Wednesday, March 9, 2011

An odd hotel

This is the entrance to the Port Phillip Estate Winery. Beautiful modern building with a highly rated restaurant and tasting room on the top floor and six beautlful hotel rooms overlooking the vineyard on the bottom. The second shot and shots below show our room from outside and inside. Why odd? This is first and foremost a winery. The building was only completed last fall so they seem new to the hotel business. There is nothing, and I mean nothing related to the hotel in the building except the rooms. When you enter the front door (swings mysteriously open as you approach) you are in a large room anteroom which is all glass on one side - the side facing the vineyard. Glass doors slide open elevator style and you go into the restaurant and tasting room. But if you look to your left there is an almost imperceptible door with a card key lock. This is the entrance to the hotel rooms. Use your key, then take either an elevator or stairs to go down to the hotel rooms. But here's the thing. The dining room is only open for dinner Thursday through Sunday. We were there Tuesday and Wednesday. So on our days the whole place shuts down at 5:00 PM. And I mean shuts down. Everyone goes home. Come home after dark and there isn't a light on in the entire building or parking lot. Once you get out of your car and use the card key to open the front door all the exterior lighting for the building comes on but nothing until then. Remember once inside there's no receeption and nobody from the hotel. To make it even more intersting, on the two nights we were there we were the ONLY guests. Not another person in the building with us. Not another car in the lot. Get the pcture? I frankly think most people would not have gotten out of their car.

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