Eighteen hotels, described as buildings rather than as offers.
Most writing about a hotel is really writing about a stay: the welcome at the door, the bed, the breakfast that follows it. This guide is about the buildings instead, and about the places they were put up in.
Every entry follows the same five lines. Where the property stands and what surrounds it. What the building is, as its owners and architects have published it. Why it came out that way, which is usually a matter of climate, custom or a site that allowed nothing else. What the place expects of a visitor. And one line of preparation for anyone thinking of going.
Nothing here is graded, priced or recommended, and no property is called good or bad. We read what hotels, architects and the people who rebuilt them have published, then set it down in our own words. Where a source says little, we say little and stop there.
Two of us keep this guide, and a photographer we work with makes the pictures. Every entry closes with the month we last opened the material behind it, so you can see how old a description is. What we look at, and what we leave alone, is set out on How We Read A Hotel.