Always Room For The Unusual

Guidebook writer Lucy Poshek visited 500 hotels, motels and inns from San Diego to Eureka in search of lodgings for her latest book, “Offbeat Overnights: A Guide to the Most Unusual Places to Stay in California” (Rutledge Hill Press, $9.95).

Her out-of-the-ordinary recommendations include upscale hotels, such as the Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco (the top floors of a skyscraper), the Ahwahnee in Yosemite (architectural distinction and sublime setting) or the Hyatt Regency La Jolla (designed by postmodernist Michael Graves).

Also included are picturesque cottages, such as the collection at Castle Wood at Big Bear (Heidi’s Cabin), where rooms start at $39 per night, or a room on a boat, the Bounty, a restored 72-foot ketch offered by Worldwide Boat & Breakfast in Newport Beach.

And some entries are just downright quirky. She includes the well-known Madonna Inn at San Luis Obispo, where each of the 100 rooms has a fantasy theme, such as a caveman room or a wine cellar, for example.

Lesser known, but to Poshek’s mind the most novel, is the Victorian Mansion and Union Hotel at Los Alamos, a tiny town near Solvang that offers a Roman room with a silver chariot bed and marble steps leading to a soaking tub. Or the Fifties Drive-In room, where you sleep in a period Cadillac convertible in front of a movie screen where you can watch “Rebel Without a Cause”. All of this is hidden within a very proper Victorian house.

But not every entry in the book is quirky. There are inns for romance and for book lovers, as well as tranquil retreats for contemplation, such as monasteries.

Webs we weave: New travel sites on the Internet include:

Wildlife photographer David Anderson offers would-be travelers, researchers and armchair explorers information about Africa, including maps, descriptions of habitat and wildlife, and information about hotels, lodges and camps (http:/ /www.onsafari.com).

The Age of Reason, a non-profit association based in Toronto, offers a free home-exchange service to anyone over 50, and travel information geared to seniors (http:/ /www.ageofreason.com).

Excite, an Internet navigation network, has expanded its travel site to showcase more than 3,400 destinations worldwide and to link with more than 15,000 travel-related web sites. It includes interactive maps, live weather reports, travel discounts and travel booking (http://city.net).

Gump No. 2: One of San Francisco’s top tourist areas, Pier 39 on the bay, will get a new attraction early next year: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., a seafood restaurant inspired by a fictional company in the movie “Forrest Gump.”

The second-floor restaurant will be developed by Rusty Pelican Restaurants and Paramount Pictures, inspired by the success of the first Gump restaurant in Monterey, Calif., just south of San Francisco. The San Francisco location is expected to open in February, and the companies say they plan to build more Gump restaurants in waterfront tourist areas around the country.

Seat of the problem: “On a long flight, who do you least want to sit next to?” asked Fodor’s Travel Publications. The surprising result: a smelly passenger. The question was posed on Fodor’s web site (www.fodors.com), and 39 percent of those responding said they would most like to avoid an odiferous seatmate. Other offensive types:

A baby or small child (picked by 19 percent).

A heavy type who spills over the armrest (17.3 percent).

Someone who won’t shut up (12.4 percent).

A “drinks-cart cowboy” (“Vodka and keep ‘em comin’!”) (3.4 percent).

An armrest hog (3.0 percent).

A “small bladder” passenger who gets up frequently. (2.4 percent).

None of the above (1.5 percent).

A silent type (1.1 percent).

A sloppy eater (0.4 percent).