The Luxurious Interior of Sassoon House Ready for Occupation: Two Hundred Rooms and Suites Wonderful Combination of Art and Luxury: The Lalique Glass) where one and Lightin; Suites in Styles of All Nations: Air Brought to Correct Heat Daily opening of the Cathay Hotel. one! of the rapidly' increasing wonders of Shanghai. A brief description of the hotel has been given before, but the place is deserving of more, for it constitutes in every way a remarkable tribute to local workman-_ ship and it is not easy even to attempt to give a desert that would convey an adequate conception of its luxuriousness, After a tour through the hotel, one felt, indeed, that the: Sassoon family have paid a wonderfal tribute to Shanghai, both as regards its present and future, for if such well-informed people believe that Shanghai can now and will continue to support such a gorgeous, place, then there should be small need to worry. It is a noteworthy: fact, too, that no secret is made of the main intention being to cater! for casual visitors rather' than permanent residents, which is rather hard luck for undoubtedly' very many of the latter would jump at the chance of living in such luxury, but again it is a compliment, to Shanghai, as revealing a sound, belief that here is something about the city which will continue to] attract streams of visitors.
Artificers of the Hotel Before coming to a descri the hotel, it would only be fair to mention to whom most of the credit should be given. The hotel was designed by Messrs. Palmer "and Turner afd they have done exceptionally well, for the building not. originally intended for a. hotel]
August 1 witnessed the formal) & Crafts, Weeks & Ca. and Hall Holtz, and never have there been better proofs of the excellent Shanghai workmanship. 'The imita-[tions of old period furniture are especially clever, the cracked, chipped and seared wood and the stained and faded cane seats being' wonderfully realistic, Then, too, all the furniture has been upholstered to harmonize with everything around it—walls, ceilings, fittings, curtains, ete.—the effect of this being partiularly clever and pleasing in the lounge. One understands that Mrs. G. L, Wilson was largely responsible] for this.
The site was an ideal one for an hotel, the three frontages enabling. the architects to arrange for access from The Bund, Nanking Road, and Jinkee Road, as well as from the rotunda in the centre of the arcade. From the ground floor: there are five lifts, three of which work express to the seventh floor. The reception office, though ample and obvious, at the same time is discreetly located where it does not. impinge too noticeably on the handsome ground floor lounge, which is two storeys high, pillared in marble, with two balconies (one for each of the sexes) giving a measure of privacy if desired. The watls are.of light. grey and rose mottled marble, with dove grey marble strips marking the panels. Above the marble are paintings in soft colours of imaginary cities in various styles of architecture—just fantasies and nothing more. The comfortable chairs and' settees are Then, when Mr. G. L. Wilson was at Home, he was attracted by the wonderful Lalique lights which are now all the rage (and about which more later). He bought a large number of them and then practically' constructed his hotel round the/ lights, with a success which must} bbe seen to be fully appreciated. The furniture was divided amongst Arts upholstered in tapestry, in which, as stated before, are blended the colours of the surroundings. 'The' curtains are of royal blue velvet, There is an American bar off. the The Lalique Lighting an express lift one is)
to the seventh floor, Photo by Ah Fong finds another commodlious lounge, ante-rooms, read-and writing rooms, and, perhaps the finest feature of the. hotel, a lofty and magnificently appointed dining room, opening on to spacious terraces facing south, of and having @ specially strung wire spring dancing floor. After the first glance, however, one almost loves. interest in everything except the wonderful Lalique lighting, which is a riot of beauty in the dining, room. Lalique is a Frenchman and, though now over 70 years, he was only recently discovered. ' He has. a wonderful method of moulding opalescent glass in beautiful and fantastic designs which are illuminate ed by lamps from below and at any time the effects can be changed by simply putting in coloured lamps, Most of the hotel lighting is done in this way, even to shaving mirrors. in the bathrooms. Looking at the figures, plaques, and pendants in the ballroom, one realizes that no heavy ornamentation, no strong. colours could be associated with delicate jewels: nothing but, gold, silver, rose and mother-of-pearl could be used in juxtaposition and those are the colours selected by the architects." The ten "Ladies of the Fountain," no two alike, slowing in their niches in the columns, fascinate all who see them, the sparrow plaques, and the wonderful lanterns of innumerable pieces of moulded glass held together with silver rings appear al-Most unreal, The strange centre Attings in the two recesses off the main dining room resemble. some bago monster of the star-fish family, that might well have come from the uttermost depths of the ocean, only We know they also come from the studios of Lalique. The lighting: effect of the crystal fountain and the wall standards remind one of, the illustrations of Land Dunsany's stories, all so strange and yet s0 beautiful.
The lighting fittings 20 far described may by regarded as decorations only. The actual illumination of the room is by indirect lighting and. here the architects felt that sudden changes would not ba possible, for, with the delicacy of the Lalique glass, one feels it would not stand the shock of lights being switched on and off in a jerky manner, so special apparatus has been installed to intensify and dint the lights gradually, one colour melting into another, giving the effect of sunrise and sunset, blazing day and moonlight,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.