Salzburg Hotel

Dedicating a short entry to our hotel. We've shown a few photos, but it really was an incredible hotel. Some parts very ancient (worn stone steps) and some very modern (iPads or other computers on the walls).

What I found very odd (and I think the rest of the family did too) is that with going "too" modern.... can go very strange in the art department. I never thought I'd miss the old-boring-same-hotel paintings/photographs. So, not a single Salzburg oil painting or artistic photograph of the Fortress... no... modern art all the way. More art in quotations. "Art".

So, here is an extended tour of our hotel:

This is hard to see in a photograph, but at the reception desk, they had an iPad in lieu of a clock. They had filmed the changing of the clock over (however many hours to piece it together) time so that each minute was represented by a crew of people coming in to change the wooden planks to form a new number. They'd finished fixing the new number at the top of the minute, and about half way through the minute, they'd re-enter the frame to change it to the next number. In the photo below they are changing a "1" into a "2". Ok, pretty cool.

Our suite, again a very expensive price tag (that we only paid about 40%), had a long hallway leading from the door into the main part of the suite. It created a light and airy feeling to the entrance. However, it also had automatic lights (triggered by movement), so at night, when you go to the bathroom in the dark, the lights automatically turned on. Cool, on the one hand, as you don't have to turn on the lights. Uncool on the other hand, as it creates a flood of light that's unnecessary as well as might wake up the daughter sleeping in the living room area. Also, when they time-out, they sometimes come right back on and flicker and... hmmm, we couldn't turn them off as the sensors were in the walls and taking the card out of the "electrical" enabler do-hickey would turn off all electricity, we just had to deal with it. And only one bathroom, so we had to go up and down stairs all night for the bathroom. Just a few of the many things you find yourself feeling "irritated" and/or "entitled to" due to the price you're paying.

Our hallway from within and from below (top floor).

The kids said it well when they mentioned it felt like an apartment.

Xander's room (also included a kitchenette) (left), stairs up to the loft (main bedroom) (mid-left)
The lounging area (middle), the bathroom corridor (sinks, bathtub, shower) (mid-right)
A crazy light-switch post that is outside the shower/bath area and the main sink area.
It always takes three tries to get it right as to which switch is which. (right)

Again, a mixture of old and new. Some new flooring and lights. But lots of old stone staircases. I loved how they were worn down, warped, missing steps. Beautiful (but hold onto the railing as you walk them, just to be sturdy).

Ambience around the hotel. Hallways and stairways.

Ok, so some of the crazy artwork found through out the hotel. We walked the stairs a lot, so we saw this art every, day several times a day. Getting more steps is awesome, but we mostly took the stairs because the elevator was slow and could only hold 4 people (max) at a time (very, very tiny, very, very close quarters). The art below:

Top: Found in Xander's room. Actually kind of cool.

Second row: A blemished mother holding her baby on a cross, smudged. This one, while at first glance seems innocuous, was quite disturbing to me. Yuck.

And 

Eva and Adelle, just strange style of art.

Third row: Two ghost-apparitions on dangling weird legs floating above the city, and sorry for my reflection.

And

A man with a sign that reads (I can no longer see art). This one came with a secondary instalment of an monitor (on another floor) with the artist explaining the process and showing how they set it up and such.  There was another monitor, on another floor, showing some scientists trying to launch "something", which failed miserably, people slipped and everyone was laughing. But there was no sound, so you just watch, and this "something" is on display (and really, just on the floor in the corner) of another part of the hotel. So random. 

Fourth row: I don't know. Two people from the front and from the back.

This is just a sample of the weirdness that is art.

Then, there was other humour around the hotel, which was appreciated. In this following photo, there is a "Glashaus" (glass house) with a sign reading: No stones please. Made Chris and me laugh, anyway.

 More from the "older" atmosphere, which I liked. An old telephone with typewriter. The wine cellar (available to reserve for parties with large groups).

And finally, a view from the street and from above.

Our hotel room is the middle building, top row of three windows (left).
Middle building between the two "pinker" buildings (middle).
A view from the walk down from the Fortress (right).