The Long Hall

The morning that we entered the penultimate floor for renovation, we stood there and pondered…it has been a long haul. Of the total of eight floors that we will eventually complete, we have finished with six of them. That is nearly 200 rooms, each with its own set of issues. We moved every piece of furniture in those rooms, after the carpet was installed; we swept the corners, and vacuumed it. We replaced electrical outlets, outlet covers and disconnected and reconnected TV’s, lights, etc. We brought in new box springs and mattresses, pulled off the plastic cover and laid them down carefully. I could go on and on describing the process, but suffice to say, that if not for taking it in small bites, it would have felt overwhelming. Throughout that project, we have developed a routine that has gradually become more and more efficient. That well-oiled renovation machine may experience a monkey wrench as we start one of two floors that have the most rooms in them. This batch of rooms also has a greater scope of work because among other things, we are removing crown molding that Holiday Inn dislikes. In preparation for the work this time we have protected the hall carpet with a plastic cover.

 

In the early morning with the sun shining at one end of the hall the resulting image looks ethereal, almost dreamlike and the light limits the ability to see the other end. This stresses to the team just how long this hall is. I heard but have not confirmed that it is 300 feet long. Wait, 300 feet – that equals 100 yards, or the length of a football field…really???



Now I know why kids just can’t’ help themselves when they see the hall, they have to sprint down it. To the renovation crew, the length represented that many more steps that will be needed to move furniture, carpet, tools, etc. Still, here we go….
I’ll let you know when we get to the other side!




In keeping with Inn-keeping,

Javier Solis