Virtuoso Life - May/June 2008 - (Page 54) DESIGN TOUR Heywood Hill bookshop offers rare books and the latest recommendations. Trumper is the place to get a shave and a trim, as well as a new badger-hair shaving brush or a violet-scented cologne. A leisurely stroll, clockwise from Hyde Park Corner, discloses ten grand attractions and many other delights. Apsley House A small sign points to “the private apartments of His Grace the Duke of Wellington,” reminding visitors that this mansion-cum-museum, enlarged for the hero who defeated Napoleon, is still home to his descendants. The newly restored interior carries you back to the years of battle with paintings and elaborate trophies, including Canova’s gigantic marble nude of the emperor. 149 Piccadilly Serpentine Gallery Pavilion A jog through Hyde Park will bring you to the Serpentine Gallery, which, every summer, commissions a temporary pavilion from a celebrated architect who has never built in England before. This year’s choice is Frank Gehry, who follows such eminent names as Oscar Niemeyer, Rem Koolhaas, and Zaha Hadid. Kensington Gardens Wallace Collection Eighteenth-century French paintings by artists from Fragonard Asprey’s spiral staircase adds a modern twist to Georgian facades. presents a lesson in design history, from the Louis XVI opulence of the restaurant to the Rivoli Bar’s restored art deco details to the original Italian renaissance decor of the adjoining William Kent House. All 137 rooms and suites offer an individual pizzazz that melds seamlessly with the gold leaf moldings, period furniture, marble columns, and ceiling friezes that guests encounter throughout the hotel. Doubles from approximate $698 per room, including daily breakfast. Once a private residence, Hertford House now contains the Wallace Collection. 54 V I RT U O S O L I F E (ASPREY) ARCAID/ALAMY, (HERTFORD HOUSE) JIRI REZAC/ALAMY STAY » A lavish base for Bond Street shoppers, Claridge’s glitters with an updated art deco sensibility and a crowning 800-piece Dale Chihuly chandelier. Guests can drop their Armani and Jimmy Choo bags in one of 203 elegant rooms before rejuvenating in the spa, nibbling organic smoked chicken sandwiches in the foyer, or sipping vintage champagnes in the bar. Doubles from approximate $1,004 per room, including daily breakfast. » The Ritz London’s grandeur
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