Bedrooms generally are quiet and well sized with good work desks and well designed bathrooms. It now seems slightly odd to see a television in an armoire and it is surprising how quickly this once routine piece of furniture has become redundant due to the technology change and introduction of flat screen televisions. Armoires became the accepted way of housing CRT televisions, and also minibars and TCMF facilities, in many hotels. Designers are still struggling to find a way of formalising the flat screen television, with solutions ranging from timber panelled areas on the wall (see Holiday Inn Thames Ditton),twee shelf units (Dukes Palace, Bruges) through heavily engineered wall brackets (Hotel 1000 Seattle) to stands on the desktop (City Inn). It seems that for many simply choosing a well designed TV and fixing it to the wall (Bushmans Kloof) doesn’t satisfy their designer aesthetic.

Some of the bedrooms are apparently quite small, but if this were to become a four star then Marriott could easily link these to form suites, removing them as an irritation and helping to lift this rather nice building up from its current slightly inappropriate position in the market place. It would certainly be capable of giving the new neighbour, the ‘W', serious competition if repositioned.

"capable of giving the new neighbour, the ‘W’, serious competition"

This hotel has considerable charm and style in the way in which design has kept and built on the original interiors. I have already shown how the lobby space and Empire Ballroom have style and quality from their original structures, but in so many ways here Marriott have stayed faithful to the period design. Examples include the light fittings chosen, but also the design touches in some of the lift lobbies, and the retention of the original telephone booths speak of sensitivity to the period features.

The building has style, a good location. As a Courtyard it is fine, and the lack of a restaurant doesn’t cause too many problems as on the next block down are a number of good restaurants. In an increasingly homogenised world this stands out both as a building with good underlying design, stylish features and excellent staff. It has more potential than Marriott appear to be currently exploiting, and presents an opportunity to be further developed into the boutique four star sector





Words and Pictures ©Patrick Goff
Written after a visit in May 2009