I spent the weekend in the Westcountry, and enjoyed some sunshine and a complimentary overnight stay at the Magdalen Chapter Hotel, which opened in Exeter in June 2012. This rather impressive building was once the West England Eye Hospital, and more recently the Hotel Barcelona. It is now a collection of contrasts that really works – a luxury hotel that welcomes dogs and children, a combination of Grade 2 listed 19th Century architecture and cutting edge modern design, a hard-working functional space that feels anything but.
Interior design agency Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios handled the renovations, commissioning original artwork and specifying furniture from designs icons like the Eames DSW to contemporary pieces from the likes of Pinch.
I really loved this mustard yellow wall, which really shows off the Pinch chaise longue at its best!
FCB Studios have done a brilliant job of combining the old with the new, so that each compliments the other, rather than feeling at odds with it. External walls have been made into internal feature walls creating a genuine sense of blurring the boundaries between inside and out; and little details from the original building, such as a board listing hospital visiting hours, have been incorporated into the design.
As always, it’s the little details that make a hotel work, both in its design and in the way it functions.
Two architectural details that caught my eye were the fabulous curves on these incredible double-height windows in our room, and the very utilitarian drainage hole left in the original hospital flooring. From a service point of view, I loved the fact that dogs were made welcome (people were even given ‘doggy bags’ after dinner!) – and that each guest is lent an iPad from which to access all hotel services.
We stayed in a “feature room” with an open plan bathroom like this one – I love the industrial feel of the white tiles with grey grouting, and the original flooring seen above, contrasted with little luxuries like egyptian cotton bedding and the glamourous wallpaper.
Any hotel with a library is going to appeal to a bookworm like me – all the books are available to borrow for the length of your stay.
It’s a cosy space to curl up with a coffee and a book during the day – and by night, it’s right next door to the bar! Cocktails and Coelho anyone?!
I liked the fact there were lots of different spaces to retreat to with a drink, so you could pick the ambience to suit your mood.
The restaurant feels slightly nautical with its huge canope from a central ‘mast’ and I loved the lighting installation, reminiscent of hot air balloons.
Outside ‘the circle’ provides a grassy centre-point around which the pool, spa, and private dining space The Potting Shed are arranged.
From the indoor pool, heated by a log-burning stove, you simply swim outside into the fresh Spring air – another contrast, and one you can’t fail to notice when you swim it!
There is even rhubarb growing in the garden, which I like to think make it into the compote I had on my granola!
Further reading for the especially geeky:
What a beautiful place, though I am not a fan of open plan bathrooms in en-suite rooms – well open plan toilets anyway!
The toilet was in a separate room and there was a curtain you could pull around the bath – thank goodness! I agree!