Portsmouth Beach Hotel

Happy New Years everyone back home! I hope you all had as good of a time as I did. A large group of Ross students went to a bar called DeChamps that overlooks the whole city of Portsmouth that was all lit up and looked absolutely amazing (quite difficult to describe in words actually). But even though we celebrated New Years at least one hour earlier than most of you from the U.S., we were able to watch the ball drop in Times Square on the television. Pretty exciting.

Well, I've mentioned in previous posts that I am staying at the Portsmouth Beach Hotel. I thought I would give you guys the grand tour and let you see a little bit of where I am living. PBH is a gated property that contains three different sections: the three story building which I live in, Le Flambeau Restaurant and Beach Bar (which I have dined at many times already), and the Picard Beach Cottages.

So my room is pretty much set up like most U.S. hotel rooms. Through the door there is a bathroom on the right, closet on the left. As you continue through the hall, the room contains a bed, nightstand, table, 2 chairs, microwave, fridge, television and a deck (with a table and chairs). I don't have glass windows, instead I have screens and wooden shutters to keep the bugs out. And surprisingly they are doing a great job. It is quite simple, but it will definitely get the job done. I have maid service every Friday where my room is cleaned. Since I am responsible for all of my towels and linens, I will need to use a laundry service that picks up your clothes and other miscellaneous items, and returns them (folded!) within 24 hours. It seems weird, but that is how many people make their income in Portsmouth. They don't have laundromats where you can do your own laundry for that very same reason. Behind my building is a paved sidewalk shortcut that leads to the Ross campus, making my grueling trek to school approximately 3 minutes. Spoiled, I know. Here are some pictures of the room and areas surrounding the PBH compound.

  

I feel like this could be a postcard.

Le Flambeau is the building to the left of the dock and the Picard Beach Cottages are to the right.

Picard Beach Cottages. This is where Jerry Bruckheimer (film director) stayed during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3. Not too shabby.

You think this may be a joke, but it definitely is not! They have this on campus near the mango trees, where the iguanas compete for fallen fruit.

Soon after, I ran into this little guy outside my building. Iguanas are an endangered species in Dominica.