5 Ways to get the luxury hotel look at home

I’ve been told the way to keep the holiday feeling alive is to book another one.  That’s great if you have deep pockets and a bountiful holiday allowance from work, for the rest of us, we need to look closer to home. I’m all for making changes in your actual home that remind you of your vacation time, and it’s easier than you think. I’m not suggesting that you recreate a wonderful buffet style spread in your kitchen every morning – although come to think of it that would be amazing, apart from the food waste. So maybe just the egg chef?  BUT there are some small changes that will help you keep that holiday feeling and also get the luxury hotel look at home (there are also a few more costly ideas too!).

You might recall I wrote here about bringing the scent of your holiday home, which works for me every time. On my last trip to Corfu, I bought some Korres shower gel in Basil Lemon at the airport. If you don’t know Korres, it’s a Greek brand using natural and certified organic ingredients of the highest quality. That scent transports me to warmer sunnier climes.The importance of scent is a key ingredient in hotel design; with designers and hoteliers spend as much time choosing the right bathroom toiletries as choosing the right bedding. At my recent stay at the Grecotel Corfu Imperial, their toiletries were from the Agreco Traditional Farm on Crete, a 40-hectare estate, organically producing the island’s simple and healthy food. Using extracts and essential oils from the Estate’s flora, the amazing Eau de Grece collection of herbal body care products is inspired by the mythical nature of Crete.  And it is available in every room at Grecotel hotels. So think about your smellies don’t just buy the cheapest from the supermarket. Think about how do you want to feel after you’ve stepped out of the shower, or where do you want to be transported back to?

In the same way, one thing you can be sure all hotel suites, restaurants and lobbies will always have is a nice floral arrangement. We are now spending 90% of our time indoors yet research is saying that we have greater general happiness and wellbeing from contact with nature. There’s a growing interest and movement in wellness design and biophilia – the feeling, or relationship we get from being outside in nature. And I certainly find real pleasure from flowers, seascapes, and green views, as do many people. Bringing plants and flowers into your home is a good way to keep that holiday feeling going and a great way to get the luxury hotel look.

There are two areas that immediately remind me of languid luxury holidays, and both are related to those more intimate spaces, the bedroom, and the bathroom. A really good luxury hotel has the most sumptuous beds and bedding. Think impeccable Egyptian cotton sheets and fluffy pillows that encourage decadent deep sleep. No lumpy mattresses and unmade beds that quite often reflect the average home. Do you know how often you should change your mattress? Both the mattress industry and the Sleep Council strongly recommend that you replace a mattress every eight years because by this time it will have lost much of its original comfort and support. I’d always believed it to be ten years – so it’s worth checking how long you’ve had yours.  So how about updating your own bedroom to reflect a version of this luxury in your daily routine? Swap out your bed linen for a premium version and make your bed every day. I’d recommend taking a look at Dormitory for heirloom quality and Soak and Sleep if you’re looking for a budget-friendly option. Add some great cushions and tidy away the surfaces and you’re on your way. Sounds simple right? Every luxury hotel I’ve ever stayed in has decorative cushions/pillows layered in various textures, colours, and patterns. What a great excuse to go out and look for gorgeous cushions as I did here.

There is something I enjoy immensely about the hotel bath experience, the towels. I kid you not, I get a little giddy with super plush, highly absorbent ringspun cotton towels. Especially when there is usually a variety of sizes close at hand all displayed neatly, whether they are layered and draped, or rolled and stacked. My home never reflects this reality and I so wish it did. I blame the males in the household, as the towels are more likely to be found flung over doors or balled up on top of radiators. This is why en-suite hotel bathrooms exist, so you can come back home with photographic evidence that it is possible to have lush towels stacked beautifully.

Keeping it tidy is a mantra that was drummed into me as a child by my Mum. I then married a man with OCD, so there really is no getting away with it.  In hotel rooms, there is always that lovely feeling after the room service team have been through. Everything tidy, standing to attention and lined up neatly. It’s the simplest and cheapest way to fall back in love with your home.

Not attainable for everyone, but if you really love the luxury hotel look, you could always buy it! If you’ve got the space why not put the infinity plunge pool in, or maybe the sofa in the lobby was exactly what you were after? Finding the source of where hotels get their “looks” from is getting easier and easier with some going so far as having the items available to purchase. If not, a little research will probably bring you some great copycats. Maybe like me, you loved the canopied chairs I shared in my last blog post about my stay at the Grecotel Corfu Imperial (here). The designer Kelly Wearstler has used them in several interior design schemes and they have pride of place in the famous BG restaurant at Bergdorf Goodman she designed. They are incredibly comfortable and really good for chatting on the phone, as they muffle the intrusive ambient noise. If you want to have a fantastic Porter or Canopy chair there are a couple of places you can try.

The first place to try is Restoration Hardware their Versailles chair is a really good match. Next, I’d try either 1stdibs or charish where antique dealers sell antique versions, use search terms like canopy, porter, balloon and bishops chairs when searching their catelogues. If you’d like an ultra-modern version, then designer Jaime Hayon created the Showtime and the Gardenias for BD Barcelona. Or maybe something inspired by this chair for your garden? Then search for rattan peacock chairs or look at Shadowy by Tord Bootje for Moroso.

Also, you might have spied that beautiful mosaic in my Waterfront Dream Villa  (shown above top and here), and I know exactly where you can get it! It’s the Bisazza Springrose in Nero. So now you can have the luxury hotel look in your own bathroom.

But most importantly if you’re looking for the luxury hotel look, don’t forget the mini bar. Or perhaps just a mini fridge; big enough for several bottles of champagne and maybe some fresh orange juice. There you go, the luxury hotel look in your home.

This is not a sponsored post. I did travel recently to Corfu with Grecotel Corfu Imperial and my collaborative post can be seen here.