A motel in Latin America is very different from those you encounter in North America. When driving through British Columbia there are numerous motels lining the sides of the roads leading into every town you drive through – very normal, sometimes seedy, sometimes rundown but still generally normal motels.
Throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Chile, a motel has a totally different connotation. While these motels are similarly located on the outskirts of towns, they are very secluded and well hidden from view. The drive in is separated from the drive out and once inside the parking 
spaces and motel rooms are hidden behind curtains or garage doors. You don't register and you do not meet anyone. These motels are where latinos go for their secret love affairs!
It’s a somewhat strange and foreign concept, not the love affairs, but the hideaway motels. I guess with such large and extended families it is difficult to quietly have an affair in your own home or local hotel. But is there really that many affairs going on that every town can support a half dozen love palaces? Apparently so.
On his drive up to Santiago to collect the crew inbound from Canada, Geoff had a difficult time finding places to stay. One night was spent in a “hospedaje”, essentially a bed and breakfast kind of place with such low doorways he cracked 
his head on it and the dogs barking all night kept him awake. The next night was spent at a hostal which was probably the worst flea ridden hole he has stayed in since backpacking in India. Nearing Santiago and knowing what the cost of a hotel is there, Geoff was on the lookout for comfortable accommodations. Seeing a “hotel-motel” sign with the name El Refugio, not Lover’s 
Lane or L’amor, he decided to check the place out. For little more than the cost of the previous sketchy rooms, this motel room was luxurious with a large comfortable and clean bed, hot and cold running water and a TV - oh and mirrors on the ceiling! The place just felt creepy knowing what it was all about.
It turned out to be a perfectly fine quiet place to get a comfortable night’s sleep. And judging by the limited traffic through the place, the Latino libido may not be everything it’s thought to be.
That "lots of mirrors" pic is one of the best-ever portraits of GG.
Posted by: sailnmuffin | January 29, 2012 at 10:43 AM