VOLUME 4 ISSUE III
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CODECASA 164’ GAZZELLA / OCEAN ALEXANDER 112’ / RIVA PERSEO 76’ / VICEM 65’ FLY
BY INVITATION ONLY
“I am the master of my fate , I am the captain of my soul ”
William Ernest Henley
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LUXURY LODGINGS
The Corinthia, London
Sweet, Suite Music Boasting the largest spa in the city, impeccable service, decadent luxury and some of the best views over England’s capital, the Corinthia London cemented its position at the top of our charts when we recently checked into the Musician’s Suite…
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Words: James McCarthy Pictures: Corinthia London
LUXURY LODGINGS
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LUXURY LODGINGS
T The Corinthia, being one of London’s finest lodgings is regularly patronized by Saudi princes and pop-culture royalty. Suite guests are granted access some of London’s most in-demand living spaces. 188
“The Royal Penthouse is huge, but I think everyone’s favorite is the Musician’s Penthouse. It’s quite Rock ‘n’ Roll to stay there,” says the young man hovering the incredibly sharp straight-edge razor millimeters from my jugular. With a deft flick of his wrist, another handful of my ample beard is excoriated, and the conversation turns to how I want my facial pelt styled. I am deep in the bowels of London’s Corinthia Hotel, in the barber’s chair of the on-site Daniel Galvin salon. It’s just one of the many grooming and wellness amenities situated within the hotel’s four-floor ESPA spa. I have visited and reviewed the Corinthia before, and my previous dispatches were held in such high esteem, I’ve been invited to return and experience the award-winning hotel from a different perspective. It’s the difficult second album, so to speak.
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“If the walls in that penthouse could talk,” my barber muses, “there would be some great stories.” The billet in question is where I have found myself for my 39th birthday and, while my celebrations are unlikely to live up to any insinuated legends, the Musician’s suite provides an unlikely backdrop for the passing of another year in the life of a working-class Welsh chancer like myself. The Corinthia, being one of London’s finest lodgings, attracts a certain level of clientele. Regularly patronized by Saudi princes and pop-culture royalty, I’m being granted very rare access to one of its most indemand living spaces. When I first visited the Corinthia a few years ago, all of its seven penthouses were occupied and I suspect that, given we sat opposite each other for coffee in the atrium, that Will.I.Am was resident in the Musician’s suite at the
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LUXURY LODGINGS time. It’s a favorite home-away-from-home of Johnny Depp, as well. So, they find themselves in auspicious company as, at around 7pm on a muggy Saturday in June, my good lady and I met Lucas, our elegantly-attired butler, who showed us to our lodgings. I use the word loosely, as this sprawling abode dwarfs my own apartment by a considerable margin. The bathroom alone is bigger than my living room. As you enter, you are met with a sumptuously-appointed parlor, the focal point of which is a 1930s Steinway Baby Grand piano which sits under the watchful eye of Ludwig van Beethoven and is lit by two massive crystal chandeliers (which frame a minstrel’s gallery-styled second floor balcony). In the corner, a turntable playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue adds the necessary grandeur to the surroundings, while a huge mirror, set above a roaring fireplace, houses a hidden 50-inch TV that announces our arrival, which still feels somewhat dreamlike. A carpeted staircase winds its way up to the second floor, though the elevator, while glacially slow and
A glacially slow elevator ride delivers guests to the suite’s second floor where one stands in the minstrel’s gallery to fully appreciate the apartment’s scale and grandeur…
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cladded in enough mirrored surfaces to make Liberace weep with joy, is the truly stylish way to arrive at the vestibule of the suite’s private quarters. From here, you get the best vantage point from which to truly take in the opulence of the lower floor. The view afforded by the aforementioned minstrel’s gallery is quite lovely and gives one a true sense of the scale and luxury of the apartment that photographs just fail to capture. Behind me, my man Lucas is studiously unpacking my suitcase and assessing which items will require pressing before dinner. This flurry of activity takes place in the walk-in wardrobe, which doubles as an ante-room to the prodigious bathroom. A vision in marble and glass, the underfloor heating ensures that, despite the spacious expanse, it remains warm and inviting. The twin “his-and-hers” sinks are flanked by a cavernous bathtub, replete with TV, and equally ample rainfall shower. The best, however, is still yet to come, and as you enter the boudoir, with its ridiculously comfortable, gazillion-thread count, puffy cloud-like bed, the first
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LUXURY LODGINGS
Corinthia’s balconies deliver magical panoramic views over the rooftops, dreamy spires and some of London’s most iconic landmarks. thing you notice are two doors. One leads to a small balcony overlooking the open-air atrium in the lobby lounge, the other is a portal to another world entirely. It’s the cherry that’s quite literally on the top; the piece d’resistance; the final crescendo in this overture of luxury. As you step through the door, you are transported to a world of rooftops and spires. A long, tree-lined roof garden stretches for about 30 feet, with a horseshoe of stylish outdoor furniture cosseting a large open fire at one end. And the views are spectacular. Panoramic vistas of London’s south bank, stretching from BT Tower to St. Paul’s on one side, to the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster on the other, interrupted only by the myriad Georgian and Edwardian rooftops of Britain’s capital that seemed distinctly reminiscent of a scene from Mary Poppins. During our short stay, my good lady and I took full advantage of this magical vantage point, enjoying many a bottle of fine wine so late into the night that we ended up seeing the sun rise over this otherworldly landscape on more than one occasion. Dinner on that first evening, though, was set for eight 190
o’clock sharp in the bosom of my family at the hotel’s splendid eatery, Massimo. I visited the restaurant during my last stay, when it was marketed as an Oyster Bar and seafood heavily influenced the menu. However, under the watchful eye of a new executive chef, Massimo has become, arguably, one of the best Italian fine dining options in the city. Parpardelle with duck ragù, ravioli with prawns and burrata cheese, potato gnocchi with Italian sausage in a walnut sauce, pan-roasted veal with potato purée – there was not one dish that arrived at the table that did not leave each of our party of six in the throes of epicurean rapture. Coupled with a perfectly chilled bottle of vintage Laurent-Perrier champagne and some excellent Italian Chianti, and it was nothing short of a perfect repast. Suitably sated, we retired to Basoon, the hotel’s 1920s Art Deco Music Room-inspired piano bar, for some first class entertainment and a few of its rakishly prepared signature cocktails. Bassoon bucks the trend of many a London hotel bar in that it attracts more than just lonely hotel guests. It was busy every night we were there, with a wonderfully vi-
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brant atmosphere provided by the many patrons who had “wandered in off the street to hear the jazz go down.” If you get that last reference, dear reader, then you will appreciate why we returned to the suite to take advantage of the turntable and terrace garden shortly afterwards, with Dire Straits and the Sultans of Swing providing the mood as the party ebbed towards the dawn. We were fortunate to spend another two wonderful days at the Corinthia London, enjoying the largest and most lavish spa in the city, but, unfortunately, space dictates that I have to end my journal of this most memorable of weekends here. I will simply finish by noting that, during my tenure as luxury lifestyle scribe, I have had the pleasure of enjoying some of the world’s best hotels, in its finest locales. However, without a doubt, the time well whiled away with my loved ones at the Corinthia’s Musician’s Penthouse has provided the best song on the soundtrack of my jet-setting career so far. It’s a magnum opus; my Sergeant Pepper. Indeed, for once, the second album has more than lived up to the hype.