Back home!!

There has been a long gap since my last blog entry. I have been visiting friends and family in England for a few days, managed to get out just before the snow fell and closed all the airports. Lucky me!!! And lucky not just in that sense; I got upgraded by British Airways to business class!!! Woweee, what a difference that makes. Champagne on the runway, decent food, good wine and a proper quilt not to mention the bed to lay flat on! What luxury! Spoilt for ever now!

The main thing that was done when I was away is the landscaping in the parking lot and inside around the pool. I hope all our visitors will notice and I am sure the shade provided by our new trees out the front will be much appreciated during the summer heat. I haven't taken any pictures of the completed outside the front. Weather isn't conducive to good photo taking!!!!

You have heard of the House that Jack built??? well ... here's the fence that Stuart built

 Look at this!!! Our new fence that Stuart built all by himself. I was in  Los Angeles and came back to this!!!

This is just the begining of the new landscaping look for our parking lot.

Dropped as LOBOC host hotel!!!!

We heard a rumour last week that LOBOC (Long Beach and Orange County) motor cycle club have dropped us as their host hotel after 9 years. No explanation, nobody bothered to call us even though they made the reservation for 2011 when they left this last March. Oh well, such is life.  No doubt we will discover the reason but there are several members not happy about it. There is an individual who has made no bones about preferring the other place. Good luck to them.

Groups who book the hotel for two nights at weekends and think they are doing us a favour are not. They block people who want to come in for a longer time. We actually lose by it.

We are looking forward to our new landscaping staring Monday. I will post before and after pictures. Five Palos Verdes in the parking lot with a collection of cactus. It'll be lovely when they finish; our bank account will not!!!! Oh well .... that's show biz!!!

Same building ....... different flags!!!!

This is Leather Pride weekend and here we are, decked out for the party!!!! We are so pleased we have the balconey to fly our flags from No doubt there is a local ordinance which limits the number of flags that can displayed at one time.

Lovely weeked forecast, mid 80'sF. Eat your heart out, people. Just look at that sky!!!  Visitors from Australia and Germany left this morning. We have guests from Scotland checking in later this afternoon. Don from Toronto and guests from all over the US; AZ, OR, CA, NM, WA. Tonight is the Palm Springs Mr. Leather competion of which we are major sponsors (so we get in free, sort of!). There was a Skip sighting at the Tool Shed parking lot fair last night. We will try to avoid him if he makes an appearance tonight! Maybe I should put a copy of his bill in my pocket!!!

Happy Gay Pride!!!!!!!

All decked out for Gay Pride weekend, mmmmmmm .. must be room for more flags!!!

Looking forward to the weekend although we will miss some of our regulars this year, DJ and Al amongst them. 10 years ago this weekend was our first weekend in the hotel and it was Gay Pride weekend. We were full, not for gay Pride but for a maths convention!! A maths professor from UC Santa Barbara had booked the entire place for himself and students at a bargain rate. Apparently an annual event. Boy, was he pissed off when we told him he couldn't book for the next year!!

10 years ago we had our friend Todd staying with us, and also our friends Bill and Dave. Sadly Todd passed last year and we heard from Dave that Bill died this last week. :(

Also, today in the United Kingdom is Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Day ... not an offical holiday but one where people light fires and set off fireworks in celebration of the capture of Guy Fawkes trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. An effigy of him is often burnt on  fires but nowadays  it is often an unpopular politian. Maggie Thatcher was one of the most popular figures burned and long shall it remain so!!! Guy (Guido) Fawkes jumped from the scafolding and broke his neck before the hang man got is hands on him and thus he escaped the painful hanging, drawing and quartering which was so popular in those days. What? No flogging?
Here's a silly little ditty we used to sing in the school playground on November 5th ......
Build a bonfire, build a bonfire,
Put the teachers on the top.
Put the prefects in the middle
And burn the bloody lot!!!!!
(Witty, eh?).

Congratulations to us!!!!

Well, here we are, our 10th anniversary of moving to Palm Springs! How unbelievable is that? No doubt some of our fellow inn keepers are thinking the same thing!!!!!! Showed them . HA! In your faces!!!  Now I suppose we have to make plans for the next 10 years including retirement. Neither of us wants to be doing this in 10 years time even though we love it. The thing we would both like to do is continue living here but close down as an hotel. I doubt if that will happen but we love it so much it will be a painful wrench to leave. Maybe we'll feel different about that down the line.

Thank you all for making this journey such a joy. When we first moved we had no idea we would meet such lovely people. Most of you know the story of Helen (see blog Feb 23rd), our first long term guest before we opened as Chaps. When she left after staying with us for 5 months she wished us all the best luck in the world. I told her we were keeping the old Colibri sign incase we went bust in the first couple of years we could revert. Well, girl, we didn't go bust but we do still have the old sign!!!!! (for ever a pessimist!!).

The BIG party will be next year, around Easter. We'll keep you posted of those plans. Also we have some new ideas for next summer ..... later!!!

Halloween is coming!!!

I started putting up the Hallowe'en decorations this afternoon and can't believe another year has gone by so quickly. Some of the decorations are from when we lived at Radford Avenue in North Hollywood nearly 10 years ago (more about that later) and some collected from Hallowe'en shows in Chicago when John and I manned a booth in Chicago for 3 1/2 days every March from 1993 to 2001. Oh, happy days and aching feet!!! Not to mention a strain on the old chuckle muscles!!! OK, I'll retake the pictures tomorrow WITHOUT the flash!!

I don't think we'll be splashing out on anything new this year. We are not having a party but if Tony turns up in drag, there's a party right there and enough to scare anybody!!!! It is Tony's birthday on Saturday.

I mentioned we moved to Palm springs nearly 10 years ago. In fact, October 31st will be our 10th anniversary of moving. We can't believe we've been here for so long and still love it. We woke up here November 1st 2000,  both of us having the same thoughts 'what have we done, we don't know anything about running an hotel'. Turns out ... what's to know? Any fool can clean a toilet and make beds. We always treat our guests as we would like to be treated ourselves and that has served us well. Did we make a business plan? No, of course not!!!! We have always treated suggestions for improvement with the urgency that they deserve!!! Shortly after we opened and we were still called the Colibri Inn, two queens stayed here for a couple of nights. As they were leaving, one of them offered up some advice for improvment 'you need to have more hangers in the closet'! Well, girl, there are still as many hangers in the closets today as there was when you stayed with us. Thanks for the advice!!!! See, treated with the urgency it deserved!!
I'll let you know how we decided to celebrate later!!!

Still going on about the weather!!!!

After a perfect Palm Springs weekend and a beautiful day yesterday, our dear friends John, Angela,(aka Doris) their son John and Grandchildren Sofie and Tom drove in from West Toluca Lake for lunch. We had horrendous weather; thunder lightening and rain like we have never seen before in all our 10 years in Palm Springs. Not to be downcast (we English are a hearty lot and never let a bit of rain ruin the day), we went to Escena Golf Club and had a great table inside overlooking the golf course. I hope it won't be another 10 years before they visit again and see how beautiful Palm Springs really is. Needless to say, because of the weather, the San Jacinto Mountains were shrouded in cloud so there was not much of a view. Lunch, recommended. We also spotted our friend Doug power lunching at an adjacent table.

Apart from that, the weekend was a great success and we don't have a day between now and Thanksgiving where we have no guests. Alright you other hotel owners who check out our blog and our parking lot,  the next few weeks and continuing through Thanksgiving, we have several guests without cars. You can't judge a book by it's cover!!!!!

Columbus Day Weekend.

Once again we have the best guests. Returning visitors and new guests who we hope will become future return visitors.  This weekend we have guests from England (London and Bournemouth), la belle France, Australia and from the USA California, Missouri, Utah and New Mexico.  Welcome back to Tracy and the boys. 50 indeed!!! Youngster!!!!

Stuart has been busy running up curtains (!) ... So, two Bob's, number 9 is ready for you!!! Next weekend is one of our favorites, the 'Latham Weekend,' a group of friends from San Diego taking the entire place for 3 nights. Gay, straight and Australian if I'm not mistaken. This must be their third or fourth year. Pictures to be posted!!

Me and my big mouth!!!

What was I saying about lightening without thunder????

Well, Thursday night 10.15 we had a doozie!! I was woken up (yes, we go to bed early in these parts!) by a strange noise which turned out to be rain. RAIN!!!! Then the lightening and thunder started. We both got out of bed and stood on our patio whilst the storm raged over our heads. The guttering couldn't hold the amount of water coming down so it was pouring out of the guttering in sheets, just like Viagra Falls! Anyway. it didn't last long but the next morning I had to wash down because of the amount of sand and dirt washed off the roof and from the trees. But now ... Sunday morning, lovely, clear, blue and calm. Peace returned. AAahhhhhh back to normal.

Those damned lying Beach Boys!!!

It DOES rain in Southern California!!! Well, we had a spit and a spot this morning. Woke up to grey clouds and lightening way in the distance (no thunder, I  mean, what's the point of having lightening without thunder?

Heres a bad little ditty:
The god of thunder was riding by
Upon his favorite filly.
"I'm Thor", he cried, the horse replied,
"You forgot your thaddle thilly!".  .... One of Stuarts favorites along with "The Duke of Tranmire ... "Oh well, ask him when you see him!!!!   
,

 Anyhoo ...... The first picture was taken at 8.45 this morning. The second was taken 3 hours later and da daah, sun again!!!

Our International guest list has grown .. we now have  guests in from SW Australia, Switzerland and Canada (Toronto).


Back to the Palm Springs sting (see previous blogs). It has occured to me that maybe the Chief of police and the head of the police association are so homophobic they are doing what they are doing on purpose to stop gays visiting Palm Springs? Say it ain't so, ma!!!!

Another great weeken in Paradise!!!!

The summer isn't over yet  in Palm Springs. Temps up to 115f, long warm nights and more to come. We love it and you won't  hear us complain about the heat not like a lot of moaning minnies around here.
We are having a great September and things are looking good for October. Over the last couple of weeks we hosted international visitors from  Ottawa (Canada), Folkstone (England), and Hamburg (Germany). Our dear friend James came out from LA for the weekend so we had a lot of catching up to do. We are amazed it is 3 1/2 years since his partner, Richard, died. Apart from California, we also had long term visitors in from Dayton OH, Atlanta GA. The guests from Dayton knew a friend of a friend of ours from England .... what a small world!

More news on the Warm Sands sting operation. It would appear that the gay slur was issued by our beloved Chief Dominquez all along and he was there a lot longer than a couple of hours. He has been caught on tape telling the officers that they deserve more pay for 'doing this'. You're on your way out Chief and good riddance. (You can check out all the latest on http://www.mydesert.com/)

Talking of 'stings'. See previous blog!!

Here we were the other day sitting out enjoying a glass of wine when a huge wasp flew into Stuarts glass. He fished it out and put it in the hybiscus. It later flew out (drunkenly) and landed on Tony's side and stung him!! (See  picture of  sting ointment on Tony's side). Now, trying to get a wasp sting out of somebody who can't keep still is a bit of a trial ... but I did it, hero that I am!!!!

Now, talking of sting operations, it transpires that the Chief of Palm Springs Police Dept, David Dominquez was at the scene of the sting operation in Warm Springs for part of the entrapment fiasco. So, another e-mail address to add to the list on the previous blog .... chief@pspd.com. Was it Dominquez who uttered the gay slur? Time will tell and the truth will be out.

I havn't heard a word from anybody I e-mailed regarding this disgusting blot on Palm Springs reputation. I think I'll send it again and include the 'chief'.

Onward and upward, another lovely weekend here in Palm Springs. International visitors in from Canada and England; then Hawaii, Indiana, Northern and Southern California. Some regular visitor and some we hope will become regular visitors.

We are coming to the end of our 'off peak' season where everyone wants a bargain ... we blame organisations like Travalocity and Priceline for all this trying to 'negotiate prices'. We want you to stay with us because you want to stay with us; not because we're CHEAP. That said, next summer we will be offering rooms at 2001 prices to celebrate our 10th anniversay of opening as Chaps Inn (we were The Colibri Inn for 5 months until then). Watch this space and the website for further details.

At least 3 of our guests have visited Whitewater since they saw the entry on the blog. None of them knew it existed!!! Stuart and I hope you all have a wonderful and safe weekend.

Palm Springs Sting operation

In June last year, the Palm Springs Police Department carried out a sting operation in the Warm Sands neighbourhood using the 'pretty police' as agents provocateurs enticing gay men and arresting them for indecent behavour. There were 19 men arrested and they have been waiting for over a year for the cases to come to court. If found guilty, these men will have to register as sexual preditors for the rest of their lives. There have been a few letters to the local paper, some supporting the police (no suprises there) and some expressing their disgust at the Police Depatment use of the officers time. One officer was captured on tape issuing a gay slur. We don't know what it was but no doubt we'll find out.

Mr.Paul Abshire, President of the Palm Springs Police Officers Association had an article published recently in the Desert Sun praising his officers (of course he would)and defending the operation. Our dear friend Peter Fiske has been in contact with the Mayor of Palm Springs and has received some encouraging feedback. I have e-mailed Abshire, the Mayor and other members of the City Council and would encourage you all to do the same.
Here is a copy of my e-mail ... no response so far

TO: Paul Abshire

This is in response to an e-mail sent to you by Peter Fiske, dated 08/27/2010

I agree entirely with everything Peter has said but I want to add my own comments from the perspective of an hotel owner in Uptown.

The use of police officers as agents provocateurs is to be deplored. To entice men to commit sexual acts in public is outrageous.

A comment made by one of your officers at the hearing in Riverside is quoted in the Desert Sun as referring to the hotels in Warm Sands as ‘those so called inns”. I hope you realize how insulting that remark is, not only to the hotel owners in Warm Sands but hotels all over the valley. No amount of ‘sensitivity training’ will compensate for the damage done within the gay community and the trust in the PSPD is gone, perhaps never to return.

This outrageous incident has been covered extensively by the gay press not only in the United States but more importantly overseas. The damage done worldwide to the reputation of Palm Springs as a city of tolerance has been lost.

I hope you realize how much money comes into this town from gay travelers by way of room tax, retail spending and restaurants, a large part of which will be lost forever thanks to you and your officers. Not a force to be proud of.

All charges against the men enticed by your officers must be dropped. The officer responsible for uttering a gay slur should apologize. We need to hear more from the Mayor on what is being done by him and the city. An open letter to one of the local gay papers would be a start.

Sensitivity training indeed!!!! This is something you all should have been taught by your parents; not the PSPD.

Ian Harper
Chaps Inn, Uptown, Palm Springs

I have copied this to all the City Council Members, including Mayor Pougnet. No response yet!!
Here are their e-mail addresses:
rick.hutcheson@palmsprings-ca.gov; ginny.foat@palmsprings-ca.gov; chris.mills@palmsprings-ca.gov; lee.weigel@palmsprings-ca.gov; paul.abshire@palmsprings-ca.gov; steve.pougnet@palmsprings-ca.gov

Labor Day Weekend

Well another wonderful, fantastic weekend with lots of old friends and some some newbies. Visitors from CA, WA, OR, DC, PA, New Zealand and Finland. Very international. Everybody had a wonderful time, the weather was perfect, (early 100's), warm evenings, fabulous pool at a perfect temperature 84F and the misting system working overtime. Ho hum, what a life!!!! The nights are drawing in now signaling the end of another summer boo hoo!!!! Our last guest left this morning so we now have the place to ourselves but only for one night.

I have only just realised we don't have any pictures of our children. Mack and Mabel.  Well, here they are, Mack the black and white, Mabel the white and black absolutely adorable!!! No comment about Pussies at Chaps Inn, that would be far too childish!

Went to Whitewater; another reason to visit Palm Springs.

Dennis, AJ, Peter and myself went to the Whitewater Preserve just north of Palm Springs last Sunday morning. Peter and I had never been before and we were very impressed. We've heard of and seen Joshua Trees National Monument but the best thing is, Whitewater is FREE!!! Nowhere near as big as Joshua Trees but FREE!!!!! Here they are, Peter, Dennis and AJ. No amount of ridiculing will make Peter get rid of those horrendous shorts or ridiculous hat!!!



We enjoyed a wander (some might call it a 'hike')through the riparian vegetation and a few steps on the trail with an eye out for the Longhorn sheep but to no avail. We took in the old trout farm (no, not where they keep old trout)and decided one day we would all go there for a picnic.

The rock formations are spectacular with plenty of boulders hanging on the side of mountains waiting to come crashing down .. so no loud noises, please!!!

Later on, Stuart and I took ourselves off to our new favourite brunch place, Escena,a restaurant at the club house of a spectacular golf course east of Palm Springs. Well worth the visit; the views are wonderful. I took my camera with me but left the memory card in the printer! Oh well, next time!!

The 15 Association came to visit!!!!

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Jim and Gino's anniversary party

Another great party thanks to Jim, Gino and friends. Great food, Jim's turkey chilli, chicken, bratts, wieners not to mention my cucumber salad courtesy of Ina Garten (bless you, goddess!!).
Today we heard the news we need to get a new pool heater, this on top of the expense of getting the pool resurfaced tiled and brought up to code. (Final inspection tomorrow). Why is it, heater is working fine, turned off for 10 days, turned it on and now it's f*@cked! Oh well, it's not as if we had anything else to spend $3,500 on!!!! It's not as if we HAVE $3,500 to throw around!! I suppose we don't have to heat the pool like many other hotels, just like we don't HAVE to have an ice machine @#*&%$@ish.... rant over.

We are hosting the 15 Association (the deserters) this weekend. It promises to be a fun weekend with the usual suspects attending! Report and photo's to follow.

Pool is OPEN!!!!

We had a great pool opening pool party on Saturday and here we are, cutting the 'ribbon'!. All the usual misfits, miscreants and ne'er do wells ..... (oh, sorry, that was San Francisco!!!!). All our favorite people .. Dennis & AJ, Jim & Gino, even Soloman and Chris (Soddam & Gommorah),their friend Darwin (Australian I assume!).... Peter Fisk, Peter Pumper, Paul Crippan and a couple of English boys, Erich, Tony & John, Dennis & Kenny, about 15 altogether. A great time was had by all.

Stuart made pulled pork (fabulous) and I made Ina Gartens Mac and Cheese with Cheddar, Gruyere and Blue cheese as fab as the pulled pork!!!! Followed by Lemon Meringue.

Back to the pool!!!

I must say it looks awesome .. wow .... we are so pleased. Most people won't notice. We now have a line at the 4 1/2ft depth woweeeee. We are sooo modern and up to date. Check out the new tile. The pool and spa match for the first time ever. We are thrilled.
Party Saturday night, 6.00pm to celebrate the opening.

And then we have Dore Alley!!!!

What can I say about San Francisco, especially the neighbourhood beween Folsam, Mission, Market and 7th! The usual misfits, miscreants and ne'er do wells!!!!

We're Back

We are back from our 2nd annual Dore Alley weekend in San Francisco but before that, I have to tell you about the pool and spa... They are both so f@#*ing fabuloso. You can't believe how good it looks or feels. The plaster underfoot is so smooth and we now have a demarcation line at the 4.1/2 foot depth to warn stupid people they are about to go into the deep end!!!. Here's me, half pissed when the draining started.

We are now in full compliance of the VGB act of Congress and we feel so much better for the experience. The wallet doesn't appreciate the experience!! We left for San Francisco Friday Morning at 8.15. They had tiled and they were just starting to plaster. They started to fill the pool at 3.00pm Friday and it took 26 hours!! Here are some pics but they will change. I can't tell you how pleased we are but you might've guessed!!

It's started!!!!

We have started draining the pool. 35,000 gallons of 92 degree water down the drain.

The shame of it is ... all that wasted water. Oh well, we'll be filling it on Thursday with 35,000 gallons of COLD water.

Thanks to John, Mike and Jim

A big thank you to Mike, John and Jim for inviting us to dinner at their gorgeous spacious estate in Palm Springs. Mike on the left, Jim in the middle and John on the right. A good time was had by all. Lovely dinner. Julia would be proud. It was Bastille day believe it or not!!!!We drank a toast to the French! Paul was also there as a fellow invitee. We all used to be neighbours, y'know!


Here we are being attacked by the hooded executioner ... he's got a little list!!! Or maybe it was the cocktails!!!

Today we found out our booth number for Dore Alley .... 22 .. right on Folsom Street in the thick of it. We hope!!! We are both looking forward to it. You wait till you see our new 6ft tall silk palm trees to decorate the booth!! Everybody will be SO jealous!! And we can put lights on them and reuse them for Christmas!!!!!

Camera's back

Finally, we got the camera back and is working (so far), as can be witnessed by Jim and Gino frolicking in the pool last night! (Gino pretending to be a 'top'! Thanks to Jim for feeding us burgers and hotdogs.

This weekend is 'Wet 'n Hot' weekend. Don't ask, I know nothing!!! Lips are sealed but we do have some lovely guys staying with us from Australia, mostly CA but also DC and CO. Well, it certainly is hot AND humid .. 40% humidity here in Palm Springs and that's high for us!!!! Boo Hoo poor us!!!!!!

That's it for the summer. The pool gets drained next Sunday and the work starts Monday morning. When I get back from LA Wednesday it will all be done. I hope. Closed for 10 days incorporating Dore Alley in San Francisco for the weekend July 23rd-25th. Mike and John will be staying at the same hotel as we are. See you all there!

July 4th weekend

Wow, it was a wonderful weekend, old friends, new guests, one of those weekends where everyone had a great time. It was hot but why would I mention that .. it's July!!

The days all meld together .... Let me see ... oh, a kami kazi sparrow flew into the pool Saturday evening as we were sitting out cocktailing! He was chasing another sparrow (I guess it's mating season),they flew really low over the pool and flop ... bird in pool! That was a first!! Stuart went to the rescue and fished him out with the pool net. He survived, you'll be glad to hear. (The bird, I mean!).

What else, oh, July 4th fireworks ... great view from our balconey. I think eventually 12 of us were up there ooohing and aaahing and carrying on. Tony joined us of course. Visitors in from Ireland and all three western states, OR, WA and CA. The day visitors, Paul, Erich, Neil, Patrick and Gordie entertaining our guests. They know their job!

We couldn't make Mike and Johns party July 3rd sorry to say. Thanks to everyone for making it such a fun weekend. You all make it worthwhile owning an hotel and you know who you are ....
Next weekend is the Wet 'n Hot weekend. We are one of the 'overflow' hotels!!! Pardon the pun. I'll letcha know how it goes. After that ... nothing much until the middle of August with Dore Alley in between!!

50% full tonight, Tuesday. Wow!

It ain't half hot, mum

Here we are in the middle of summer and it has been the hottest day of the year so far, 111 degrees and forcasting 114 tomorrow!! This is what we can look forward to going into September. Not complaining, we do love it. We've only got to get through the next 2 weekends.

Guests start arriving later this evening for the July 4th weekend. We still havn't decided what to do; have a party or not. The problem is, it grows and before you know it we're catering for 15-20 people. We've invited Dennis, AJ and Peter over for dinner tomorrow (Friday) for Stuart's famous fish pie.

Things we accomplished today!!!

Well, we had a busy day today!!!

Apart from taking the car in for a service first thing this morning, we had the gardeners in to trim trees, chose the new tile for the pool/spa and we went for lunch at Bongo Johnnies!!! Oh, and I sent the camera for repair, went to the Party store to find something to decorate our Dore Alley booth .. nothing!!!!

Life goes on at 105 degrees. We've a big weekend coming up, some celebration or other that involves flags and fireworks and the following weekend Wet 'n Hot and thats it for the season. Phew, survived another year!!! THANK YOU, ALL.

Kenny Everett

For those of you who don't know who Kenny Everett was, here's one of his most famous quotes on the BBC Radio .... he was fired!!!!!!! You must remember, this is 1983.

"When we were a Kingdom, we had a King;
When we were an Empire we had an Emperor;
...... now we're a country and we have Margaret Thatcher. da daaaahhh My sentiments exactly . He also invented a Cunning Stunt ... remember????? Oh how we miss you, Kenny!!!!

It's been a long time!!!!

It seems a long time since I posted anything on the blog but believe me, life has been anything but boring!!! Where were we .. oh yes Stuarts birthday passed by as birthdays usually do. Same time next year. Since then we have had visitors in from New Zealand, CA, NV, SC, TX, AK, FL, UT, the UK (no, NOT a state of the US!!!) and not forgetting the indomitable Bernie (Bernice) from Sydney. What a riot. He's what we call a 'sexual terrorist' meaning anyone's game! Eight days of havoc and mayhem not to mention cheap Aussie wine for lunch, (it's cheaper here than in Australia), gin and tonics and bacardi and cokes for evening cocktails. No wonder the brain cells are dying at a rapid rate!!
Coming soon .... 4th July celebrations. First we wern't having fireworks in Palm Springs, now we are thank to Mayor Pugenet and his rich friends. Why didn't he ask us, we would've throw in a couple of bucks!! We get a great view from the balconey so thanks Mayor!! Good luck for the upcoming fight agains Mary Mack or Mary Bono Mack as she calls herself these days. Next, the first two weekends are chocker block meaning FULL and then we close for 10 days for the pool to be resurfaced, retiled and brought up to code. Hopefully all the work will be completed before we disappear for Dore Alley at the end of July. Dennis and AJ will be staying here whilst we are away. Looking forward to getting out of the heat for a few days although we do love it.

Stuart's Birthday (continued)

I don't know how many people attended Saturday evening, I didn't count heads. Tommy drove in from North Hollywood, the first time for about 5 years!!!. Also there but in no particular order, Dennis and AJ (who stayed the night), Roberto, Jim and Gino, Mike and John with their friend Jim, Don and Henry, Paul brought Dave with him (not a date!), Tony (of course). Paul Crippin and various guests staying at the hotel; Coy ... but that's another story. Oh, I nearly forgot, Michael Vigaletti whom we have known probably the longest of anyone else here from our days as part of the Gay North Hollywood Mafia!!!! Best part of 20 years can you believe. Stay with us the next time you bastard!!!

Stuart made pulled pork (delish!) and with that we had baked potatoes with all the usual: butter, sour cream and chives. He made a creme caramel, I made a Summer Pudding all washed down with lashings of cream. There was nothing left I'm glad to say. I didn't get the chance to taste my Summer Pudding but there again I didn't make it for me!!

All in all a great success. It was a gloriously warm Palm Springs evening. Thanks for coming!!! Sorry, no pictures, our camera is f**ked again!!

Stuart's birthday

Hello everybody, for those who didn't know (and Stuart tends to keep this quiet), he had his birthday this week!!!! Apart from a card from Jim and a phone call from sister Sah, that was it. Oh, and a 'happy birthday' from me when I got up this morning. No champagne, no gifts, just another day in paradise doing laundry and cleaning toilets. I couldn't let it go by so we are having a small party Saturday night. I couldn't keep it a secret so Stuart has planned the menu, (many thanks to Roberto for his suggestions) but at the end of the day, Stuart wants to do it his way.

... our camera is not working .. again!!!! This will be the second time sending it back to be fixed. So no pictures from our camera on Saturday. More after Saturday .... guest list will be printed and we expect somebody to take photos for display in the Bottom Line! Watch this space!!

Memorial Weekend

Despite cancellations, famine, floods and pestilence, not to mention the frogs and locusts dropping from the skies, we made it. That is to say, we equaled last years takings for the month. Congratulations to us. A great weekend but sorry to hear Todd and Chris had to leave early but we found someone to take their room. People in from GA, TX, FL, CA, CO and NY not to mention Austria (no, Not Arnie!). Some new boys which we hope will become regulars. A big welcome back to Joe and Al (and Rusty) from San Diego, Kevin, Robert, Pete and Santos, Daryl, Kevin, Frank and David. We spent a great afternoon with Shirley Bassey and the Pet Shop Boys!!!! Great to see Erich back from his and Dougs vacation to Turkey and Greece. We missed you!!

Camera is on the blink again so, no pictures. Sorry!!

It's not all roses!!!!

If you book a room, SHOW UP or cancel. Seems simple enough but apparently not. We LOST 13 nights this week due to people not showing up. One couple (whom we know quiet well and consider them friends), forgot they had booked 10 nights with us. When I caught up with them, they were vacationing 'elsewhere' in the states, (not Palm Springs, I'm relieved to hear). Then there was the reservation for a definate 2 but possible 3 nights .. 'Oh, didn't we cancel?' NO YOU DID NOT!!

And whilst I'm at it here's another thing and this is directed at the locals who we allow to come in during the day, free of charge. DON'T STEAL OUR GUESTS. By that I mean saying to our guests, 'why don't you stay with me next time, I've got a spare room.' If we find out you did this, you will never be allowed back. Ever.

It's not all roses, just a few pricks .... I mean thorns now and again, but we love you all!!

Tony Takes a Tanning!!!!

This was the sad and sorry goings on at Chaps Inn last Saturday afternoon! Oh well, he asked for it and as you all know, you don't have to ask Dennis twice! Any old port in a storm! For those interested, that's an English leather riding crop we found in the trash after some Hong Kong queens left for home. Couldn't let customs find THAT in their luggage!!!!

Today, Thursday, I had a visit from somebody we knew from our North Hollywood days ... SUPRISE!!! I don't like suprises, give me some warning, please (hint, hint). Stuart was away doing some grocery shopping so missed him. Never thought we would ever see this guy again after Stuart shouted at him for cancelling a room at short notice. He's the one who, several years ago gay pride weekend, he was going out in the evening wearing flip-flops and a terribly stained t-shirt full of holes down the front. I told him he was a disgrace to the gay community and he had to change else he couldn't come back here to stay. (Come to think of it, it WAS the last time he stayed, at least 6 years ago). He's the one to whom Paul said (one of Paul's better lines)"are those holes caused by the acid dripping from your tongue"!!!! How we laughed!!! He changed and ended up having an argument on Arenas Road and stomped on some guys foot with his size 12.1/2's. Good job he changed from the flip-flops. To this day he has never said thank you for the advice. Anyway, he's in town for the weekend staying at some god awful place and has promised to visit .. we look forward to the acid!!

Look at this new shiney thing!!!!

Woweeeee ... breaking news, this just in! Things are a bit desperate when we get excited about a new washing machine don'tcha think? Anyway, here it is, a front loading Maytag, state of the art etc, etc, etc. It doesn't do the ironing which is a shame as that would free up Stuart for several hours a week. It is our first front loader and Mabel is fascinated by it and spent a long time yesterday and today sitting in front of the machine watching the laundry go round and round. Much like I did in London when I got my first washing machine (which was a front loader and dryer combination) and also my friend Stefan when he was a boy in Sweden. We didn't need much to entertain us in those days.

Nice crowd in again this weekend although we are not full for the first weekend in over 2 months. The season is begining to wind down but we are full for Memorial Day.
People in from Hawaii, NV, FL, and good old CA and just now a walk in from la belle France! We're so International and will do our best for le entente cordial. More later, I'll let you know how the weekend goes!

We Survived!!!!

We survived the blackout/power outage yesterday, of course. We decided to treat ourselves to dinner so we walked down to Trio before the lights went out. I have to tell you, Trio is much improved over our first visit.

So, back to the outage ... we got back from the restaurant around 8.30pm and the lights went out at 9.15. Suddenly we were plunged into total darkness, the stars were out in force. We were reconnected to the real world at 7.00am Wednesday morning. Now, my question is this Southern California Edison, why would you decide to black us out during our busiest 'high season' time? I know it was mid-week, well Tuesday and we only had one guest in and he had no problem with it but we could've lost 4 nights because of it. Would you have done this downtown and knocked out the Hyatt .. no wait, they would have theie own generators. Why not do it in the middle of July when we are all empty???? Duh.

We hit the press!!!!

Thanks once again for Erich and Doug's 30/60 party. We were a little suprised to find ourselves in Pulp Magazine this week 'around town' page 33. We don't get out much but when we do .... we get noticed!!!!

We survived the girls weekend and it was great. Suzi and Sarah, you are so much fun!! These girls know how to party. Same time next year.

Now we are entering a quiet period. We have one guest in until Friday (today's Monday) but tomorrow we have a power outage between 9pm and 8am. We did offer to find him an hotel with lights but he is quite content to stay here. We will be supplying flashlights (torches) extra batteries and those funny lights you press to make them light-up usually found in closets (wardrobes).

Enjoy your week!!!!

One of 'those' weekends!!!!

Oh yes, folks, one of 'those weekends'!!!!!! What an attractive group we have in this weekend from CA, WA, TX, AZ well, four states anyway.

Everybody checked in nice and early yesterday, before 5pm. Before 6 there was a group in and around the hot tub getting introduced, engaged, married and divorced all at the same time if you get my drift ;).

Mike and John dropped by last night after Fur Friday at Hunters for a few libations. Always a pleasure. We are expecting Soloman (Sodam) and Chris (Gomorrah) to drop by later this afternoon. Dennis called this morning and he and AJ might drop in. Quite the party atmosphere I can tell you.

Stuart and I have been invited to a cocktail party this evening 6pm-9pm. It's given by our friends Doug and Erich celebrating their 30th year together and Erichs 60th birthday! It's the 30/60 party! Looking forward to that. Pictures of the weekend to follow. What a great job we've got!!

The Girls are Back!!!!

We do have the best guests here at Chaps Inn and some even come back!!! Here are a couple of our favorites and before you leather afficianados say anything, it was Halloween, 11am. and the Bloody Mary's had been flowing!!!! Stuart and Alfred, wecome back!
This is the Coachella Music Festival weekend and a welcome back to Joe from New York, one of our regular visitors for the music festival and donator of Christopher Norman Chocolates. Yum!
Thurday night and 70% full ... wow. We are now getting guests who stayed at the Desert Bear before it's demise. The DB website was referring their guests to CCBC (thanks).
Whip Master Peter Fiske checks in tomorrow for a couple of nights. Dennis and AJ will be making an appearance and it sounds like we will be having a barbeque Saturday night. We can but hope! Another fun filled weekend!!! Pictures will be posted.

We've made our hotel reservations in San Francisco for Dore Alley, July 23rd - 26th. Tommorow the booth application goes in and we hope to get the one we really want. Will keep you posted.

So many things!!!!

There are so many things to report from the weekend, I don't know what to put in or leave out!!! First, a new photo for our rack cards x3 (see previous blog entry). A big thank you to Tracy T. for taking the picture!!!!!

Sunday afternoon we had an earthquake!! We were sitting outside, Stuart says 'we're having an earthquake' to which I replied, No, it's the wind ... NO, WAIT ... WE ARE HAVING AN EARTHQUAKE. No damage but it went on for 45 seconds which is a long time. The water was sloshing around the pool although we didn't loose any water. 7.2 centered near Mexicali which is on the Mexican side of the border opposite Calexico geddit? Some bright spark had a brain wave and named the two cities opposite each other across the border a play on Mexico and California. Clever, eh!! That took a lot of thinking about.


Soloman and Chris (Sodam and Gomorah) finally made an appearance over the weekend and it was a pleasure to see them. They're getting rather tired of Puerta Vallarta and the restaurant business so hopefully they'll be back here soon opening something fabulous in Palm Springs.. . we look forward to it. You have our full support as long as it doesn't involve money!

Horrible, disgusting pornography on display in public!!!!

We have been displaying our rack cards at the Palm Springs Visitor Center for as long as I can remember. We must've supplied them with hundreds of cards over the years. They are displayed in the Gay & Lesbian section together with all the other gay hotels in Palm Springs.

Today, we had a visit from the Advertising Sales Representative of the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism. Apparently some woman with two children has complained about our rack card (amongst others) and has written to every council member in Palm Springs complaining of this disgusting overt pornography her children were subjected to. They were running amock with no supervision, of course.

Well, lady, we've got a suprise for you .. almost all of the city council members are gay, as is the Mayor of Palm Springs so don't expect any sympathy there and next time make sure you know where your kids are when you are trying to find a cheap hotel.

Offending picture above and sorry for hurting anyone sensibilities!!!! (I suppose one womans meat is another womans pornography!). Sorry 'bout that!