The Hotel Teatro

December 3-5, 2011

In Porto I am staying at a boutique “concept” hotel called the Hotel Teatro. It is on the site of the former Teatro Baquet, a theater that opened in Porto in 1859. The bottom photo shows the front door to the hotel, which is a poem. The concept is that the reception area is a box office where each guest receives a ticket to access their room. The rest of the hotel is divided between “backstage” and “onstage.” Old costumes are hung around the hotel to both serve as art and a reminder of the need to change costumes backstage. Even the closets and the entrance to the bathrooms are marked by curtains. In my room there was an illuminated tub and shower, which looked really cool, but in practice was quite dangerous because it was hard to tell what was real and what was lucite. Inside the tub/shower there was a full-length mirror! I have to admit that I have never before taken a shower while looking at myself in the buff but it was unavoidable unless I closed my eyes. I guess the concept is that once the show is over, all artifice is stripped away.