Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel is replete with furnishings from bygone eras. The socialist-era scenes - when the hotel was taken over by the state - strike me as accurate representations of hotels of that era and bring me back to the days in the early 1990s in Czechoslovakia when I saw that stuff everywhere.
But it's only been in the past few years that I've started taking photos. It used to seem so cheesy, but now it's disappearing rapidly as hotels in particular are anxious to remodel--and up their prices accordingly. (You know, less leg room in economy class, but, well, we don't really cater to them anymore--same phenomenon even in old East Bloc tourism.) So I'm starting to miss even the shabbier decorations. And maybe even a few hotels are, too. About five years ago, I noticed that one Bratislava commie-era monolith actually boasted of its retro suites. Doubtless Grand Budapest will have some decorators rethinking things. So here, then, are a few examples of actual formerly socialist countries with some comparison to GBH. (I'll doubtless add a few once I find them in my collection.)
But it's only been in the past few years that I've started taking photos. It used to seem so cheesy, but now it's disappearing rapidly as hotels in particular are anxious to remodel--and up their prices accordingly. (You know, less leg room in economy class, but, well, we don't really cater to them anymore--same phenomenon even in old East Bloc tourism.) So I'm starting to miss even the shabbier decorations. And maybe even a few hotels are, too. About five years ago, I noticed that one Bratislava commie-era monolith actually boasted of its retro suites. Doubtless Grand Budapest will have some decorators rethinking things. So here, then, are a few examples of actual formerly socialist countries with some comparison to GBH. (I'll doubtless add a few once I find them in my collection.)
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