HotelThe Hempel > External review
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A minimalist dream
Travel guide extract in _Other offline-travelguide about The Hempel from Jan 2002Overall rating:
90 out of 100
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Minimalism is such an attractive idea but the writer suggests that "only the very very brave" would take all their possessions to the rubbish tip "in order to test it out". Instead he proposes a stay at the Hempel where you can "sample minimalism" in a hotel that is "cool, white and empty on a monumental scale". From the outside it's a "row of five......Edwardian townhouses" but inside it's the "embodiment" of Anouska Hempel's philosophy that in the city "space is the ultimate luxury". So are the "acres of white space" cold and clinical? Far from it. The lobby which is "larger than an Olympic sized swimming pool" glows with light from "very long, very low" hearths that rank as "the most elegant fireplaces" in any hotel worldwide.
The interior concept is based on "an oriental concept of simplicity" and a "marriage of occidental and oriental". The lobby is "soothingly geometrical" and "temple-like". There's a library in the lobby for "quiet contemplation".
The restaurant is a "fusion of east and west" and is "extraordinary". Called I-Thai it has a "creative mix" of Italian, Thai and Japanese food and the quality of the food "easily matches" the standard of "intricately composed" presentation.
The "pared down" theme extends into the garden, where every leaf has been "styled to ... exacting standards" and recliners similar to those found on old ocean liners are "positioned between ornamental trees and .... borders".
Hempel has been accused of being a bit "fanatical" with her "attention to detail" but this is to the benefit of the guest who benefits from the principle of minimalism that "the more you leave out, the better what is left has to be".
This review is an interpretation of the above mentioned author
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