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Pioneer Inn, Lahaina (Hawaii)
A lot going on in this otherwise placid Nani Li’i Natural Color Card S-523: did you know that Lahaina, Maui, was once Capital of the Hawaiian Islands? The ship Carthaginian is berthed near the Lighthouse in front of the Pioneer Inn. Card dates from sometime after 1951. But in this update, the hotel may have been destroyed in the fires of August 2023. Grade: 1
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The Edgewater Hotel, Rigadoon Room, Madison (Wisconsin, USA)
Being curious, we went to the search engines to see the current status of the hotel. It seems to have gone into liquidation and is closed for redevelopment until 2014. Some of its final online reviews were terrible, and the postcard is not so good, either: not postally used, but with a pencilled message on the back. Grade: 4
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Lake Lawn Lodge, Frontier Dining Room, Delavan (Wisconsin, USA)
Grandma sent this card to Jay in 1961, with commemorative “Boys’ Clubs” stamp and full postmark. Grade: 2
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Hotel Ruiz Galindo, Fortin, Veracruz (Mexico)
Real photo card mailed in 1944 with two stamps and large postmark. Grade: 1
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Lee Gardens Hotel, Causeway Bay (Hong Kong)
We remember this! It, like the clear blue sky, is long gone. The unused card looks like it dates from about the early 1970s and is clean but heavily aged. Grade: 3
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Grand Hotel, Grand Viking Restaurant (Hong Kong)
Mailed in 1973 with stamp and postmarks from sending (Kowloon) and receiving offices. Blue trilingual airmail label affixed. Grade: 3
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Sheraton-Hong Kong Hotel, Kowloon
By Hong Kong standards, this hotel is a real survivor, and still very popular. Unused 1970s-era card, aging noticeably. Grade: 3
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Kyongju Tokyu Hotel (South Korea)
Unused card, not at all new, and unevenly aged. Nice boat, though! Grade: 3
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Above All In Penang, Hotel Equatorial (Malaysia)
This 5-1/4″ x 7-1/4″ card was mailed in 2013, with stamp and postmark. Grade: 2
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Eastin Hotel, Service From The Heart, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)
Unused 4-3/4″ x 6-3/4″ card from 2013. Grade: 1
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Eastin Hotel, Award Wining (sic) Restaurants, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)
Does the hotel have a staff opening for a proofreader? Unused 4-3/4″ x 6-3/4″ card from 2013. Grade: 1
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Eastin Hotel, Luxurious Comfort, Petaling Jaya (Malaysia)
Unused 4-3/4″ x 6-3/4″ card from 2013. Grade: 1
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Fuji Lake Hotel, Yamanashi (Japan)
Unused card from the hotel. Grade: 1
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Me (heart) Loma (Finland)
We always like the little thrill of putting a language we don’t know into Google Translate and seeing what comes out the other end. In this case, here’s what the front of the card is said to say: “Small moments make your vacation a great. It was the moment when the big city became very small.” (Not bad, actually.) Mailed from Finland with uncancelled stamp and Priority label. Grade: 4
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Hotel Patra Jasa, Semarang (Indonesia)
Unused old and slightly creased card, one of the few we have from any country featuring bowling. Grade: 3
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Olympic Hotel, Seattle (Washington, USA)
Unused Mike Roberts card C5687, aging and mottling on the back. Grade: 3
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Plains Hotel, Cheyenne (Wyoming)
In today’s world, it is impossible to imagine how exotic such terminals were, not so many years ago, with busses and trains going to “Faraway places with strange-sounding names.” How attractive this card made this hotel and transport facility look. Unused Sanborn Souvenir card 7A69-N (1117). Nice. Grade: 1
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Londonderry, Northern Counties Hotel, Dining Room (Ireland)
Unused B&W postcard, unattributed and heavily aged and stained, especially on the reverse. Grade: 4
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Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge (Massachusetts)
Everything about this B&W card makes it look older than it really is. Mailed in 1947 with Stockbridge postmark, and stamp. Grade: 3
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Hotel Traymore, Atlantic City (New Jersey)
Unused P. Sander card 32461 (516). Grade: 2
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Hotel Oasis, Cache Creek (BC, Canada)
Unused, unmarked card. Just “old”-looking. Grade: 3
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Caneel Bay Plantation, St. John (Virgin Islands)
Unused Plastichrome card P29676 (CBP 2). Grade: 2
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The Homestead, Hot Springs (Virginia, USA)
Unused, genuinely high-quality postcard dated 2004. Grade: 1
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Rantasipi Hotels & Resorts (Finland)
Mailed from Finland in 2013 with stamp, partial postmark, Priority label, and address label glued on. Grade: 4
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The Diplomat Motel, St. Louis (Missouri, USA)
Mailed in 1963, with a 4-cent commemorative and full postmark. Grade: 1
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Coral Sands Motel, Kanab (Utah, USA)
Just for fun, we went to Google to see if this property still exists. It seems to, but they are quite cagey about it, and listings for their postcards dwarf information about the motel itself. Well, here we are, one more card, unused, and cheaper than the others. Grade: 1
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Engadin, Gasthaus Spinas (Switzerland)
Card from the property, mailed in 2012 with two different stamps and a large, clear, special postmark. Blue Priority label affixed. Grade: 1
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Melaka, Ramada Plaza, famosa lounge (Malaysia)
Unused card. Grade: 1
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American Rhine Hotel, Naval Review (R. Bracklow) (USA)
Gelatin silver print in the New-York Historical Society, and the postcard mailed from USA in 2013 with round Global Forever stamp and New York postmark, along with USPS barcoding on both sides. Grade: 3
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The Venetian Macao Resort-Hotel (3D)
Unused card, lenticular printing with two views: one during daytime, and one composite, of what we believe to be the world’s largest casino. Grade: 1
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Bellagio Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas (Nevada)
Unused card. Grade: 1
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San Francisco, Sheraton-Palace, Garden Court
This looks the same as our 30900423 on the front, but the print run is different (this one is July, 1966) and the card is used (mailed in 1968 with 5-cent stamp, and postmark). Grade: 1
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Hotel Westward Ho, Phoenix (Arizona, USA)
Mailed in 1968 with stamp and partial postmark that’s upside down and inverted, one of many hotel postcards to make you wish you were on the road now. Grade: 2
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Santa Maria, Colonial Motel (California)
Not postally used, but someone typed the typical “This is where we stayed …” statement on the back. Grade: 4
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Del Coronado Hotel (California)
The card says Coronado, but we still think of it as San Diego. Unused, Plastichrome P77696. Grade: 2
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Yosemite National Park, Ahwahnee Hotel & Royal Arches (California)
Unused Mirro-Krome H.S. Crocker card BSY-75. Grade: 2
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Sun n Surf Motel, Miami (Florida)
Not sure why, but we thought there would be many properties with this name, so we went to Google. Somewhat to our surprise, this one (still there) dominates the list. A card mailed in 1971, long message in tiny writing and with some extra writing in the address area. Stamp and Kennedy Space Center postmark. Grade: 3
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Maui Marriott Resort (Hawaii)
Mailed from Honolulu in what looks like 1985, with 14-cent stamp and address label pasted on. Grade: 4
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Zoder’s Motel, Gatlinburg (Tennessee)
The extra-long card is terrible in every way. All we’ll mention is that it is permanently folded through the middle. Grade: 5
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Bethaven Inn, Bethel (Maine, USA)
As we are wont to do, we wanted to see if this inn still existed, so we Googled it. The only Bethaven Inn that comes up for the first several entries is the one in Meadville, PA, which is apparently very good but not the one on our unused card. The caption on the reverse is an absolute masterpiece of Maine understatement. Grade: 1