shuttle. No
charge. You will know how to open her simple door, turn on her lights,
and call her front desk. Neither app nor key card nor facial
recognition required.
She is unashamed.
She has been this way for years — decades — and has no intention of
changing. She is proud of her beige dust ruffle and her ever-humming
mini fridge. Those landscape paintings came directly from Sears. Her
two-layer curtains allow for privacy (to see the parking lot and also
let in the sunlight) or for total blackout. Whatever you prefer.
Do you want a bucket of questionable ice? It's just down the hall. A
literal wakeup call on the landline tomorrow morning? What time.
What.
Time.
Whenever you're ready to see her, she will welcome you.
The shuttle will be here every 30 minutes.
Awesome Kerri, loved it