Hotel of the Lost

[bookblather]

The hotel lobby is broad and open, a big circular room with a fountain in the center stocked with gold and orange koi. A large handprinted sign propped against the fountain's rim reads DO NOT FEED THE FISH, but it is the only touch of humanity in the gold-and-cream marble room. The fountain is surrounded by small tables and comfortable armchairs in greens and golds, sitting on a forest green rug patterned with small cream figures that spreads outward until it reaches a broad walkway of cream marble tiles around the circumference of the room. Potted plants stand at regular intervals along the walls; they are live trees, though from a distance they could well be assumed to be fake. Between them hang the usual forgettable pieces of hotel art.

Double glass doors open onto the outside world, with the concierge's cream marble desk to their right and the gold sign-in desk to their left. About a third of the way along the circle from the concierge's desk is a fancy restaurant done all in green and cream, currently empty, complete with a large bar stocked with at least thirty kinds of liquor. Across from the restaurant is a gift shop stocked with the usual kitschy touristy items and t-shirts emblazoned with Washington DC, also empty. Across from the double doors is an elevator bank leading up to the rooms, with a marked door to the staircase beside it.

The portals are shifting....