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Charlotte Street is London's urban
hideaway situated in the media neighbourhood of North Soho, popular
with business and discerning tourists. It is just a couple of
minutes walk from Oxford Street, Soho Square, the theatre district
and the West End's attractions, and is surrounded by some of London's
most vibrant bars, restaurants and cafes.Interiors by Kit Kemp
reflect a fresh modern English style. The ground floor is pure
activity. A vast lobby leads onto a drawing room and a library.
There is "Oscar", a buzzy brasserie with open kitchen
and a mural depicting scenes of contemporary London Life.Each
of the 52 bedrooms and suites are equipped with a safe, CD player,
VCR, two line telephone with voice mail, modem points, fax outlet,
cellular telephone and large writing desk.Bathrooms are in solid
granite and oak, with TV's and walk-in showers. The four Loft
Suites have soaring windows and ceilings and the two open-plan
Penthouse Suites have private elevators and spectacular views
overlooking the rooftops of London.The Bloomsbury legend, by the
way, has succeeded more as hotel venture than as art. While the
fickle British press was mixed on the Tate exhibition, it raved
about the Charlotte Street Hotel. After all Virginia's sister
Vanessa Bell and her lover Duncan Grant, with their gorgeous Deco
fireplaces and teacups, were arguably as much decorators and hosts
as they were artists. This building, once a pharmacy, today sports
interiors of which the Bloomsberries would have no doubt approved;
these spaces are light, airy and full of wit, with curlicued wallpaper,
four-poster beds and vases in brightly colored vases. In the drawing
rooms, paintings by Bell, Grant, and Roger Fry brighten the walls.
There's even a movie house that seats 67 in lipstick red leather
cushions amidst pinstriped walls.
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