Though human personalities are often too individualized to be easily and accurately captured by generalizations, there is plenty of evidence to indicate that luxury is an indulgence that polarizes humans. Epicures, those who derive pleasure from delighting their senses, embrace luxury. After all, life is not only short, it is often punctuated by episodes of pain or boredom. Immersing oneself in aesthetic pleasures is one sure way of avoiding, or softening, life's uglier moments. Stoics, meanwhile, while not principally opposed to luxury, resist extravagance on the grounds that it is not only excessive but indulgent. The Good Life does not arise from intemperance; it flows from the satisfaction gleaned from hard work done well. Perhaps neither camp has the right of it. Maybe the answer lies somewhere in-between. If so, it will elude Mr. Brace for in this, his paean to life's luxuries, he leaves little doubt of which side of the question he favors.
From the historic to the opulent, from the scandalous to the futuristic, Hotel Heaven is a whirlwind tour of Earth's grandest hotels. After confessing an addiction to these palaces of luxury,Mr. Brace, a journalist and travel writer, eagerly recounts his many stays in the world's various five-star accommodations, reconstructing their grandeur with respect bordering on awe. But then it does not take the reader long to see why the author is so enamored with his pleasure palaces. For if he is not enjoying patronizing a middle-eastern hotel fit for a sheikh, he's soaking up the nostalgia of the Chelsea, the culture of the Savoy, or the fiery delights of Heaven in Fiji. There is no destination too outlandish, no delight too exquisite, no experience too seductive for this chronicler of luxury.
On the surface, Hotel Heaven is a piece of cultural fluff, an indulgent journey through exotic locales most of its readers will never see. In this, it is a successful work; for Mr. Brace has deployed the written word to wonderful advantage, conjuring up images of places of such sensory beauty that it makes the surroundings of ones ordinary life seem gray and drab by comparison. However, Mr. Brace, to his credit, does reach for something deeper than superficial hedonism. In reconstructing the history of the modern five-star hotel, he has introduced his readers to a story about innovation. After all, the desire of powerful and intelligent people to build, for their customers, shrines to elegance and pleasure have driven them to seek an efficiency of service, a thoroughness of detail, and a uniqueness of experience that their patrons will remember for always. This, along with the history lesson Mr. Brace conducts on each of his memorable hotels leaves the reader as enticed as he is educated.
Hotel Heaven does throw up some uncomfortable moments. There can be no doubt that, behind the facade of each of these magnificent locales, lie tales of exploited workers and polluted land. What's more, there is something eminently distasteful about the lavishness Mr. Brace celebrates here. Wealth is not a zero-sum game. Just because some have it and others don't doesn't automatically mean that the haves greedily took the fair shares that belonged to the have-nots. Wealth can be expanded, grown. However, Hotel Heaven does serve to remind us that there is an unimaginable gulf of privilege that exists between the rich and the poor. And while this may not be the fault of any one person involved in this tale, it does prompt one to wonder at what gruelling tasks others have to perform in order to make perfect the experiences of the insanely well-off.
A fun read. For epicures, an inspiration to visit some of these legendary locales. For stoics, some sobering food for thought about the nature of indulgence. Regardless of your affiliation, entertaining... (3/5 Stars)
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