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:: Panoramic Views
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There is one constant in Hotels. Whatever and wherever the hotel is, the market for its rooms will never be constant. It is said that hotels are always moving upmarket, but this is a relatively new phenomenon. Boutique hotels blossom into chains or become vernacular, perhaps decay. Styles change and move on, some (as you will see in our review archive) being rooted in a particular time or a particular culture, and identifiable with that age. Some have a style and fashion that allows them to remain iconic: perhaps because of their operational standards, maybe because the original design transcended mere fashion or possibly because they achieve an enduring popularity with guests. Few can trace a history of constant use as hotels.
It is said in the UK there are inns that date back to the 12th century. The Swan doesn’t go back that far, but it is set as one with its environment, much as the Marriott in Docklands is in our last Review. The parallels are interesting. Docklands today represents the money industry that is a key to the economy of the City, so Lavenham represents a parallel level of affluence from an earlier era, based in sheep and wool. In both areas there is a harmony of environment and the architecture that makes people stand and stare.
Where Docklands is steel and glass, Lavenham is oak and plasterwork. While the modern materials and spaces of the Marriott confer a level of luxury unimaginable in the 16th century, there is a level of comfort and tranquillity in Lavenham that is missing in the 21st Century Docklands environment. Old skills flourish in Lavenham too, as maintaining a log fire in an open hearth is an art form, for many a forgotten skill. Sitting on a comfortable settee in front of a log fire where the only scent is woodsmoke, the only sound the crackle of wood burning is a whole different world of experience to the glitzy spotlighting of a chrome and glass bar full of the chattering classes.
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| Conference room shows the internal style of the building which also influences the bedroom above. Rollover to see a typical Lavenham street. |
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| Entrance lobby contains the entrance to the bar on one side and the entrance to the lounge on the other. The reception desk is tucked away at the back of the lounge. Rollover to see a typical staircase |
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Whilst theatre is an element of hotel design present in boutiques and chains alike, the omnipresent clatter of modernity can be wearing, and a hotel of this age can be a retreat from the stress of modern city lifestyles. However the past is not without its own stresses. Buildings from an era when the average man was only 5’4” (about 1.60 metres for those who are of Napoleonic leanings) brings certain hazards to a 5’10” (1.78mtrs) 21st century man. Oak beams, even when covered with padding, are very unforgiving when head butted, however unintentionally and headroom in a building of this age is variable, to say the least.
Window sizes are small in relation to the interiors, which is great for energy saving (and they most probably didn’t have glass in when the building was built) but does tend to make interior spaces somewhat dark. This is fine where a visual focus such as a roaring log fire is provided but can otherwise make for somewhat claustrophobic interiors. Again the contrast with the expansive views through the glass wall of a modern urban Marriott is strong.
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