# Why "Arms" in hotel names?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arms-in-hotel-names/366278
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 27, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arms-in-hotel-names/366278 "2006-07-27T16:27:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arms-in-hotel-names/366278/1 "2006-07-27T16:27:24Z")

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If you Google “arms” “hotel” you get a long list of hotels named “The \_\_\_ Arms Hotel.”

Sherlock Holmes visited a place called Boscombe Valley, where he stayed at the Boscombe Arms Hotel.

Sesame Street has a hotel now, called the Furry Arms.

What’s with the “Arms”?

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### Author: ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arms-in-hotel-names/366278/2 "2006-07-27T16:29:11Z")

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Wouldn’t it be a coat of arms, used in the hotel’s sign?

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### Author: ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2006, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arms-in-hotel-names/366278/3 "2006-07-27T16:36:57Z")

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Yep - it’s a reference to the coat of arms of the person/family/town/guild etc. that the hotel is named for.

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### Author: ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arms-in-hotel-names/366278/4 "2006-07-27T16:56:04Z")

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Bender lives at Robot Arms.

And Bugs Bunny once stayed at Broken Arms.

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### Author: ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arms-in-hotel-names/366278/5 "2006-07-27T18:25:45Z")

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“Empty Arms Hotel!”

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### Author: ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arms-in-hotel-names/366278/6 "2006-07-27T18:33:20Z")

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In _A Streetcar Named Desire_ Blanche makes reference to the Tarantula Arms as a hotel where she lured her seductees for their trysts. Maybe some enterprising chain will jump on that one.