It looks like I need to make one more trip down to Virginia for work, and then it should be a while. I mean, since October I’ve gone pretty much once a month with a break in February, I think. I’ve stayed at a few different hotels on these trips – there are a ton of new ones in Chesapeake. It is this hot new commercial spot like 20 minutes from Virginia Beach where my company’s headquarters are located. And there are some other big HQs in the area. Dollar Tree corporate is down there – I drove by.

And seriously, there are tons of hotels. You see all the major chains, but there are also these extended stay hotels that are, I guess, for people who do heavy long term consulting, or maybe management training types who need to spend a week or two at the corporate HQ before taking over their own XYZ franchise. 

Last time we went down I stayed at one of the newest ones, a place called aLoft. There was some discussion about how to pronounce it – long A? short A? Who knows. Who cares.

It was a neat spot, though. Kind of like a little Manhattan studio without the kitchenette, though you could probably get a hot plate. It was very square and very modern. It’s not my personal style, or our decorating style at home, but I was definitely digging the vibe. There really wasn’t any furniture, just built in cubicles and countertops that acted as dresser/bureau/closet/shelves. And they had a magazine rack next to the toilet with Wired and Business Week and Cycling. It was both amusing and…kind of cool.

Oh, and a huge flat-screen TV on the wall. That was a pretty popular detail. And the lobby bar with the fiber optic impregnated bar – that was cool too. Though their bourbon selection was kind of lame. I mean, they had Maker’s Mark, so that was alright, but I would have liked some esoteric small batch something or other. But hey, nobody’s perfect.