Entries tagged with: Mourby

A HOTEL — LOST IN ATHENS Adrian Mourby

A HOTEL — LOST IN ATHENS

Photograph:  (c) Kate Tadman-Mourby 2021 PATRICIA HIGHSMITH AND THE STRANGE CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING KINGS PALACE HOTEL OF ATHENS Patricia Highsmith was one of the best crime writers of the twentieth century. Her tales of Thomas Ripley ...

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A Palace on the Strand Adrian Mourby

A Palace on the Strand

In 1900 visitors to London were advised by Baedeker to find a hotel on the Strand. The choice began with 700-room Hotel Cecil, built on the site of Lord Cecil’s Thameside home, then the Savoy (built by Richard D’Oyly Carte who produced ...

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BAGLIONI LUNA VENICE Adrian Mourby

BAGLIONI LUNA VENICE

At the western end of Piazza San Marco, just behind the Napoleonic Wing that houses the Museo Correr, sits one of the oldest hotels in Venice.  Hotel Luna began life in the twelfth century as the Osteria della Luna. It was a simple house near th...

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Breakfast with Philip Lewis Adrian Mourby

Breakfast with Philip Lewis

Philip Lewis, general manager of the Randolph in Oxford, has breakfast with Adrian Mourby, photographed by Kate Tadman-Mourby I met the general manager of the Randolph, Philip Lewis, for breakfast and a hotel tour. Philip joined in 2019 the Randolp...

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Feuilleton 333 Feuilleton

Feuilleton 333

My dear reader,  In case you find this Feuilleton Ritz-heavy, you couldn't be more right. Since the early 1880s, the name Ritz is simply the better word for luxury.   PUTTING UP THE RITZ  … for sale. This time you ...

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Feuilleton 340   Austria — Hotspot of Europe Adrian Mourby

Feuilleton 340   Austria — Hotspot of Europe

VIENNA — SEMMERING — SALZBURG — INNSBRUCK Austria is currently the hotspot of Europe, Vienna its capital. European summers are synonymous for visiting the countryside, sea- and lakesides activities, culture, festivals and, as I hav...

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The Rise of the Swiss Grand Hotel (1) HOTELS

The Rise of the Swiss Grand Hotel (1)

By Adrian Mourby HOTEL DES BERGUES, GENEVA   Geneva’s Hotel des Bergues (A Select Member of The Most Famous Hotels in the World) is a restrained and elegant building and full of idiosyncrasies. It is the oldest purpose-built hot...

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Trafalgar - beating heart of England Adrian Mourby

Trafalgar - beating heart of England

By Adrian Mourby If you want to know where the beating heart of England can be found, then Trafalgar Square is a good place to start. When World War II ended, thousands of people crammed into this world-famous piazza below the National Gallery and...

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A Hotel to Stay - A Train to Remember: VSOE takes you to the Pera Palace Adrian Mourby

A Hotel to Stay - A Train to Remember: VSOE takes you to the Pera Palace

Adrian Mourby in front of the Pera Palace Hotel By Adrian Mourby On 1 September 2010 two momentous things happened in Istanbul. The Venice Simplon Orient Express arrived for its annual visit and the same day the Pera Palace Hotel reopened its doo...

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A Tale of Two Astorias. Adrian Mourby

A Tale of Two Astorias.

By Adrian Mourby The name “Waldorf” is forever linked to ”Astor” in the public imagination. It was John Jacob Astor I, the wealthiest man in the United States at the time of his death in 1848 who was ultimately responsible. ...

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Amsterdam: the Dylan Hotel Adrian Mourby

Amsterdam: the Dylan Hotel

By Adrian Mourby 2010 Anyone visiting the Dylan Hotel today passes through a three-arched portal that faces on to the Keizergracht. This stone structure and the yellow-paved courtyard that lies beyond it are all that remains of a stone and brick the...

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Back: Oxford’s No.1 PERSONALITIES

Back: Oxford’s No.1

By Adrian Mourby The Randolph in Oxford was built in 1866 and is one of those hotels - like Chateau Frontenac in Quebec and Gstaad's Palace - that is as much a symbol of the city it serves as a hotel. Last year a dramatic fire that caused f...

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Catwalk Star at Le Bristol, Paris Adrian Mourby

Catwalk Star at Le Bristol, Paris

Finally we have an European answer to Mathilda, New York's most famous cat of the Algonquin Hotel, reports Adrian Mourby One of the latest recruits to the staff of Le Bristol in Paris is Fa-raon, a young Burmese who has been brought in as ...

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Edinburgh/Caledonian: Page names Suite Adrian Mourby

Edinburgh/Caledonian: Page names Suite

Staying at Edinburgh’s Waldorf Astoria recently I was surprised to find my suite in the attic was named after Billy Garioch. The hotel, which was built 110 years ago as The Caledonian, is still known locally as “The Caley”.  It...

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Grand Hotel Majestic “gia Baglioni” Adrian Mourby

Grand Hotel Majestic “gia Baglioni”

By Adrian Mourby Bologna’s oldest hotel celebrated its centenary in 2012. A university city with a long musical tradition that encompasses Mozart, Rossini, Verdi , Wagner and Respighi,  Bologna never became a major nineteenth century tour...

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La Mamounia Prize for Literature Adrian Mourby

La Mamounia Prize for Literature

“Sunset over the Atlas Mountains”, 1935 oil painting by Winston Churchill Winston Churchill considered La Mamounia and Marrakech the most unforgettable place on earth. The world-famous balcony that bathed his creative sensitivity in glo...

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Langham London: Antonín Dvorák’s Breakfast Adrian Mourby

Langham London: Antonín Dvorák’s Breakfast

"Why seek far afield when the good is close by?" Contributing Editor Adrian Mourby knows where to breakfast. The monumental Langham Hotel has dominated the south end of Portland Place since its completion in 1865. The hotel’s very height triu...

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Le Royal Mourby of Monceau Adrian Mourby

Le Royal Mourby of Monceau

A Philippe Strack playground, where the pianist will come and play in your suite, just for you. It sounds good in practice but does it work in theory? Our contributing editor investigates... Le Royal Monceau, Raffles, Paris is without a doub...

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LONDON: Mourby of St Pancras Adrian Mourby

LONDON: Mourby of St Pancras

HOTEL: ST PANCRAS RENNAISSANCE LONDON ROOMS WE LIKE: OVERLOOKING THE STATION PLATFORMS ARCHITECT: George Gilbert Scott OPENED: 1873  Like most people I like to think of myself as reasonably tolerant. I believe that even the most pernicious...

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Meeting Cromwell - A Piece of English History Adrian Mourby

Meeting Cromwell - A Piece of English History

By Adrian Mourby* The Lygon Arms in Broadway looks exactly how you’d expect an old Cotswold inn to appear. Stone fireplaces, heavy wooden doors, uneven flagstones, mullioned windows and creaking floorboards denote a history that goes back to m...

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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