Brown’s Hotel in London, a Rocco Forte Hotel, has opened the doors of its re-designed Kipling Suite following a three month renovation, led by Olga Polizzi, the group’s Director of Design. The original Kipling Suite has been merged with the Albemarle Suite and reimagined to form the largest space now available to guests of Brown’s Hotel. Named in celebration of the English author Rudyard Kipling, who wrote The Jungle Book during one of his many stays at Brown’s Hotel, the suite features personal touches from the hotel’s illustrious history. The Kipling Suite is the first of the ‘Forte Suites’ to be unveiled by Rocco Forte Hotels, part of the newly launched Rocco Forte Suite Experience programme of benefits for guests.
Olga Polizzi and her talented team have designed a new entrance lobby for the suite, which leads into the bedroom and the beautifully proportioned Kipling sitting room. With floor-to-ceiling windows throughout, views over Mayfair’s Albemarle Street and the use of English wallpaper and fabrics by designers Lewis & Wood, as well as silk curtain fabric by Manuel Canovas and furniture by Julian Chichester, the hotel’s location is central to the suite’s design. Authenticity is at the heart of Rocco Forte Hotels and was fundamental to the redesign of the new suite. Of the project, Olga Polizzi says: “Like all of our rooms at Brown’s Hotel, we designed the Kipling so you can feel that you are in London. This will be a grand classical suite of great comfort with a combination of antique pieces and contemporary designer items. The English theme carries on and is maintained as in all our rooms at Brown’s Hotel with English wallpaper, fabrics, colours and objects.”
Upon walking through the new double door entrance to the renovated suite, guests’ eyes are guided to a number of antiques hand-picked by Olga Polizzi: a 1940s Alabaster pendant light is complemented by two antique Italian decorative side lights; classic small-scale wallpaper by Lewis & Wood is the backdrop to a pair of duck egg blue glass table lamps with applied motifs, positioned atop a traditional console table.
Olga Polizzi has maintained the original plaster features of the Kipling Suite sitting room and has sourced new timber flooring to run throughout the suite. A new luxurious hand knotted rug, additional seating, sofa and chairs, have been added to create more comfort in the enlarged space. The pièce de résistance: a framed hand-written letter from Rudyard Kipling, penned and sent during a stay at Brown’s Hotel. This piece of literary history will intrigue guests, adults and children alike, and will give a glimpse into the world of the great British author.
The Kipling bedroom has been reoriented to create a niche for a recessed bedhead, providing guests with a view onto Albemarle Street. Contemporary furniture sits alongside traditional pieces for an eclectic feel in the room.
The bedroom leads onto a 9sqm walk-in wardrobe with separate ‘his’ and ‘hers’ hanging space and a central ottoman. A luxurious 16sqm en-suite bathroom, finished in Arabescato white veined marble, boasts a freestanding bath as well as a double shower. Like the bedroom, the Kipling bathroom features three full-height French windows for natural light, in addition to an Alabaster chandelier sourced from an antique dealer in Sussex, a contemporary sculptural shell wall light from Porta Romana and gold ornate vanity wall lights.
Spiezia Organics have created a bespoke range of 100% organic luxury suite amenities for The Kipling Suite, and all the suites at Brown’s Hotel. These include a candle to reset your mood, a luxurious body balm to restore calm, a Body and Bath oil to unwind and detoxifying bath salts to rejuvenate. Suite guests are invited to indulge in the recommended in-room spa ritual using these products, and then take them away to use at home.
The renovated Kipling Suite is integral to Rocco Forte Hotels’ ongoing dedication to its suite offering. Rocco Forte Hotels has unveiled The Rocco Forte Suite Experience, a new concept across each of the ten European hotels, giving guests an indulgent and generous experience from arrival to departure. This programme allows guests staying in the Forte Suites (which includes The Kipling Suite at Brown’s), to choose from a menu of ‘backstage passes’ to access some of the city’s most renowned locations, often unavailable to the public. Brown’s Hotel’s unrivalled knowledge and connections in the area have created opportunities for its guests, such as a tour of the eclectic Paul Smith store on Albemarle Street or a personal appointment at Peter Harrington Rare Books, to delve into its collection of literary treasures.
Guests residing in The Kipling Suite (or any other Forte Suite at Brown’s Hotel) can enjoy the following benefits:
- In-suite check-in once you’re settled
- Welcome bottle of Ruinart Champagne
- Bags unpacked on arrival and packed again when you leave
- Evening wear pressed on the night you arrive
- Complimentary local calls, internet access and in-house movies
- A choice of pillows, duvets, mattresses, cottons or linens
- Complimentary Full English Breakfast in your suite, or in HIX Mayfair
- One-way airport or station transfer
- Two half-hour treatments in The Spa
A choice of:
- ‘Make mine a martini’ – martini tray brought to the suite so you can make your own martinis
- A personalised tour of Peter Harrington Rare Books on Dover Street
- Bloody Mary masterclass (hosted in The Donovan Bar)
- Personal shopping experience at Paul Smith on Albemarle Street
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