Baths – they’re making a sexy comeback
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However, there are a growing number of accommodation providers that are not only retaining their baths but making them a major feature of the bathroom renovation and utilising it as a means of wooing an amorous niche market into their guest rooms.
Wow-inducing bathrooms have become as important as seductive boudoirs and they're a great opportunity to showcase imaginative design. Double baths create a glamorous boutique-hotel feel – glass-enclosed wet-room-style baths with a view, add drama. Beautiful materials and different textures, from stone tiling to special towels, creates interest. Otherwise, attention to detail gives bathrooms more personality, whether it is an extravagant mirror or beautiful antique chair. Zero clutter, plumbing that really works, adjustable lighting, enough hooks to hang your towels and even the odd technological flourish, are all factors that can turn a good hotel into a great one.
On-site accommodation booking entrepreneurs, Mr & Mrs Smith, recently listed its 10 top bathrooms and coming out on top was Hotel on Rivington in New York, which offers spectacular views, both inside and out. This hotel's bathrooms boast floor-to-ceiling glass walls, offering guests the full Manhattan cityscape while bathing – and, of course, vice versa.
But it was the runner-up –Barnsley House in England's Cotswolds – described as a spa-spangled boutique hotel that understands the value of a decent bathroom and doesn't let its 16th-century style get in the way of the modern marvellousness – that really impresses. Room 1 has two tubs side by side, facing a TV so you can watch while you wash. Room 2 has a jacuzzi and every suite comes with a roll-top tub at the foot of the bed.
Now, it is the aphrodisiac baths making some hotel bathrooms scandalously sexy with libido-enhancing bathtubs, big enough for two, sitting brazenly in the bedroom.
Babington House in Frome– a cool country retreat in Somerset – has just completed a seductive refurbishment, adding va-va-voom to its bedrooms that now feature a romantic roll-top bath at the foot of the bed, as well as an outdoor hot tub on your balcony. It also provides organic aromatherapy products with evocative names such as Horny Cow, Frisky Cow and Dirty Cow.
The Lowry in Manchester not only offers the bath, but a bath butler is on hand 24 hours a day to run an aphrodisiac tub for guests, surrounded by aromatherapy candles like the Rose Garden with rose petals or the Bubbly Bath that is topped up with champagne – giving room service a whole new meaning.
One bath manufacturer, Victoria + Albert, has spotted this trend. Holidaymakers are touching down with a fresh perspective on interior design, demanding their bathroom reflects the style and finesse of the world's best boutique hotels.
The company's collection of Quarrycast freestanding baths and basins are found in some of the most desirable accommodation across the world. Victoria + Albert looks have been discovered at leading hotels across such as Barnsley House (the #2 for Mr & Mrs Smith's top ten) and Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel.
Barnsley House Hotel is born from the enchanting renovation of a manor house buried deep in the Cotswolds. Blending contemporary furnishings with 16th century architecture, Victoria + Albert's elegant style York bath was the ideal choice. Timeless double ended form, York brings classic boutique chic bang up to date.
In the heart of London is the Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel. A converted town hall in the East End, the development by Rare Architecture blends the original foundations of the community building with cutting edge design. At just 1500 mm long, the Victoria + Albert ios was chosen to make the most of the building's restricted spaces while offering a luxuriously deep well for a lavish experience.
Nathalie Rozencwajg of Rare Architecture comments: "We chose the ios bath for the elegance of its design, its smooth texture and the appeal of its compact dimensions."
In Cornwall at Rick and Jill Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, the accommodation speaks volumes. Streamlined and designed to wow, the LED floor illuminates the elegant curves and naturally white finish of the Monaco bath. The turquoise freestanding mosaic wall is the perfect backdrop for this double ended tub that is ideal for sharing.
The hand finished Victoria + Albert one-piece baths are crafted from naturally white Quarrycast that is rich in volcanic limestone. They are warm to the touch, strong and reassuringly renewable, with accidental scratches to the bathing well easily polished out.
It's not often busy travellers get the time to treat themselves, so bathing is the perfect opportunity for guests to indulge in some 'me' time. The trend is to bathrooms that go far beyond catering to our basic needs and offer a well-designed place to relax, replenish and play – the new era of bathrooms put the fun back into bathing!
