SL in RL: Greetings from aloft!

I know this topic is a stretch for VTOR, which is supposed to be about events in virtual worlds, but here’s an example of writing about a virtual event occurring in real life: I am staying at an aloft Hotel in Chicago, the real-world version of the virtual prototype that debuted in Second Life two years ago and helped propel interest in SL as a marketing channel.

I wanted to see how the actual version compared to the virtual prototype, partly because I was curious and also because seeing the virtual version was what got me into SL in the first place. Here’s what I found:

The RL room looks just like the SL version, with a bathroom right as you come in, and a large wooden partition dividing it from the sleeping area. This partition is a miracle of design efficiency: on the bathroom side, it has shelves housing extra pillow, pod coffeemaker, extra roll of TP and reading material: the New Yorker and Dwell magazines, plus a tiny rod for hanging clothing.

On the bedroom side, it has a tall padded headboard, two overhead reading lights and a hidden ambient lighting system, plus the sleeping platform attaches to it, with a comfortable mattress. A padded bench under the wall-mounted HD TV replaces the usual sofa or armchair and two wooden counters provide either a place to stash stuff or set up a laptop.

Shows you how old-fogeyish I have become: I searched but didn’t find a phonebook, ice bucket, glasses (none but the cardboard coffee cups), radio or Gideon Bible. Apparently, those don’t matter to the target demographic, which is probably a good 20 years younger than I. But I did get two bottles of water and a fridge to put them in.

The hallway also isn’t the industrial neutral color it was in the prototype, and the lobby is more industrial-chic than the prototype, which had a warmer, Frank-Lloyd-Wrightish feel with soft lighting and wood furniture. And, this being Chicago, the pool is indoors, not outside surrounded by beach chairs. But the food vending areas and w xyz lobby bar are the same, and the hotel personnel are unfailingly friendly and polite. This is the Midwest, after all!

FYI: The aloft chain, which is building a hotel in my smaller city, of all places, is like a bargain version of W hotels, part of the Starwood group (Sheraton, W, Le Meridian, Four Points, Element, St. Regis, and Westin). For the money, it was comfortable and drama-free and even relatively quiet, given how close we are to Ohare.

Off to check out the glassed-in shower and the wall-mounted pumps for the W’s Bliss brand of soap and shampoo, a nice innovation that has to be cheaper than all those teeny bars of soap and bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

Added comment: I forgot one big thing! aloft, unlike other Starwood properties, builds the price of wireless internet access into the room price instead of adding it on as an extra charge. Kudos!