LIVING LIKE THE LOCALS
The Cranley Hotel in London's South Kensington is the perfect choice for anyone
wanting to experience the city like a native
Today, travel is all about authenticity. Gone are the
days of the hotel as gilded cage. Travellers want to
experience the destination they visit. They want to
live it like a local. At least that's what we are told.
The question is what kind of local. Do you want to
go to New York and cram yourself in a subway at
seven in the morning or sit alone in a car crawling
along a motorway outside of Tokyo? Because that's
what most locals do in those cities.
Probably not. You want to choose the kind of local you'd live like, and surprisingly, they may not be the locals in the areas with the most famous hotels. Take London, for example: would you really want to live like a local in Mayfair or Belgravia? Breakfast at George, lunch at Harry's Bar, shopping at Angelo Galasso, cocktails at the Brompton... along with exactly the same people you spent August with in Porto Cervo and December in Courchevel, the rootless international uberwealthy brigade?
No, at LUX we like to blend in a little more than that, so we paid a call on a tiny hotel in South Kensington. South Ken is the residential area otherwise known as Petit Paris, so Parisian it boasts three patissier-cafés owned by matrons of varying degrees of grumpiness, and its own, French government-run lycée. It's also perhaps London's most delightful residential area, home to the rooted international wealthy brigade who like to work, dine, shop and party in roughly balanced quantities.
The Cranley Hotel is bounded on both sides by
houses populated by these folk; just down the road
are several of London's most relaxed restaurants
(rather than show-off spots) and finest musuems.
Not only does the hotel make you feel at home but
it even looks like a private home right down to the
smallest detail. Yes, give us the four-poster room any
day and we may never move out. After all, there's
plenty nearby for all the family. 
