Welcome to day 11 of 31 Days of Heterotopias: Motels and Hotels, a month of posts about how motels, hotels, and inns function as heterotopias and liminal spaces in society. (More about heterotopias and liminal spaces.) Each post will look at these ideas from its own vantage point, which may not obviously connect with the others, and which may mention motels and hotels only peripherally or may focus on them without referencing heterotopia or liminality. I won’t attempt to tie the posts together. They’ll all be listed here, as they are posted.

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This must be a special class of heterotopia: hotels and motels that one sees, admires, perhaps even tours, but in which one never actually spends a night. I mean, talk about ships that pass, a crossroads of the familiar + unfamiliar, a place that’s also a non-place, a threshold that one walks right up to — but doesn’t cross; or does cross, and then crosses right back.

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This is the Hampton Inn & Suites, on Amelia Island (Fernandina), Florida, Dec. 2016. Those sherbet colours!

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Here’s the Norseman Inn, on a spit of land at Ogunquit, Maine, June 2015.

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I’ve eaten at the Bohemian Inn in Savannah, GA — Christmas breakfast one year, a dinner another year, drinks at Rocks on the River another year — but I’ve never stayed in the hotel. I’d like to but I am in love with the HIX there.

BohemianHotelandRocksontheRiverSavannah28Dec2013 — Dec. 2013

savannahtandmatbohemianhotelrocksc25dec2010 — morning of 25 Dec. 2010

savannahhotelbohemianrocksbrkfstb25dec2010 — a blurry, modern elegance on the morning of 25 Dec. 2010

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The Westin on Jekyll Island, GA, is new-ish (2014?). It’s always been rather empty when I’ve been there.

TheWestinHotelfrontJekyll20Dec2015 — Dec. 2015

HarrysObservationBarWestinnightclosedJekyll28Dec2015 — Harry’s Observation Bar, outside, Dec. 2015

insidetheWestin8pmJekyll28Dec2015 — inside the almost empty Westin, Dec. 2015

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This little Lighthouse Motel right on the beach in Pine Point (Scarborough), Maine was renovated recently and is now the Lighthouse Suites. It looks great. I’d like to stay here sometime.

pinepointlighthouseinnwithgrassesroses9Dec2011 — pre-renovation, Dec. 2011

LighthousemotelbeingrenovatedPinePoint29May2015 — in the midst of renovation, May 2015

remodeledmotelbybeachentrancePinePoint31March2016 — almost renovated, March 2016

remodeledLighthouseSuitesmotelPinePointScarboroME18June2017 — post-renovation, June 2017

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This is a Westin hotel in Savannah, GA, across the river from downtown Savannah; you can take a commuter ferry that runs every 20 minutes between it and downtown Savannah. I’ve taken the ferry a number of times, just for the fun of it, but never stayed in the hotel; it seems a bit inconvenient unless you’re attending a conference there.

Westinwith3ferryboatsSavannah28Dec2013 — ferries lined up outside Westin hotel across from downtown Savannah, Dec. 2013

pinkcamelliasbenchesWorldTradeCenterSavannahGA18Dec2016 — pink camellias in front of Westin hotel, Dec. 2016

pinkyellowcamelliabeeWorldTradeCenterSavannahGA18Dec2016 — bee in pink camellias in front of Westin hotel, Dec. 2016

jisept2008savannahcruiseshipferrycityhallriverst — the Juliette Gordon Low ferry on the river, with downtown Savannah and the Georgia Queen boats in the background, Sept. 2008

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And finally, the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, an iconic place to stay on Jekyll Island, GA, but though we’ve been visiting the island since the 1990s, we’ve never stayed here. We have had a few Christmas brunches, some other meals, and a tour of the hotel, however. Looks nice!