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Transform Your Bathroom With Hotel Style
The bathrooms of first-class hotels are defined by their luxury, style and quiet elegance. You can re-create this look in your own home by adding sleek accessories, fine toiletries, plush towels and rich fabrics. With your own hotel-style bath, you won't have to travel far to achieve vacation-level relaxation.
Upscale Towels
Resorts around the world are renowned for pampering their guests with the finest of everything and that starts with irresistibly soft textiles. To capture that decadent feeling at home, indulge yourself with fluffy, oversized bath sheets such as Grand Patrician Manor Towels from Linens 'n Things. While many hotels use white towels to keep laundering easy, more upscale properties feature luxe linens in calming colors like Shadow Green.
To add a personal touch, have your towels monogrammed with your "hotel" name, like The Ritz-Carlson, Hotel Wyman or The Roberts Resort. For the ultimate in vacation comfort, warm your bath sheets on a freestanding heated towel rack like the Heatra Classic from Warmrails.
Designer accents
Designer accents can turn an ordinary bathroom into an extraordinary suite. Lavish throw pillows in waterproof fabrics give a tile tub surround a cushiony feel. Crate and Barrel's Charleston Arabesque Outdoor Pillows come in subtle stripes and floral patterns.
To make getting out of the tub as comforting as getting in, treat your toes to a thick, plush mat, like the World-Class Bath Rug by Frontgate. And because these mats come as large as 4' X 6', there's no need to skimp on size.
Fancy hotels long ago discovered a simple trick to give even a modest tub extra elbow room: a curved shower rod like Brookstone's Crescent Shower Rod. Another affordable indulgence is a double showerhead like Zoe Industries' Marlin Dual Shower Head, which provides a broad spray that covers you from shoulder to shoulder.
A brocade shower curtain in natural colors such as chocolate, olive or merlot adds rich sophistication. Protect the fabric curtain with a sheer liner and finish it off with polished stainless-steel shower hooks. Then create a tieback with a swath of velvet and a pair of gold tassels to earn your hotel bath five stars.
Hotels are relaxing partly because they are free of clutter. You can create this tidy look by replacing mismatched containers with a refined set of porcelain canisters. Wamsutta's Palace Collection bath accessories have a cream-colored finish and the chrome lids and labels provide a touch of modern chic. A lovely silver jewelry box is a pretty and practical way to keep jewelry and coins from piling up on your counter.
Details Matter
Take a tip from European-style boutique hotels and soften the lighting with a simple table lamp. Replace that digital clock with a Three Time-Zone clock from Travelwares. For fun, set it to your home time zone and two favorite travel destinations.
To make your hotel bath feel more personal, add in a little of yourself in stylish details. Choose a special photo to feature in a glass frame on the counter. And don't be afraid to display a meaningful keepsake, like the crystal bud vase you got for graduation or the engraved compact your aunt always carried.
What separates a lowly motel from a swanky hotel? Quality toiletries in irresistible miniature containers. So go ahead and treat yourself to luxurious bath products like Gilchrist & Soames, featured at premier resorts around the world. Their Chamomile Sample Kit comes complete with aromatic bath foams, exfoliating tea soaps and spa-quality shampoos in beautiful packaging. To display your tiny toiletries, arrange them with care on an amenity tray. It's not only neat and tidy, it's like a minibar for your bathtub.
The Penthouse Suite
The penthouse at the Setai Hotel in Miami costs $25,000 a night and offers flat-panel televisions for your entertainment. That makes the idea of getting your own LCD television for your hotel bath seem reasonable! And the grand suite at Little Palm Island charges $1,900 a night and greets you with a bottle of chilled champagne. Save yourself $1,800 and get a Kraftware Brushed Chrome Ice Bucket and the best bottle of bubbly you can afford. Then fill the tub with bubbles, settle in for a long soak and watch your favorite movie until the water gets cold. Don't forget to hang the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door first!
Photos by Jennifer and Kitty O'Neil
