The Adelphi Adventure

    In 1912 a luxurious ship sailed out of the Port of Liverpool.  The ocean liner, heading for New York, was equipped with beautifully furnished rooms and well heeled passengers.  Four days later, the ship struck an iceberg in a disaster of titanic proportions.  In 1998, the Wilson family set out from their English home and ran into their own calamity at Liverpool’s Britannia Adelphi Hotel.

            I stepped through a huge doorway into my guest room and it was absolutely magnificent!  The large furniture and the tall ceiling were built to accommodate the steamer trunks which previous guests had taken on classic ocean liners out of the Port of Liverpool.  That night, as I attempted sleep, the room grew more creepy than beautiful.  The walls creaked and the musty, old draperies loomed above my bed, casting shadows on the floor.

            Once I got through the night, I was determined to enjoy the rest of my holiday in Liverpool.   My family went down to the front hall for breakfast.  We ordered the traditional British hotel breakfast.  The meal took a turn when we were told, “Oh, unfortunately, we have run out of toast.”  It was quite ironic that the staple breakfast item was depleted.  On previous holidays my sister had taken full advantage of the typical all-you-can-eat toast.  But, at the Adelphi, we only ate eggs and tea.

           After spending the day in the city, we returned to the Adelphi for tea.  The menus had coffee ring stains and teabag drippings all over them that made them appear as though they had been someone’s snack.  While examining the facilities closer, it was unfortunately clear that the whole hotel was in need of refurbishing.  The carpet was faded, and the once glamorous wallpaper was curling and turning a sickly yellow.  The upholstery was tattered.  Soup spoons, not teaspoons, were supplied to stir the tea.

            The port, located near the Adelphi, was a modern shopping area for tourists.  My parents planned to have dinner at a restaurant in this area.  A week before our holiday, my mother had spoken to a young lady who worked at the hotel and said she was available to babysit.  But apparently she was not there that evening and they shouted to the staff if anyone was willing to babysit!  Needless to say, my parents ate at the hotel restaurant. We ended up bringing McDonalds back to the hotel for my sister and me.  This was apparently unacceptable. The people at the front desk told us that we were not allowed to bring food up to the room.  The scent of french fries filled our coats when we smuggled the food upstairs.

            The next morning, we were getting ready to leave Liverpool.  As I turned on the water in the shower, it did not just stream from the shower-head.  Water sprayed from above and between the tiles of the adjacent wall.  The bathroom started to flood, and I screamed for my mother to come save me!  I ended up in my parents’ lion-footed bathtub, which was taller than my head when I sat in it.

            My family and I were not surprised when we later saw the Adelphi Hotel featured on a reality television show.  The staff in Liverpool set off all the fire alarms when they held a barbeque – indoors!