The Prison Hotel

The idea of turning old prisons into hotels is not a new one, and one of the best examples is the Malmaison in Oxford, England, but now I read that Brits are now captivated by a new tourist “hotel” — the notorious World War Two prison Colditz. So I can see the advertising campaign already, “Come to a place that others tried so dam hard to leave, some even died trying, and pay us for the privilege”.

Guests pay £20 a night to stay in the Nazi castle where Allied officers such as legless RAF hero Douglas Bader were held. The guards’ living quarters and offices have been spruced up and 161 beds installed for visitors. Meals are served in the canteen used by wartime staff. Guests get a three-hour tour of tunnels and hidden rooms used by PoWs in ingenious escape attempts.

Colditz, in southern Germany, housed troublesome British officers who had already made repeated breakout bids from prison camps. Birmingham-based battlefield tour specialists the War Research Society have won the right to offer the “prisoner experience”. Official Alex Bulloch said: “The accommodation is spartan but the idea is to give people an idea of what it was like to be there as a PoW.

 “Colditz is the trip of a lifetime for anyone interested in this aspect of the war. To stay under the same roof as the Allied officers is incredible.” More than 30 prisoners escaped from Colditz before US troops came to the rescue in 1945. But I guess it does have a real historical story behind it and a hotel is a sensible use for such a beautiful building, but making money from such a history would not be my idea.

The Underwater Hotel....

Within this blog I have found and written about the Death hotel and the Divorce hotel and to continue the thread of the weird and wonderful hotels of the world, ladies & gentlemen I now give you the Underwater Hotel, otherwise known as the Poseidon Undersea Resort, which is located in Fiji. Really ! a hotel built under the sea, sitting on the sea bed, and made of super plastic, oh I am just not too sure on this one, not sure at all.

Okay so I bet the claustrophobic comment comes up all the time and I bet they have their answer all ready, maybe something to do with the amount of view that eases that sensation would be my guess, but what the feeling that with all that water around you would just want to spent your whole time in the toilet?

The website for this hotel is: www.poseidonresorts.com and all I can really say is go and have a look for yourself and make up your own mind. At some point in my life I would love to visit and stay at all the worlds most unusual, unique hotels and this is definitely one of those, but, and I have to be honest, it is a massive but, I am really not sure I would want to sleep in a plastic bubble under the sea. I would not mind going to a restaurant, or an observation capsule, but actually falling asleep down there just does not appeal.

The idea of building hotels undersea is not new or unique, there is even plans for a £1.5billion project in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, which would of course be a 5 Star super luxury place, but even that does not get me over the idea of falling asleep under the sea. And yes I know that people who go around in submarines do that all the time, but I bet they don’t have a window next to their bed and wake up staring at the fishes’.

Team GB Football Kit

Okay so the kit for Team GB, the football team for Britain at the London 2012 Olympics has just been unveilled and I have to say I like it. It might just be a bit tight for me to ever wear, not sure I have the body for such a design, but I do like it.

I think it will also be interesting to see if next year in the EPL if teams that normally wear adidas with have a similar style and fit.

However for me, I have to say I would really like to see, The Ox wearing this shirt at the games, far more than playing for England at the Euro's, I think it would be far better for his development. Equally I would like to see team GB have a strong side, so I would also like to see Ramsey, Wilshere and Frimpong join him in the squad.

The Divorce Hotel

Some time ago I blogged about a hotel in Japan which was aimed for the dead!, Click Here and now I have come across another weird and wonderful idea for a niche market hotel concept, a hotel called the Divorce Hotel, Click Here

A hotel that has set itself up to organise, sort out and confirm your divorce over a weekend while staying in the hotel. OMG, I can’t believe the mind that thought this up. But then again, if you think about it, hotels have played a major part in the act of getting married, and in a lot of cases in the romance before hand, so maybe it is a logical conclusion that a hotel has now completed the circle and offered this. But a hotel doing divorces, as a hotelier it just leaves a bad taste in the mouth, and in a lot of ways I think it damages the romance of our industry.

But lets be fair on the people behind this. They had a business, they needed to find a way of selling rooms and filling the property, just as all hotels have to do. They spotted a gap in the market and filled it, so maybe it is not them that is to blame. After all this would not be generating news coverage if it was not working and if there was not a market for it. Equally if it does work, how long before this becomes a Brand and has hotels all over the world, I can see it in the USA, The UK and across Europe, and I could see it happening fast.

It is also interesting that when you look at the website for the business there are no bedroom, or restaurant pictures, it is just sales pitch and the prices starting from 2,449euro.

But it is sad that our world, our society has come to this, it is sad that the average marriage in the UK last less than 6 years, and it is not the hotels fault these marriages break down, so providing the service is just another example of the creativity of us hoteliers, but I am glad I did not have the idea, even if it turns out to be a massive success, I guess I am just a bit boring, and I just don’t like it.

Moral Test for all UK citizens .........

Moral Test....Read to the end before making a judgement.

This test only has one question, but it's a very important one.

By giving an honest answer, you will discover where you stand morally.

The test features an unlikely, completely fictional situation in which

you will have to make a decision.

Remember that your answer needs to be honest, yet spontaneous.

Please scroll down slowly and give due consideration to each line.

*** THE SITUATION: ***

You are in London .

There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding.

This is a flood of biblical proportions.

You are a photo-journalist working for a major newspaper, and you're

caught in the middle of this epic disaster.

The situation is nearly hopeless.

You're trying to shoot career-making photos.

There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing

into the water.

Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.

*** THE TEST: ***

Suddenly, you see a man in the water.

He is fighting for his life, trying not to be taken down with the debris

You move closer... Somehow, the man looks familiar....

You suddenly realize who it is.... It's the Muslim Cleric, Abu Hamza,

the one-eyed, hook handed bastard who hates non-Muslims and wants the

UK to become an Islamic state!!

You notice that the raging waters are about to take him under forever.

You have two options:

You can save the life of Abu or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer

Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the country's

most despised, evil and powerful men!

*** NOW THE QUESTION AND PLEASE GIVE AN HONEST ANSWER ***

Would you select high contrast colour film or, would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

New Arsenal Shirt for 2012-13 season....

This is being reported as the new Arsenal Home shirt for next season, 2012-13. It was revealed on the website ArsenalInsider.com, who have a good track record for being the first to show the next seasons shirt. Oh my, I really hope that this time they have gotten it wrong. A grey collar, dark navy on the sleeves, just when will Nike understand a very simple english word, tradition !
Of course I will buy it, I have every shirt for the last 26 years, home, away, 3rd strip, everyone. And if this is to be the shirt, I would still buy it, but this is one that I would not wear, or ever like.

21 really funny one-liners, funny funny funny.......

1.    Crime in multi-storey car parks. That is wrong on so many levels.
2.    So I got home and the phone was ringing. I picked it up and said: "Who's speaking please?" And a voice said: "You are."

3.    So I went down my local ice-cream shop and said: "I want to buy an ice-cream." He said: "Hundreds and thousands?" I said: "We'll start with the one."

4.    When I left home, my mum said: "Don't forget to write." I thought: "That's unlikely – it's a basic skill, isn't it?"

5.    Velcro... what a rip-off.

6.    So I met a gangster who pulls up the back of people's pants. It was Weggie Kray.

7.    I wanted to be a milkman but I didn't have the bottle.

8.    So I said to this train driver: "I want to go to Paris." He said: "Eurostar?" I said: "I've been on telly but I'm no Dean Martin."

9.    I used go out with an anaesthetist – she was a local girl.

10.  I had a dream last night that I was cutting carrots with the Grim Reaper... dicing with death.

11.  So I rang up British Telecom and said: "I want to report a nuisance caller." He said: "Not you again."

12.  Albinos – you can't say fairer than that.

13.  I saw this bloke chatting-up a cheetah and I thought: "He's trying to pull a fast one."

14.  The advantages of easy origami are two-fold.

15.  I rang up my local swimming baths. I said: "Is that the local swimming baths?" He said: "It depends where you're calling from."

16.  So I said to the gym instructor: "Can you teach me to do the splits?" He said: "How flexible are you?" I said: "I can't make Tuesdays."

17.  I'm against hunting. In fact, I'm a hunt saboteur. I go out the night before and shoot the fox.

18.  So I went down the local supermarket. I said: "I want to make a complaint – this vinegar's got lumps in it." He said: "Those are pickled onions."

19.  I'll tell you what I love doing more than anything – trying to pack myself in a small suitcase. I can hardly contain myself.

20.  I was at sea the other day and loads of meat floated past. It was a bit choppy.

21.   "Conjunctivitis.com — that's a site for sore eyes."