CAROL BURNSIDE / ANNIE RAYBURN

Once upon a time in a Atlanta area Hilton there was an ugly chair. A lot of ugly chairs, I’m told, but during a recent writer’s conference, I spent a few days with one in particular.

This one:

Yep, that’s one awesome chair. Dunno how much Hilton paid for these beauties, but it was too much. How long have they been there? Too long, even if it’s only a year. They’re cheap vinyl and peeling worse than a fair-skinned beauty after a beach vacation as evidenced below.

Gnarly, eh? It looks like it should be in the No Tell Motel. As if it wasn’t bad enough that it was poop brown and peeling, the pneumatic lift was broken, so it sat too low for comfortable use of the desk.

My roommate, Susan  Carlisle and I decided that Paris must’ve needed a new handbag, so they skimped on the chairs and this is the result.

We really began to wonder about the financial stability of the place when we noticed a lamp without a light bulb. At our request, that was replaced, but as darkness fell, we realized there were two other lights with spent bulbs. We left a request for replacements at the desk. Later that day, we arrived back in the room and saw they’d replaced one, but pulled the bulb from the beverage alcove and used it in either the bathroom or another lamp.

Ah, well. At least the beds were comfortable and we had plenty of hot water.