Hotel Indigo

I love this place. I even bought stock in it (and it's gone up!). I know that I technically bought stock in the parent company that owns this and many other chains, but as far as I'm concerned, I bought stock in Hotel Indigo specifically. Yes, it's a profit-oriented business. It's goal is to get me to stay there and pay them for the privilege, pay their bills, all the usual corporate stuff. The difference (and I believe that it is a monumental difference) is that when they have you there, when they have me there (which may contribute), they don't just "pamper" you in exchange for your ample payment (which is significantly less ample than many "pampering" chains); they challenge you, if you're paying attention. Take the Indigo on West End here in Nashville, for example: around the edge of the raised ceiling above the front desk are painted two popular, cliched verses ... backwards. There are competing explanations for this, but in a nutshell, it's an homage to DaVinci, who wrote a lot of stuff backwards, and his association to the golden ration, or golden mean (also compelling the name of the hotel cafe, the Golden Bean - ha).

At this point, what you should be thinking, at the very least, is that whatever any of it means, of all possible explanations of any given decorative element in any hotel lobby, this is easily the coolest. Add to that the haikus that find their way into every nook, cranny, and hotel amenity, and unless you're in a coma, you should leave this place at least slightly elevated from the intellectual (and emotional) position from which you entered. You might even discover a little poetic flair in yourself. Substantive brevity is not just for Twitter.