There are certain rooms that stay with you long after you’ve left them. Sometimes it’s a grand château in France. Sometimes it’s a centuries-old library hidden behind a cathedral square. Other times it’s a tiny hotel lounge where the wallpaper is faded, the fireplace has been burning for a hundred years, and every chair seems…
By Cocktails & Cathedrals Some Hotel Bars Understand Something Most Homes Forget We’ve always loved a good hotel bar. Not because of the cocktails. Although that certainly helps. It’s because the best hotel bars understand atmosphere. They know how to make you stay for one more drink. How to make a room feel intimate without…
By Cocktails & Cathedrals Some Design Ideas Never Go Out of Style Every few years, a new design trend arrives promising to change everything. The colours change. The furniture changes. The buzzwords change. And yet somehow, centuries-old French châteaux continue to feel effortlessly luxurious. Not because they’re fashionable. But because they were built around ideas…
By Cocktails & Cathedrals The Best Hotels Don’t Just Look Beautiful They make you feel something. Have you ever checked into a beautiful hotel and immediately felt yourself relax? Not because of the room size. Not because of the amenities. And certainly not because of the complimentary biscuits. But because the space itself somehow feels…
Everyone Told Me Luxury Meant Light For years, I thought luxury meant light. White walls. Pale timber floors. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Marble benchtops. Open-plan living spaces so spotless they looked less like homes and more like places where nobody had ever dropped toast butter-side down. Instagram had convinced me that expensive interiors were supposed to feel…
Some places are memorable because of the room. Others stay with you because of how they make you feel. On a recent stay in a small Japanese-designed forest cabin, the most luxurious part wasn’t the bathroom inside the cabin at all. It was the outdoor bath tucked into the trees, surrounded by darkness, warm water,…
Long before maximalism became a modern design trend, French châteaux were already mastering layered interiors filled with texture, atmosphere, ornament, and warmth. Walking through the Loire Valley recently, we became obsessed with the way these historic spaces somehow felt both grand and deeply lived in at the same time. Between dramatic ceilings, worn stone walls,…