Re-styling the West End: Interiors, gender and luxury in the Regent Palace Hotel 1888 - 1935

Holcombe, Lyanne (2018) Re-styling the West End: Interiors, gender and luxury in the Regent Palace Hotel 1888 - 1935. In, Crafting the Look: Styling as Creative Process. London. Bloomsbury Academic.

Record type: Book Section

Abstract

This chapter aims to illustrate how modern hotels were designed and built in a period of modernisation and unity between the applied arts and interiors for hotel design as a profession. Using architecture as a basis, the chapter proposes that from the late 1880’s a transition of influences took place, not only in the creative industries, but also as a result of the opening of the Savoy Hotel (1888), in the commissioning of decorative work and architectural commissions for public buildings located in central London. A growing commodity culture had appeared to flourish throughout the retail, shopping and manufacturing sector. Allowing for an influx of entrepreneurs, who identified with design and the popularity of the West End. A new business industry formed, allowing for a modern building that embodied the new technologies and most up to date amenities. Attracting visitors to the West End Hotel, the fascination with London as a city was paramount in the selling of spaces with consumer appeal, flourishing on the hotel and restaurant sector. Transnational identities were personified by travel and luxury, providing a flux and flow of migratory routes in to the capital and employment opportunities for men and women. Consequently this reflected the emergence of the leisure classes and the public fascination with aspiration and taste that affirmed this. In the context of scale, placement and promotion, the main intention of this essay is to illustrate how European cultures of consumption and visual appeal, influenced the re-generation of London’s commercial streets and popular destinations, including the hotel stay as a pinnacle attraction and destination for any visitor. Specifically, intending to focus on a new type of luxury that became paramount for J. Lyons & Co hotels. With a focus on how the imperialist facades of Regent Street and Piccadilly contrasted to the new Americanized interiors, constructed by the stage set lighting designer Oliver P. Bernard. The designer in Britain was employed to improve commercial public spaces, styling an extravaganza of theatrical display and design. London’s new luxury hotels were a highlight for their locations, exterior facades, crafted interiors and their most modern of experiences.

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