There's Room At the Inn

In these tough economic times, who's got the money to travel? Plane tickets, cab fare, food, and hotel accommodations, will have you hemorrhaging cash faster than your dizzy and already depleted pocketbook can handle. Diagnosis: dead on arrival. But what if you could stay somewhere for free? Now, I know what you're thinking: who wants to stay on smelly Aunt Francis' pull out couch, the one with the stabby mattress and those pilled up sheets topped by questionable pillows that probably haven't been replaced since 1987? Well, when in Stockholm (for the Nobel Prize ceremonies, of course), do as the Swedes do and stay at the Creators Inn:

What's that? How very refreshingly anti capitalist and not in the least money grubbing of them to offer such nice accommodations for free? Well, there is a catch -- you have to be cool enough to get in.

Creators Inn is a conceptual hotel within a hotel presented by Swedish clothing brand Elvine that offers free short term accommodations to people in creative pursuits. You have to apply, and unfortunately they state that clubbing is not a creative pursuit. Facists.

But stylish facists, no?

The Creators Inn is a constantly evolving free room, moving from location to location, and open for a short time only. This one was located inside the Scandic Malmen hotel, which is not too shabby itself:

But sadly, the Scandic is very unfree. So I'll be keeping an eye on the Creators Inn blogsite for new openings, just in case I think baby Ike Mama needs to brave a bazillion hour plane ride to see Scandi design in situ. I'll also have to get more creative and stuff, so I can be cool enough to get in.

Oh, and sorry to whip up your expectations for an awesome post by AB Chao today, but tune in tomorrow to see her shine. Here at DC we like to do a switcheraroo every now and then, just to keep you peeps on your toes.

I Never Really Been So I Don't Really Know

Big News Dumplings:  Matty and I have decided to go to Mexico for 5 days for our anniversary this fall. Hooray!!!  There's so much culture and so many ruins and, oh, the food!  Guess what?!  We won't be seeing ANY of it.  Nope, not one bit.  We are going to be such tourists that we probably won't even leave the comfort of our all-inclusive resort long enough to say ¿dónde está el soporte del taco?  Look, all inclusive means free booze and infinity pools so, pray tell, why would I leave? I spent a few minutes thinking that I should forgo all-inclusive and instead stay in one of the hotels I've been lusting after.  I did some research and found some gems in Playa Del Carmen (our destination) with rates within our budget.  2 small snags:  Neither had drinks included and both were a block from the crystal clear ocean.  I don't care if Phillip Stark was conceived in the pretty hotels, if you're not giving me free drinks or the beach, you're not part of my vacay.  I will feature you on my blog, however.

Hotel I passed up #1:  Hotel Basico

See!!!  That is concrete, not crystal clear water

Oh, but maybe I could just stay in the room the whole time

And try to squint to see the ocean.  It may be worth it, right?

I could pay a few extra dollars to have my selection from this quaint fruit stand.

Oh, but those roof-top tubs don't look much like an infinity pool, or a lazy river that wraps around a Disney-sized resort.

This is probably the only view of Hotel Basico I'll get in person.

Denied Hotel #2 Hotel Deseo

I am a sucker for pool-side beds with canopies.  I wonder how much drink service costs on one of those bad boys.

And a hammock in the room DOES tug at my heart strings.

Why can't you have free drinks??!!

Yep, this is probably all I'll be seeing of the Deseo.

You know why?  Because I'm totally going to be rockin it like this:

Booya!  LOOK AT THAT WATER!

In other news, I'm going to be out of town tomorrow so you're going to have to live with these photos until Monday when Me Melodia stops by with some awesome collages.  

I'll be back on Tuesday to announce the Tam Tam stool winner.  Remember, you have until Monday night to enter.  If you haven't already, don't be scared, I don't keep your email addresses or use your information or anything creepy like that.  Really, I'm not that organized.

Kisses and happy early weekend everyone!

A guest poster's crisis...

Hello DC Readers! My name is Amy and today I am honored to be guest blogging here on Design Crisis - its like a dream come true - somebody slap (or spank...) me!  My usual home is over at Waxyhearts where I write about basically everything I love on the internet - most often Etsy - since I am addicted.Enough self promotion...(but I need more readers - really!  My chihuahuas are neglected and they can't justify the time I spend at my computer without at least 100 readers...)...but glad to be here at Design Crisis today where I can have a much larger audience to frighten.  Anyhow I had one heck of a time coming up with something Design Crisis worthy...and I still haven't...so instead I will bore you with the details of my day yesterday - which certainly qualifies as a freaking crisis...

So the day begin with turning on my bedside lamp - luckily it takes up most of the nightstand with its huge base - so not only do I not have to dust the nightstand, but I have no room for an alarm clock - thus I have gotten fired from every job I have ever had and now I am on food stamps (thanks to all you hard workers out there for supporting me!!!).

So I go the bathroom to get ready for the day - ugh - accidentally went in the one with the fresh flowers in the faucet - yuck! Flowers and minty toothpaste scents do not go together first thing in the morning (or ever?)! Moving on to the other bathroom...

Just remembered (and forgot due to severe head injury) why I never use this bathroom... Get some ice out of the freezer for my head injury and attempt to sit on my favorite chair...shoot - I forgot that I prefer to sit on my behind...won't fit here!

Moving on to my anatomy chair - this is very helpful when I watch Grey's Anatomy...and if I never see Denny again it will be fantastic...

Once my head stops throbbing I head out to the garden to do some planting with my trusty leather handled bucket...since buckets often transport liquid don't ask me why it has a leather handle...at least it looked good when I bought it, right?

Heading out for the day! I think I will stop in at this shop - stores that are all white and have limited items always have the most friendly sales people, don't you think? Walking through the door is just like interrupting a conversation between a bunch of people you don't know.

Next its over to my friend's dinner party! A few drinks later I get disoriented by the mirror balls (I have a twin? What's happening???) and pass out - my friend not wanting me to mess up their dark house (who would notice vomit in that place anyhow?) drops me at some new hotel close to their condo of darkness....I remember none of it...and luckily I didn't grab one of the guns on the table...

I wake up here - in a hotel made for 5 yr olds?  What???  It takes quite a bit of time to unfold my 6ft body...

I guess it could have been worse - they could have made me sleep in a cage surrounded by a bunch of ghosties...Yikes!

Photo sources 1 Contemporist 2 Freshome 3 Contemporist 4 Contemporist 5 Design Vote 6 Remodelista 7 CoolBoom 8 Freshome 9&10 Contemporist

ahhh - and now I am back home telling you my story! Hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks again to Karly & Erin for the privilege of allowing me to guest post - and a big shout out to Erin's husband for getting her knocked up - without him this would not have been possible! Yippee! Don't forget - you can catch me at Waxyhearts if you want to write hateful comments! And don't abandon DC - tomorrow will be better, I promise!