Entries tagged with: Andrew Williamson

I need not have any money! PERSONALITIES

I need not have any money!

If you think you have seen them all, read this one. Around 1960, it was sent to the proprietress of the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Germaine Krull, who remembers: ‘Our bill collectors had their problems. One debtor had left the French Embassy a...

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Making Of Oriental Bangkok The Making Of Books

Making Of Oriental Bangkok

A room at the Oriental in  the 1920s, at the time of Somerset Maugham's arrival Fighting White Ants by Andreas Augustin At The Mandarin Oriental shop, and present in every room, the book about the Oriental's history is more than j...

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Somerset Maugham arrives at the Oriental PERSONALITIES

Somerset Maugham arrives at the Oriental

Bangkok / Siam (today Thailand) "The hotel faced the river. My room was dark, one of a long line, with a verandah on each side of it, the breeze blew through, but it was stifling. The dining-room was large and dim, and for coolness" sake the windows...

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The Lady’s True Age HOTELS

The Lady’s True Age

 By Andrew Williamson and Andreas Augustin Never ask a lady about her age! we have all learnt to accept. But if we stop calling hotels grand old ladies, we might very well aks. ‘How old is this establishment?’ is often one o...

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The Lenox: Meeting Jimmy Fisher HOTELS

The Lenox: Meeting Jimmy Fisher

Andrew Williamson | An American Essay   As I stride across the carpeted lobby of Boston’s Lenox Hotel I am clamped firmly on the wrist. What can I have done? Has my past caught up with me? ‘Good afternoon, sir. Welcome to the Leno...

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The Third Hotel HOTELS

The Third Hotel

Andreas Augustin tackled the impossible — and produced a book about the long missing third hotel of the Sarkies brothers. This is a list of the neccessary 12 pillars of success. Once again, I am taking you on a journey into a historic ...

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Travel History: Thomas Cook PERSONALITIES

Travel History: Thomas Cook

During the 1870s, a new 'movement' was to be observed in England. The English suddenly travelled in larger groups than any other nation. Only a few decades ago travelling was almost exclusively reserved for a small elite, the upper class. W...

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Savoy (Baur en Ville)

Savoy (Baur en Ville)

This is Zurich's oldest grand hotel. When it opened on December 24, 1838, it marked a milestone in the history of the hotel industry. In...Read More

Grand Hotel Lviv (Lemberg)

Grand Hotel Lviv (Lemberg)

Grand Hotel Lviv in 1894 Lviv or Lemberg can be metaphorically described as the westernmost city in Eastern Europe or the easternmost city in...Read More

Bergues, Des

Bergues, Des

In our world, it is no longer a given that simple restraint represents true elegance. To be recognized as one of the oldest purpose-built Grand...Read More

Le Royal

Le Royal

In 1923/24, the construction of a 55-room hotel in Phnom Penh was proposed. Architect Ernest Hébrard, who was largely responsible for...Read More

The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok

Since decades “The Oriental”, as it is affectionately known by travellers from all over the globe, leads the lists of all...Read More