Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for the stylish traveller in your life? Look no further, as Antwerp-based publishers Luster, has released Grand Hotels of the World, a 256-page hardback book that promises to take readers on a nostalgic journey around the world and back in time, focussing on 40 of the most iconic hotels of all time; properties that hark to the grandeur of yesteryear, and that have spent centuries cocooning guests in supreme luxury and style.
Through superb photography, nostalgic ephemera and detailed descriptions by travel journalist, Ellie Seymour, we’re treated to a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the lavish worlds these historic establishments conceal. Sharing fascinating insights into some of the renowned guests who’ve sashayed through these fairly storied corridors, this book whisks us from Kulm Hotel in St Moritz, a winter playground for the rich and famous, to London’s Claridge’s; the timeless Villa Serbelloni on the shores of Lake Como, to Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, a town where actor Roger Moore and 200 cast members, crew and stuntmen (as well as Bond girl models) descended upon to film Octopussy in 1983.
Divided into ‘in the mountains,’ ‘in the city,’ and ‘by the sea’ for ease of reference, learn how Winston Churchill would spend his winters at La Mamounia, Marrakech, and how season two of The White Lotus was filmed in the San Domenico Palace hotel on the island Sicily, among many more anecdotes that have helped to make these individual properties destinations in themselves; a fascinating document of unique and valuable examples of a cultural heritage that hopefully will be preserved forever.
Available in shops and online at www.lusterpublishing.com, Grand Hotels of the World is priced at £45 and boasts a classy design and finish that matches the subject matter and content perfectly. A coffee table book that makes an ideal gift for anyone who enjoys style, travel, nostalgia and old-school hospitality, this is a visual odyssey to truly get lost within.
Grand Hotels of the World Photography, courtesy Luster / © We Heart.
