Happy Holidays!

December 17, 2022: Hi all. I'm still here, just been very busy (who of us is not?) I'm working on updating Maison Newton bit by bit, it's been awhile since I changed things up. Happy Holidays to all, soon the Winter Solstice will arrive and then the days will start to get longer once again, hooray!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Dreaming...The Rosewood Hotel, London

Last week (March 20, 2014) I saw an article in the "Personal Journal" section of The Wall Street Journal about a new breed of luxury hotel suites.  I was much struck by this beautiful room:


It is one of the rooms in a suite at the "Grand Manor House Wing" of the Rosewood Hotel in London. 

Oh my!  I want this space!  I cannot quite put my finger on what it is that so draws me to this room (and the dining area beyond), but there is just -- something. Is it the hint of the soft leather wing chair in the corner?  Is it the sofa with the perfect pillows set all in a row?  Is it those all the way to the ceiling bookshelves flanking the doorway?  The subtle checkerboard pattern of the wallcovering?  Is it the chrome lamp on the sofa table?  Not a fireplace in sight, either!  I've no idea, actually. 

I was so curious, I looked up the hotel on the internet.  Ooooooohhh!  It's so gorgeous!  The website intro page itself gives me shivers:

Guests arrive at Rosewood London through an archway that opens into a grand Edwardian courtyard, in a little oasis of tranquillity unique among London luxury hotels. It is the perfect start to a memorable stay in a timeless heritage hotel, set just steps from Covent Garden...

I'm sold!  I wanna be Georgia, a woman too shy to pursue her dreams, now blowing her 401(k) money at an exclusive Swiss resort, arriving by helicopter no less, in what she thinks are her last couple of weeks on Earth, as she was (falsely) diagnosed with a terminal condition (The Last Holiday, 2006, starring Queen Latifah, one of the best, most fun and wonderful movies I've ever seen).

Alas, I haven't been diagnosed with an illness that will kill me within two weeks, so I've got to keep my 401(k) money.

The Grand Manor House Suite is one of nine exclusive suites offered at this hotel (you can check them out under "Accommodation").  I was pretty darn sure the price of just a "regular" room would give me a heart attack, but I needed to know, and so --

This is a description for the hotel's "Deluxe" room (notice the "e" at the end of "Delux" -- that's the British way of making an uncouth chick like moi know it's like, really high end, dude):

Offering plush comfort and elegant style in equal measure, Deluxe Rooms capture the heritage and charm of a modern London residence. The airy urban refuges are among the largest Deluxe Rooms in the city, averaging 31 square metres (334 sq. ft.), and also among the most luxurious, with sumptuous bespoke furnishings and handsome Italian marble bathrooms.

Source.

Mind you, earlier today (playing hooky from the office), I watched an episode of House Hunters International on Hulu Plus (trying out my free one week subscription) and a one bedroom - one bath apartment in a desirable area of Paris that was about the same size as this hotel room was on offer for about $1.8 million USD. It was not a current (2013 or 2014) episode, either.  Yikes!

According to Orbitz, the average rate for the "Deluxe" room is $346 a night. (I'm used to paying around $60 a night for a European hotel room, tiny but functional if you don't have large hips that can knock furniture over or accidentally blow out a shower wall. Oops.)

So, I guess I'll just keep on dreaming about coming back in my next life as an uber rich-beyatch, daughter of an English duke, or maybe a descendant of a long-deposed Italian prince, who also happens to resemble Audrey Hepburn, or Katherine Hepburn...

BTW, this is not a paid advertisement for any of the places or products mentioned. Just me day-dreaming (but I do own a video of The Last Holiday). 

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