Design Blunders in Central America
I cannot control
the smug designer in me who likes to scoff at nonfunctional, ridiculous and downright ugly design and decor that I encounter on my travels. In most cases, I run into comical decorating attempts while staying in budget accommodations while backpacking – but I still think there’s NO EXCUSE FOR BAD DESIGN, even if the hotel costs $6 a night!
And so, I’d like to share a few design blunders that I encountered numerous times that made me chuckle.
The art is mounted *just a little too high* in this hotel. (Rivas, Nicaragua)
The door to the bathroom is barely 2 feet wide, and it actually has a lock on the exterior...not super helpful, huh? (San Pedro, Guatemala)
...although, at least the room in the photo above actually HAS a door. This bathroom does not offer any of the much-needed privacy that one expects to find in a hotel room for 2 people. (Rivas, Nicaragua)
There was only ONE electrical outlet in this entire room, and it was located inside the bathroom. Can you guess were the TV cord is going? Yes, into the shower is correct. (San Pedro, Guatemala)
I have never seen the back of toilet that wasn't positioned up against the wall. (Oh, and check out the electrical outlet on the right side of the wall...yup, that's the TV!) (San Pedro, Guatemala)
A nice attempt to add decor, but it might stand a better chance with a plastered and painted wall. (Los Pueblos Blancos, Nicaragua)
Remember the old saying "Measure twice, cut once"? That practice would have come in handy here. (Hopkins, Belize)
This bathroom was right out of my worst nightmare for a million reasons...one of which is outlined in this photo. P.s. There is no mirror in this bathroom. (San Pedro, Guatemala)
And while I should be happy to actually HAVE a mirror in this bathroom, I couldn't even use it because it was mounted higher than my head. (Copan Ruinas, Honduras)
While this indoor planter would have been a nice addition to this ugly blue interior, someone got lazy and shoved some cheap everlastin flowers into real soil. Really?! HA! (Tulum, Mexico)
Classic design blunder in all of Central America. (Rivas, Nicaragua)
A headboard with attached night tables shoved up against the wall...NOT attached to the bed. Weird. (San Pedro, Guatemala)
This design blunder is actually not so bad...I'm being pretty snobby but I still did chuckle that instead of buying any other kind of fabric to make drapes, the family that owns this hostel decided a bedsheet would suffice. heehee! (Copan Ruinas, Honduras)
This is a photo of the ceiling, showing a bare light bulb that is mounted on school paper. (Copan Ruinas, Honduras)
This window is open to the main hostel hallway, but is located in the bathroom - this fleece blanket definitly comes in handy when one needs privacy, but still looks ridiculous. (Leon, Nicaragua)
This is wrong on so many levels...definitely NOT to code in North America. (Copan Ruinas, Honduras)
I must admit, despite the pattern overload, I actually found this room quite adorable in a weird kitschy winter-cottage kind of way. (Panajachel, Guatemala)
I get the sense that the plumber left this job unfinished...after 6 people used this sink, the tiny bucket began to overflow. Gross. (Lanquin, Guatemala)
I guess you may be able to tell that I have stayed in some pretty disastrous hotels and hostels during my 6 weeks traveling through Central America. The rooms may not have been pretty, comfortable or in most cases CLEAN, but they were cheap and allowed me to travel for a longer period of time. Plus, they are character building ;)
Sometimes you have to take in the BAD in order to appreciate the GOOD! I will be sure to share more of the “good stuff” next week. Hope you’ll tune in :)
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A Little Bit About Me
Welcome to Passport To Design! My name is Tania. I love Design almost as much as I love Travel, and here is where my two loves collide. Check out the "About Me" page for more info. Thanks for reading. Happy travels, my dear design-loving friends.
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Twitter: Krista Salter
| June 9, 2011 at 10:45 am
omg.
This is so ridiculous! Particularly the outlet in the shower….that is a recipe for disaster! :)
Twitter: Indounik
| June 9, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Ah, I’m still laughing. It’s not like I haven’t encountered similar crazy things in my travels, especially in Bali, but this is a pretty sidesplitting lineup. I have to agree with Krista that the power outlet in the shower takes the cake.
The last image reminds me of the little house I rented in the ricefields north of Ubud for several months in 2006. It was a brand new house and was owned by a family who had never rented to a foreigner before. And of course I’d never rented a house in Bali before. There were many amusing encounters over the house and its fittings and fixtures and some I failed to see the funny side of until I was long gone.
One centred on the kitchen sink. Because of the open style of kitchen counter typical of these houses, it was easy for me to see that the “plumbing” involved a plastic hose feeding from the drain in the sink and out through a hole in the wall. There was a cold water tap but no hot water tap.
When I cooked pasta, I didn’t give a second thought to pouring the near boiling water into the sink. That’s when I found out that the plastic hose was not clamped onto the drain. The hot water expanded the hose and it fell away, pouring very hot water all over the floor, though thankfully not all over me.
The back half of the house was occupied by the world’s biggest open air bathroom. There was a bathtub on one side and a shower on the other, with the toilet up a step and just outside the bedroom door. The most unusual design feature out there was a large round picnic table replete with a hole for an umbrella! I almost didn’t have the heart to explain to the family that most people probably wouldn’t want to sit out there having coffee or makan pagi (breakfast) in full view of the loo.
Twitter: cdngrrleh
| June 10, 2011 at 12:03 am
Ha ha. These are great and remind me of some of the hotel rooms I stayed in while touring different parts of South America. I saw a bathroom in Aguas Calientes, Peru that you would have loved – decorated in soft pastels, lace, dolls etc. It was hilarious. I’m sad I never took a picture. :-)
Twitter: awuti
| June 10, 2011 at 4:15 am
not sure which one is my favorite, but, did you forget to mention that the ‘one foot in the shower, one foot in the bathroom unfinished paint bathroom’ had an electric suicide shower head and a METAL water faucet so every time we turned the water off, while standing in a pool of water in the shower, we got ELECTROCUTED! nice… five star travel!
Great post! You are a lot more courageous than I am! I like to travel safe clean comfortable myself.
I think these are mostly budget flaws rather than design flaws ;)
Thanks for the comments, everyone :) Design blunders, whether they are budget-related or not, make me chuckle every time!
These would make Design Bloopers one day. So great of you to show us that you travel for the love of travel..and sometimes sacrifice your love of design. Very funny post.
Twitter: Staci_Edwards
| June 20, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Oh gosh – I actually bursted out into laughter at these! Too funny. Some people have no common sense let alone design ability!
omg.. I have seen ALL those things in my Latin American travels.. too funny! (In fact, when I bought my piece of paradise in Coronado, the previous owners also had fake flowers planted in dirt..that’s the second thing I took care of, after buying a ping pong table.. lol). I’ll never forget the signs above the toilets in SE Asia with pictures of feet on toilet seats with an X going through, as in educating the popluation not to stand and squat on the seats since they were used to going in a hole in the ground. And those wires going into showers etc.. I have stayed in some places where I wouldn’t dare shower for fear of electricution. I love how you captured all of this with your camera., my big chuckle today.. thanks!
Sarah, these hilarious encounters really MAKE my travels worthwhile :) Thanks for chuckling along with me and reliving the toilet signs with the X’s and the fake flowers. I know all too well what you mean ;) I should do a SEA version of this post. I have enough photos. lol