Stayed in a hotel walking distance from meetings (well, at least the first day’s). It’s the Hazlitt’s, made of a few houses joined together and built in the 18th century, refurbished to meet today’s traveler’s (electronic) needs: wireless internet access and lots of electric outlets (for chargers)! It’s an old place - the floors have settled longtime ago! It was built when Soho was a suburb of London! Near Soho Square, a very fashionable place at the time. In the West End. It certainly has changed since; a very mix crowd now around – I’ve read somewhere a reference to the “demi-monde” – conveniently located very close to, if not in, the entertainment district. At the same time, very quiet.
It oozes old Georgian charm. Named after William Hazlitt, an English writer, an essayist, literary critic, grammarian and philosopher, of the beginning of the 19th century, who would have lived here as a boarder. He also wrote a full biography of Napoleon, whom he apparently admired. There is quite a write-up on him on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hazlitt) Must admit, I did not know him, or if I did at one time, I have forgotten! He is apparently considered now as one of the great essayists of the English language, on par with Samuel Johnson or George Orwell. He also befriended many of the literati of the day, the Lambs, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Stendhal, etc. (Rooms don’t have numbers here but names – I am staying in the Jonathan Swift room – big painting of his figure hanging above the marble fireplace – named after the Irish born author of Gulliver’s Travels who was, I read, a frequent visitor – his “particular” friend, the poetess Mary Barker, owned one of the houses that now constitutes the hotel…
Two recent connections come to mind as I read and discover about the place: Hazlitt’s father had founded the Unitarian Church in Boston, Massachusetts, where we visited a couple of weeks ago. And Michael Ondaatje, author of the Booker prize “the English patient”, whom we met at a TIFF event last week, would have stayed here and left a signed copy of one of his books on display in the reading room…
I enjoyed my stay there, and recommended it on a few travel sites.
Spent the Sunday afternoon watching “Jersey Boys” in a nearby theatre – very light after Wagner Die Walküre the day before! While I enjoyed it – I went more by curiosity as it is directed by Des McAnuff who is currently the artistic director at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival – it confirmed my not being a particular fan of contemporary musicals (I find the plot never particularly challenging enough!)
Tried a few new restaurants while in town. Had dinner at a place nearby, Dean Street Townhouse, run by hip local hotel-management company, SohoHouse. Lunch at Arbutus, a French menu place across the street from the hotel, and Scott’s, what appeared to be a very fashionable eatery, in a very fashionable part of town – great seafood though! Also, a fun and busy tapas place, Dehesa, in Kingly area.
Had a couple of hours for shopping, which I spent at nearby Liberty, certainly a unique place as multi-story department stores go - very sharp! The exterior of a Tudor structure, there are 5 floors to go to, filled of great quality and diversity of goods, designers’ in good part, and very enticing – there was a collection launch that day, and they were serving champagne: a delightful way to shop and wander about – very astute as well as I bought a few more things than I had planned to!
The weather, which had been warm and dry over the 2 months or so before the days I was there, when it was cold and rainy, was coming back to a sunny inclination. But I was leaving…
London, May 19, 2011
