There is something about getting away that rejuvenates us – spending a fleeting few days in a beautiful space somehow resets the pattern of everyday life. Hotels used to sell themselves as homes away from home, until someone realised that the whole point of a hotel is that it’s different, removed and, in many ways, better than home. Today, the trick is to make our home a hotel away from a hotel.
The bedroom
Walking into a great hotel bedroom is a magical, uplifting experience. Partly, that can be down to a sweeping view out the window of a snow-capped mountain or a blood-red sunset, but much of the appeal is simple, clever design. The good news is that you can recreate the hotel bedroom experience by following two simple rules: de-clutter and buy beautiful bedding.
De-cluttering is by far the cheaper and more difficult of the two. In our busy lives, bedrooms become dumping grounds for stuff that we have nowhere else to put, from yesterday’s dress to the old electric guitar that we haven’t used since college. Feng shui expert Elizabeth Chamberlain warns that “instead of creating a relaxing retreat, clutter creates a clogged up mess and a feeling of chaos”. You know what you have to do.
A beautiful bed is essential. That starts from the bottom up, with the best mattress and mattress pad that you can afford. Ditto the sheets, duvet cover and pillowcases. Egyptian cotton deserves its reputation as the world’s finest, but whatever cotton you go for, a good rule of thumb is that the higher the thread-count, the better. Remember that hotels are big on layering, so you need quantity as well as quality.
Many of the world’s big hotel companies, such as Ritz-Carlton and Luxury Collection, sell their “hotel experience” bedding online, offering everything from fitted sheets to a padded linen headboard. Scrimp and save on other accessories; so long as you’re thoughtful, cheap tables, lights, rugs, paint and shelves work just fine. But blow the budget on the bedding.
Finally, order custom-made curtains with blackout lining. Hotel curtains barely let in a chink of sunshine; that’s why when you wake up you’ve no idea what time it is or where you are. Bliss. Ikea stores across the UAE have good, cheap custom curtain departments, as do a host of independent shops in Dragon Mart and Satwa in Dubai.
The spa experience
Most landlords or property developers will give you a bland, generic bathroom. Don’t let their lack of imagination limit yours. If you can, rip out the old sanitaryware and install new kit that will make your bathroom feel like a spa. Think walk-in rain showers, free-standing bathtubs and bathrooms bathed in natural light. Even if you can’t rip out the old toilet, you can almost certainly play with fittings; replace the rusty old taps and shower head with a modern rain shower; get rid of cracked toilet seats; and upgrade your mouldy shower curtain to a glass-and-chrome panel.
Even little things like matching fluffy towels, bath mats, dressing gowns and slippers make a huge difference, especially when paired with “affordable luxury”, candles and hotel-style toiletries such as Molton Brown handwash.
The arrival
Hotel designers try to make one big statement at the entrance – a sculptural powerhouse that defines the rest of the building. It can be a carved stone statue, a dramatic chandelier, a water feature, a video-art installation – anything that demands attention. They key is to pick one defining work to make a dramatic welcome, and then give it room to breathe.
Hotel lobbies don’t do clutter, because the goal is to create a sense of space and openness. Be very selective with your accessories at the entrance; remember, less is more. Other rooms can have a more homely, lived-in feel, such as a living room lined with bookshelves or a bedroom littered with photo frames. But the entrance should give people time to think and take in the space, sending one clear, coherent message about the building that they are about to enter, not overload them with conflicting themes.
Design language
What kind of hotel do you want your home to be? Eclectic is a great buzz-word, but in reality it usually ends up looking like a confused mess. If your three favourite hotels are an ultra-modern W, a ski chalet and a faux Arabesque palace, it’s probably better to pick one and stick to it rather than try to blend all three together.
Remember that it’s important to place the building in context. Beach chic in all white with hints of blue works well for a Greek villa on Santorini, but might jar in a traditional villa in Jumeirah.
Ambience
Think about all five senses: sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. They all combine to create the ambient mood, something that interior designers sometimes neglect by obsessing over the look of a space.
Think about installing speakers throughout the house; choose music that fits the mood you’re going for, from energetic and upbeat to calm and relaxed. Candles, naked-flame torches and incense sticks can create a powerful aroma, as can baking bread or grinding fresh coffee. Which brings us to taste. Go easy on the traditional hotel gastronomic trilogy of sugar/fat/salt, focusing instead on how they make healthy snacks appealing; I’m never more inclined to eat fruit than when it’s beautifully cut and presented in a breakfast buffet. Touch is all about texture and quality; upgrade little things such as door handles to give your home a tactile turbo boost.
Custom made
Good hotel designers don’t take old pieces of furniture and say: “That doesn’t really work in the space, but we already own it, so it’ll have to do.” Don’t get me wrong – where possible, I’m all for upcycling (reusing existing pieces rather than trashing them). But if you really want a bookcase or table to look right, you may have to sell your dining table on Dubizzle and buy one that suits the new space. Better still, get some pieces custom made. It’s often cheaper and quicker than you think, and in the long run can save you money by avoiding constant tweaking in months ahead as you try to fix something that you knew all along in your heart of hearts was never going to work.
[ weekend@thenational.ae ]
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