‘The Economist’ on ‘A Short History of Hotels’ and, erm, Trowell service station

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• xcalx says:

  30 Dec30 December 07:40

  The Economist will always remind me of the BMI Diamond Club. I remember the great signup bonus’s and laughed when the postman pushed 7 copies a time through the letterbox. Oh happy days.

  • Kevincm @ GhettoIFE.com says:

    30 Dec30 December 12:48

    Oh yes. That WAS a darn good wheeze for 9k of points x how much you were bored by 😉

  • Rob says:

    30 Dec30 December 13:26

    Ah yes, I remember explaining to my Mum why she was now an Economist subscriber!

• squills says:

  30 Dec30 December 07:50

  Nice article – though a bit odd to find it in The Economist.

  Maybe they were trying to fill a bit of space in the dead period over Xmas & New Year 😉

  • Rob says:

    30 Dec30 December 13:29

    The Christmas Economist is different to the rest of the year. They commission 15 or so long-form pieces like these two, and run them inbetween the usual articles. Then stick a few £ on the cover price!

    It is always very good, though, you always find a few gems like these. It is the only Christmas ‘special edition’ I bother buying on a regular basis. I didn’t even get the Christmas Spectator this year, because it came out so early that the articles would have been two weeks old by the time I got round to opening it on Boxing Day!

• sandgrounder says:

  30 Dec30 December 08:20

  I haven’t even looked at mine yet due to my Christmas books. I shall have a look tonight!

• Tim says:

  30 Dec30 December 08:45

  An excellent read, thank you. The former article explains why staying in a globally branded hotel is the antithesis of travelling. They are really targeted at wealthy unfortunates who, like Greek wines, do not ‘travel well’.

  • callum says:

    30 Dec30 December 09:34

    Sounded more like someone with a chip on their shoulder to me! Is Holiday Inn targeted at the wealthy?

    It also seems rather judgemental to say they don’t travel well. While they travel differently to you and me, who’s to say your way is the “correct” way?

• gnarlyoldgoatdude says:

  30 Dec30 December 09:20

  As for the Trowell Services article, it’s interesting that they referenced “The Irony Of Fate.” Doubtless my family and I (as well as a good proportion of the former USSR) will be tuning in tomorrow night as it is on every New Year’s Eve on Russian TV, just as it was in the Soviet days.
  Nice film, but an hour too long.

  • gnarlyoldgoatdude says:

    31 Dec31 December 20:41

    Yeap. It was on 1st Channel, just been watching it.

• Rob says:

  30 Dec30 December 13:30

  That CNN piece doesn’t have the same melancholy as a UK motorway service station delivers, though!

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