As an art dealer, post-moderne preferably, and she an artist....surrealism primarily we enjoy finding the people and places that give character to life. Thus, the Chinook Motel was a real find for us!!
It could truly be a horror movie set!! The proprietress, Beddie, is a devout christian from Egypt (where women aren’t allowed to drive!!) with Phyllis Diller-esque hair. She was very friendly and quick to engage us about our spiritual leanings. She had some
difficulty grasping the concept of agnosticism, but was pleasant enough in her proselytizing.
The lobby is an installation in itself. It’s cluttered with a wonderful assortment including an exercycle with silver tinseled handlebars, antique computer monitors, dayglo plastic elec toothbrushes, dog figurines and a candy-shop array of
chocolate bars and chips. "Cash only," she said with determination, as if expecting an argument. The free wi-fi works fine.
The room was truly wonderful.....if you appreciate surreal!! The carpet was brown with stains and the decor comprised of thrift store rejects. The vinyl over-stuffed chairs had tears in just the right places that coquettishly displayed their stuffing in that
Southern-style hominess one rarely encounters anymore except in the backwaters of Alabama.
The identical German expressionist prints are nailed, through the frames, to the walls. This wonderfully graphic element provides a kinesthetic dimension to the desolate landscape they depict. The height of the decor was the pink, marbleized toilet seat ca. '70s. The toilet itself is a marvel of surrealism.....set at an angle to the room, it directly corresponds to the angle of the sink counter top. The porcelain in the sink was cracked
and the impressive rust stains had been half-heartedly covered with white paint. One-and-a-half sets of towels were provided. They were well-used but clean, except for one which was folded discreetly to cover the brown stains. Appearances aside, everything worked with fine water pressure in the cubicle shower and at the lavatory. (Although adjusting the temp in the shower did require a subtle touch.)
The sheets were clean and the bed hard as a rock, but we slept well. However, my partner sustained a mosquito bite on her chin. We attributed this to the lack of screens on the windows.
At $49.00 it was the cheapest place in town. And an adventure we'll recount for years to come. Character is all to us and this place has it to the max. We'll never stay anywhere else when in Port Angeles!!
Highly recommended for the adventurous and/or thrifty!! But not for the faint of heart.
No air-conditioning.
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