From the moment I exit the taxi cab, I enter a world of comfort, design and a style that I long to be a part of – in my mind – the cool kids club. The boutique hotel spaces are magazine worthy and I want to be in the middle of it all – jump inside and just be pretty. They are put together in such a way that the execution of the colors, the patterns and the details all make sense in the space (if I tried this at home, stripes, pattern and textures, I think it would be a disaster). For this week’s FriFotos theme of “The Great Indoors”, I thought I’d show you my favorite indoor spaces from my favorite boutique hotels – The Firmdale Hotels (London) and The Kimpton Hotels (U.S.). My dream home makeover would be styled by Firmdale or Kimpton (sadly, they don’t have a design service but each has their own partnerships in fabric and accessories).
Firmdale Hotels in London
I discovered the Firmdale Hotels in London a bit accidentally in my research years ago. I was bored with the US Chain hotels, this was London, I wanted glamour and style not cookie cutter beige in a small European room. I found it all at The Firmdales – a small UK group of eight individual hotels in London owned and designed by Kit Kemp in a modern English decor. In the heart of Soho, I would be surrounded by restaurants, clubs, near shopping and theatres, it just seemed perfect for my solo jaunts. After my first stay at The Soho Hotel – the service, the style, the privacy all lured me in and I was hooked (plus the best hotel toiletries). Goodbye hotel loyalty points! The Firmdale hotels are so very home away from home for me – small properties that are full of life all day long – they have drawing rooms to entertain friends or just sit read a book/have a drink, a few have movie screening rooms and the restaurant/bar is a lively scene (maybe a celebrity sighting or two). Two London Firmdale properties that I love are The Charlotte Street and The Soho Hotel.
The Kimpton Hotels
Staying at a Kimpton Hotel is encountering a new quirky personality each time. Their free lobby happy hour social is your entry to mingle with other guests from around the country or around the world. Kimpton has their own loyalty program called Kimpton Karma so I don’t need to forgo points to stay with them although I do often need to forgo space. Many (if not most) of their properties are restored buildings that they convert to hotels rather than build from the ground up. With conversions and historical regulations the room size could vary in size and shape. It is the style, design and funky attitude of the Kimpton that makes the stay so nice and you might easily forget that Room 409 was the smallest room ever in NYC. Like the Firmdales, the design and service is what makes them so special for me.
It’s a good thing my home doesn’t look like a boutique hotel, I’d never leave. Leaving is one of the challenges when you stay in the great indoors of these two boutique hotel groups. The other challenge is finding an interior decorator that can help replicate a bit of the charm at home. If you love interior design as much as I do then I’m sure you will be happy at The Firmdales as well as The Kimptons, both so much better than boring beige cookie cutter.