There is something extremely satisfying about staying in a hotel in your hometown. Especially a hotel you’ve admired from afar as a child, wondering what went on behind the revolving doors. Some of my favourite books growing up belonged to the Eloïse series by Kay Thompson and told the tales of a 6 year old girl staying at the Plaza in New York, and subsequently in a small left-bank hotel in Paris. The images from the book, of Eloïse running around hotel corridors getting into all sorts of trouble stayed engraved in my mind and I am pretty sure they are what started my complete and utter fascination with hotels.
On Tuesday, I attended the Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize at the Plaza Athénée and was also invited to spend the night afterwards. As you can imagine, this was an opportunity too good to pass up, especially as Calla, one of my current favourite designers was competing for the prize. I don’t even know where to begin describing my Plaza experience… As soon as I set foot in the hotel, I was caught in a whirlwind of kindness and attention, every little detail perfect, every inch of wall and carpet decorated in the most delicious Parisian way. As a complete nutter perfectionist, this level of attention to detail pleases me to no end.
As I walked into my room, exhausted after a day of work and travel, I thought I had arrived in Heaven, as everything was so beautiful and inviting. A perfect Parisian nest was just what I needed to cure my homesickness. Needless to say I also had the most restful night ever and woke up beaming. It doesn’t happen much! It is really difficult not to gush about it and I am already wondering when I next will be able to spend a night there. Maybe as a treat to myself for my 35th birthday which is coming in 2013… Who knows!
Traduction – J’ai passé une nuit de rêve au Plaza Athénée, et cela m’a rappelé un de mes livres préférés de petite fille, Eloïse de Kay Thompson.
Mademoiselle Robot was a guest of the Plaza Athénée