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Inside the Hotel Indigo London Paddington

Where: 16 London Street, London, United Kingdom, W2 IHL

It’s hard to get a slot in the news at the moment what with global recession, Obama’s honeymoon and the recent snow bringing London to a standstill. So you can forgive Hotel Indigo for opting for a surefire PR stunt approach when it opened its first non-US hotel in Paddington, London, at the end of January, by dangling a giant hanging basket from a first floor window.

The basket had gone by the time we got round to visiting it on Friday (the council had ordered it to be taken down). Instead it had been replaced by a purply glow around the front entrance proclaiming Hotel Indigo.

The outside looks cute, with checked paving, seating for the café and outdoor heaters, although we weren’t fans of the door opening out towards us – if we’d had a heavy suitcase, we might have been worried it’d take a swing at us.

One woman was on reception, with another guy milling around. They were both very pleasant, if a little slow. We were here to meet someone, rather than check in, though, so we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as to whether they’d be dim with actual customers.

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Tags: Hotel Art / London Hotels / Hotel Indigo / Hotel Openings / → All Tags

Gigantic Hanging Basket Affixed to London's New Hotel Indigo

Where: 16 London St, London, United Kingdom, W2 IHL

Proving that it's not just crazy Americans who love big travel stunts, the Hotel Indigo chain is celebrating the opening of their first hotel outside of the United States by affixing the world's largest hanging basket to the facade. The new London property in Paddington opened to guests on Tuesday, but construction workers spent eight hours of Monday installing the quarter-ton basket of real roses, ivy, orchids, daisies and moss.

Designed to promote the hotel's changing seasonal decor ("to keep it feeling brand new"), the basket hangs 25 feet above the Indigo's entrance. A brief montage of the making of what's being called "The Hanging Gardens of Paddington" can be viewed on YouTube, of course.

If we are to judge anything from Indigo's saying that they "...hope that our hanging garden will become a wonder of London," it's that this thing appears to be permanent. If so, do request one of their £125-a-night rooms far away from the thing as we're sure it'll become a nice breeding place for spiders and a natural nest for birds.

[Photo: Ken Lennox/Telegraph UK]