I’ve always been somewhat of a planner, so I try not to walk into a situation and find unexpected problems. Sometimes that works; sometimes it doesn’t.
I wanted to stay at the Yorktowne Hotel for the reunion. When growing up in York it always seemed quite posh. Since I stayed in numerous excellent hotels when attending my theatre conferences (Chicago’s Palmer House, New York’s Marriott Marquis, San Francisco’s hotel that I can’t remember and doesn’t show up on a hotel listing search…?), I thought I’d compare it. Plus, if anyone asked where I was staying, I could say, “The Yorktowne,” and people could reply with, “Oooooo!”
Part of my planning included checking out the hotel website, which mentioned parking across the street. So we arrived there first, parked on the sixth floor, and found the elevator out of order. So then we drove to the front of the hotel, found two men there—a tattooed guy and a literal Popeye lookalike who were not as helpful as I would hope, but who did direct us to the back of the hotel.
The interior had been remodeled and looked good, and the hotel staff (other than the two outside) were all quite friendly and helpful. After checking in, the clerk located a luggage cart for our use. But there were some difficulties along the way.
For one thing, the lock on our room door stopped working at one point, and we needed maintenance to effect a repair—but standing in the hallway for about 15 minutes was not great.
We also attended their big 100th Anniversary bash to get some food and a drink before going off to meet my grade school friend. Unfortunately, whoever set it up had no idea about traffic flow, and we stood in a long line after getting a few bites of food and, with no drinks, just left.
Also, one major complaint of mine: we ran out of tissues after about 30 minutes in the room. Really? They need to check that, don’t you think? It would also save them time having to bring us a box when we request it.
However, the hotel’s revamping did fit into the gentrification of the town. As I grew up, York sank into disrepair. Apparently, they were quite busy fixing things up, so there appeared to be many new businesses, including restaurants. I never expected to see an Egyptian restaurant in York!
Most surprising perhaps was crossing the street to and from the parking garage and hotel. People actually stopped for pedestrians. Of course, I always hesitated and never quite trusted them, but they did seem to be trained to allow us to cross.
So it’s great that the place has been revitalized, but I still wouldn’t want to move back there. Too many memories of a small town I couldn’t wait to leave.
MUSOFYR 