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Hotel d'Or[1] is a Land Without Magic location featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the twenty-second episode of the fifth season.
History
In New York City, Mr. Gold checks into a room at the Hotel d'Or after stealing a piece of the Olympian Crystal from Henry and Violet. On the bed, he places Pandora's Box, which his pregnant wife Belle is trapped in, with plans of waking her from the Sleeping Curse by using the magic in the crystal. He tells her that, after he awakens her, she will understand that everything he's done has been for the sake of her and their unborn child, and that he'll finally take her to see the world as she has always wanted. However, when a portal from the Land of Untold Stories suddenly appears, he hesitates over choosing to grab the crystal or the box first. He gets the crystal from the table, but as he hurries back to the bed for the box, it slips through into the portal. ("Only You")
Several blocks away on the street, Henry attempts to track down Emma and Regina, both of whom wanted him to stay with Violet at the library while they go after Mr. Gold. Violet catches up to him as she and Henry spot a magic storm cloud hovering over the Hotel d'Or building, helping them to realize Mr. Gold must be there. Back in the hotel, a male server listens to a song on his earbuds as he gets off the elevator and wheels out a cart to Mr. Gold's room to deliver an order. The man pauses outside the room after seeing a bright light radiating from inside before hesitatingly knocking on the door, to which Mr. Gold allows him in. As he pushes the cart in, the server notices strange symbol markings on a table with a crystal sitting in the middle of three candles. He uncovers the lid from the platter to reveal the dinner that Mr. Gold ordered, spaghetti Bolognese, only to realize it's the wrong food as he begins apologizing for the mistake and offering to get the kitchen to fix it right away. Mr. Gold declines and instead takes the tray under the plate, asking if it's sterling silver, and after the man confirms it is, he tells him to leave. The server nervously starts to go but stops when Mr. Gold prompts him and places a $100 bill in his vest pocket, telling him it will get messy in the room. After the man is gone, Mr. Gold shuts the door, which has "Do Not Disturb" sign on it. ("An Untold Story")
Across the street from Hotel d'Or, Emma and Regina observe the cloud of magic. Emma, knowing Henry has probably not stay put in the library, considers calling him, but Regina recalls she previously torched the boy's phone. Just then, Emma gets a text from Granny, who tells her that Mary Margaret, David, Hook, and Zelena got sucked into a portal along with the Sorcerer's wand. Since they need magic to rescue their families, the women come up with a plan to distract Mr. Gold and get the crystal for themselves. After getting into Mr. Gold's room, Regina suggests he could use help from his best student to wake Belle. Mr. Gold scoffs, stating his best student was a Queen whom she has buried under layers of cotton and good intentions. Regina insists she wants to be that person again because she is tired of losing people she cares about. She tells him Zelena is in trouble and trapped in another realm, and persuades him to help her find her sister so she can help him with Belle. Mr. Gold agrees and then offers to take her coat before they sit down and discuss their plans. Later as the two clink glasses to solidify their renewed partnership, Emma sneaks in from the door and into the other room to look for the crystal. Regina asks where Belle is, and Mr. Gold explains she is in Pandora's Box, which fell into a portal opened by someone using the Sorcerer's wand. As such, he believes the wand was taken from Zelena, who is likely in the same realm as Belle. Emma manages to get the crystal, but then, Mr. Gold teleports it into his hand, revealing he knew that the two were working against him. As Emma joins them, Mr. Gold talks how he knew Regina was faking it, as losing the man she loved was not going to push her into darkness again. He then admits he only played along with the charade to get a strand of Regina's hair, which he needs to find Zelena and possibly Belle, and now that he has it, he has no more use for either Regina or Emma. Mr. Gold prepares to kill them with a fireball, but Henry bursts in with Violet, destroying the crystal's magic by absorbing into the Holy Grail. Upon finding out his actions have left them without a way to save their families, Henry blames Mr. Gold for getting them into the situation and storms out of the building, with Violet going after him. As Mr. Gold knows of someone else who has the magic they all need, Regina begrudgingly agrees to go with him to seek this person out while Emma goes to find Henry. ("An Untold Story")
Trivia
On-Screen Notes
- Hotel d'Or is French for "hotel gold" or "gold hotel", a reference to Mr. Gold. ("Only You," "An Untold Story")
- The address number is 425 Houston Street.[2] ("An Untold Story")
Production Notes
- The correct French spelling for the name of this location would be "Hôtel d'Or", with a circumflex on the "o" of "Hotel". However, in the episodes, the name of the hotel in only displayed with upper case letters,[1] which are usually not written with diacritics on them in French. ("Only You," "An Untold Story")
- However, as the building is located in New York City and not in France, it is possible that the hotel did not keep the circumflex on the "o".
Popular Culture
- The server listens to "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield on his headphones, while on his way to Mr. Gold's hotel room. ("An Untold Story")
Props Notes
- Among the symbols etched into the table in Mr. Gold's hotel suite are:[3] ("An Untold Story")
- Elder Futhark runes.
- Pentagrams. The pentagram has historically been used by occult faiths and magicians,[4] and is today used as a symbol for Wicca, Witchcraft, and Paganism.[5]
- Alchemical signs for the elements fire (🜂), water (🜄), earth (🜃), and spirit, also known as aether (⚪).[6]
Set Dressing
- Two small paintings are hanging by the bed in Mr. Gold's hotel suite.[7] The same pictures were hanging in Regina's study in "The Snow Queen".[8] They can also be seen in Mr. Samdi's office in "Homecoming".[9] ("Only You")
- One of the framed pictures in Mr. Gold's hotel suite[10] was previously used to decorate Emma's New York apartment in "New York City Serenade".[11] ("An Untold Story")
Filming Locations
- The scene with Mr. Gold in the hotel lobby in "Only You" was filmed on location, while the scene where he walks to his hotel room was filmed in a hallway set.[12]
- LightForm on 425 Carrall Street in Vancouver doubles as Hotel d'Or for exterior scenes in "An Untold Story".[13] The top floors of the building are CGI. The LightForm logo can be seen on the building when Regina and Emma are outside.[14]
Appearances
| Once Upon a Time: Season Five | |||||||||||
| "The Dark Swan": | "The Price": | "Siege Perilous": | "The Broken Kingdom": | "Dreamcatcher": | "The Bear and the Bow": | "Nimue": | "Birth": | "The Bear King": | "Broken Heart": | "Swan Song": | |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | |
| "Souls of the Departed": | "Labor of Love": | "Devil's Due": | "The Brothers Jones": | "Our Decay": | "Her Handsome Hero": | "Ruby Slippers": | "Sisters": | "Firebird": | "Last Rites": | "Only You": | "An Untold Story": |
| Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent | Appears | Appears |
References
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