I was wandering around the gleaming lobby of the 18-story St Regis New York, like you do, when I decided I wanted to write this book. Grand Hotels of the World. I was admiring the gilded check-in desks, imagining it was 1904, the hotel had just opened and I was a guest. At the time, I was also reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Set in the early 1920s it tells the story of a Russian aristocrat living under house arrest in a luxury hotel for over 30 years.
This got me thinking about the golden age of travel’s heyday and the era of the grand hotel. Between the 1890s and the 1940s, wealthy sophisticated travellers, with adventurous spirits, plenty of time and – of course – money packed their Louis Vuitton trunks and embarked on months-long world ‘grand tours’ in search of cultural wonders, checking into luxurious landmark hotels in exquisite locations along the way. The rest, they say, is history.
Grand Hotels of the World is split into three sections – in the mountains, in the city and by the sea – it tells the stories of 40 of the world’s legendary hotels and the famous guests to have sashayed through their storied corridors. From Claridge’s in London’s Mayfair to the chic Splendido in Portofino and the timeless Villa Serbelloni on the shores of Lake Como – even The Grand in my home city of Brighton, it’s an ideal gift for anyone with a soft spot for stylish travels and the grandeur of yesteryear.
Buy Grand Hotels of the World, here or here.
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