From our Monday archive " Schloss Bernstein
Some of the best sleep-over experiences happen when the place you stay is also what you have gone to see. Taking this to the extreme, the other day I got a chance to spend the night in an art exhibit. That brought visiting a gallery to a whole new dimension! But that is a story for another time.
Better examples are historic homes, or places where a famous person stayed. These are places where the mists of time are so thick that you can easily lose yourself in the story of the place. Reports of ghosts are not uncommon in such places, and in certain ways the accumulation of things and experiences from past occupants do amount to something tangible that continues to affect visitors.
But this alchemy of experience is not easy to achieve. It requires a delicate balance between “leaving things alone” and some proper care-taking and maintenance, and it usually involves someone with a passion for the place and an enthusiasm to share it with the world. Where this is achieved, magic can happen.
On the other hand, certain comforts that we expect from normal accommodations work against us in these places. How often have you booked a room advertised as historic, only to find all the “old” is completely obscured by layers of “modern” amenities? All the magic has been cleaned out, leaving a place which, may in fact be old, but the fabric of its history is ripped beyond repair.
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