Only Luxury Brands Allowed Inside The Maybourne Hotels (and Their Magazine)

September 2, 2010 at 9:26 AM | by juliana | Comments (0)

iPads, be damned, we're loving our stroll through print land and our ongoing look at a dying hotel amenity--The Hotel Magazine. Sure, most hotels stock their guestrooms with the trendy magazines of the day or at least place some localized publication on the desks but there are actually a few hotels out there that still publish their own magazine. We've got our hands on a few copies of these rare breeds and we'll be documenting our finds for you here. Know of a hotel magazine we should see before it goes out of print? Send it to us!

In leafing through the Summer 2010 issue of Maybourne from the Maybourne Hotel Group (Claridge's, The Connaught and The Berkeley), we found ourselves paying special attention to the opening letter from the hotel group's CEO, Stephen Alden. But that's probably because his text was peppered with designer names like Diane Von Fursternberg, Dior and Jaguar.

Yet we also thought Alden was spot-on when he said:

[T]o be a good hotelier means providing comfortable surroundings, a good eye for detail and intuitive service. Staying relevant to traveller's desires is another matter and here at Maybourne we try to be ahead of the curve by forming partnerships with like-minded brands and people at the very high end of the luxury spectrum.

And with that, let's flip open the magazine to see exactly what luxury partnerships the Maybourne hotels have in store for its guests.

The mag kicks off with news from three of the hotels (like outdoor movie screening nights at the Berkeley) and other special seasonal packages. Then it delves into a look at the new Aman Spa at The Connaught which is a unique partnership with Amman resorts. To be honest, we skipped this one because we were afraid reading it would make us horny for a spa treatment and our wallet just cannot swing it.

After that, follows a feature on fashion designer, Carolina Herrera, talking about her life and designs. Of course, she's also a regular guest of Claridge's and not-so-coincidentally, her new store is just around the corner on Mount Street. (Her take on the hotel: "I love the hotel. I love the architecture.")

Another interview is with interior designer, India Mahdavi, who has done some work on the bar the Connaught but who will work her magic on the guestrooms. Her vision for the Berk is "exquisite innovation."

As with most hotel magazines, there's an article about hotel concierges. But instead of listing concierge picks, the article details why online concierge services and shoddily put-together iPhone apps are nothing compared to a trained hotel concierge.

Fashion, photography, cars and food--all with connections to the Maybourne Hotels, particularly the new French chefs in the htoel restaurants--are featured prominently here. Even their diary on the back page--12 Hours: The London Fashion Scene--revolves entirely around their hotels (although Shoreditch did get a shout-out. This can get tedious but the mag can pull it off because they've got the goods that everyone wants to know about.

Even more, we like the writing style--it's sassy, it's informative, it's truly got us aspiring to stay at only Maybourne hotels are our frequent jaunts to London (again, that's aspirational thinking there.) Also, Darius Sanai's hilarious piece on concierges would fit RIGHT IN on HotelChatter.

And on that note, we're having tea today at the Claridge's. We'll see if the magazine delivers on the real thing.

Maybourne is published three times a year and is available to guests at the Maybourne hotels.

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