League Two side Leyton Orient are being forced to exist like Alan Partridge circa 1997 by living in a hotel* for an indeterminate length of time.Following the London club's 3-1 defeat away at Hartlepool on Sunday, 18 players and six staff members (including boss Ian Hendon) were taken to the Waltham Abbey Marriott Hotel. They can leave for training and to see their families, but must eat and sleep at the hotel until further notice.It follows a worrying slump in Orient's form. The club were relegated from League 1 last term, and have won just once in their last 12 games to slip to seventh in the table.The turn of events seems less odd when you learn that Orient are owned by Italian businessman Francesco Becchetti. As an Italian who owns a football club, Becchetti's decisions are not necessarily governed by logic or common sense, but instead by gut feelings and things he's seen in movies, or maybe dreams.Located off the M25 motorway, the hotel features "upscale rooms and suites" as well as "custom-designed bedding and pillow-top mattresses." That's right: custom-designed bedding. No mass-produced shit at the Waltham Abbey Marriott.However you do have to pay for Wi-Fi, which if we're honest is more of a pain in the arse than not having bespoke bedding. Food-wise the hotel serves a buffet breakfast; this will also cost extra, but players could feasibly get a little more for their money by taking their own very large plate to the buffet bar.Boss Hendon was stoic in his attempts to hide his embarrassment at being forced to live like a '90s sitcom character."We're not trying to hide anything," said Hendon, who has been in charge since May. "We're staying at a hotel. There are plenty of army camps I know about in deepest darkest woods if we wanted to do that."(Nowhere on Ian Hendon's Wikipedia page does it mention his access to high-level military secrets, but he's rather let the cat out of the bag there).Orient's next league fixture comes this Saturday at home to struggling York City. Should they fail to win, we suspect Becchetti will send the team to live in a static caravan next to a half-built house named Excalibur Cottage.* We know Alan lived in a travel tavern, but honestly a Marriot off the M25 is a travel tavern in all but name.
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