Philippe Starck and The Clift

 So, Darling and I were the very lucky couple who got to stay in the uber cool and trendy Clift hotel in San Francisco designed by Philippe Starck. Truly, I did feel like an impostor. Any minute I felt like the game would be up and someone would come and drag me from the hotel and move me to a hotel called Smokey Joe's or something like that. I couldn't even pretend to be as cool as this gang, by wearing gigantic shades - honestly the hotel was the darkest place I have ever set foot into - as it was we had to feel our way along the corridors like a couple of blind bats. Even in the lifts which is the best time to check yourself out - it was so dark that all I could see was a silhouette of myself. In fact the lifts were fun as each one had a different colour. The walls,floors and light (I mean the actual light bulb) were all the same. The colors were red,green or purple. Each time the lift came we would cry "oh it's the red one" or whichever colour it happened to be. How embarrassing - and we never tired of this apparently very fun game.

The lobby in the hotel. I've always admired Philippe Starck's wackiness and sense of humour. I'm sure he's just having a great old blast whilst not really giving a damn, whilst the design world takes it all quite seriously. Look at the giant chair! But I'm not taking anything away from him. He is one of my all time faves and I think he is genious. I just think he has fun doing it - lucky guy. I guess with his fame he can be crazy.

The hotel also has the most amazing bar, which I should give a wonderful detailed crit on, but I'm too tired and much to my horror Darling has already fallen asleep which means my reading time will now be limited - which I hate.  I'm sure you can make out by the pictures how incredible it is.

The Clift

So, The Clift hotel has purple,mauve themed bedrooms,although it could just have been ours - or just our floor for that matter. It's not my favorite colour by any stretch, but I could cope with it here and embraced it. Our room was relatively small - NOT Paris small - Darling and I could both be standing in the room at the same time. There was no need to 'rotate' as in Paris style i.e one sits on the bed whilst the other moves around the room, or alternatively one has to be in the bedroom whilst the other is in the bathroom. The clever thing about the room was the use of mirror. Both the wall behind the bed and the wall opposite were fully mirrored, obviously giving the illusion of space. We all know this clever trick, but the difference here was the way they were both curtained, framing the mirrors and making a double trickery for the eye. Clever Starcky.

You see how the curtains repeat themselves in the mirror. Also, the wall lights. I love how they are positioned. I love the gold stool - like a lovely little pot of gold.

Very smart the light is. I also love the floating orange cube.

The colour combo works well don't you think? Out there that's for sure, but that's what makes him clever.

Simple desk you think - but then you see the subtle orange in the inside of the legs. The small constant continuation of the colour theme was wonderful.

The first thing I always do when entering a hotel room is immediately scanning the mini bar. The novelty never wears off. It's like finding the forbidden fruit. The holy grail that one cannot touch. Again, spot the mauve! Only in the inside of the cupboard.

Look at that lovely little KitKat in the back.

CALIFORN - I - A!!!!!!

So, Darling and I are the very lucky couple who are currently driving down the coast of California.Our first stop was San Francisco. We were completely jet lagged and disorientated arriving from London. We felt like we needed a real American kick start. So we headed for the Swan Oyster Depot. It is totally the setting for real American chat and you can just picture Matthew McMonaughey sitting right next to you (sadly he was not) But we just LOVED it. We had oysters, Darling had clam chowder (pronounced with a strong American accent) and half a cracked crab! How cool.

 Could one actually get more American!!? Can't you see Matthew McConaughey.

 Sweet Darling, a bit out of place with his nazy blazer and red poppy for remembering all those who died in The War. The English are so good like that.