Luxury Hotels

Netflix, luxury hotels and sustainability

Netflix’s “Down to Earth with Zac Efron” series is cleverly compiled.  Presenters are hirsute baseball-cap wearing Zac Efron and body-building god Darin Olien: Efron, 32, is an actor who first sprang to fame with Hairspray while Olien, 41, a Malibu beach junkie with an MA in psychology, is marketing the very-trendy nuts from Brazil’s jabuticaba trees. Jabuticaba? Girlahead is delighted to explain. These are also known as ‘grape trees’ and coincidentally Oetker Collection’s gorgeous luxury São Paulo property, Palácio do Tangára, has eight mature jabuticaba, each about four metres high, in pots as a highlight for the new outdoor Pateo it opens, when the hotel re-opens, this September.

Down to Earth with Zac Efron” is actually sponsored by Hilton. Five hotels are taking part,  namely New York Hilton Midtown, Caribe Hilton San Juan, Hilton Lima Miraflores and Hilton London Bankside.  Each episode is strong on sustainability. Netflix featured, last Friday, 10th July 2020, the 292-room Hilton London Bankside. This has bicycles for guests’ use that have been made, with frames that are partly bamboo (see above, photo courtesy Hilton London Bankside – the bikes were partly made by hotel employees).  Bamboo is also used for flooring in the hotel’s unique Vegan Suite, specially designed by Bompas & Parr: other features include a plant-based Piñatex, pineapple ‘leather’, headboard. Hotel GM James Clarke points out that Hilton London Bankside is close to the first site in England where pineapples were grown and, anyway, the fruit is a symbol of welcome.

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This week’s MARY GOSTELOW GIRLAHEAD PODCAST features one of the world’s most exciting and vital designers, Bill Bensley.  See what he has just (this morning, Friday 17th July) sent from his Bangkok nerve-centre:
‘hi mary – thanks so much for the heart throbbing podcast – A+ BILL’
And now catch up, here is a link to the podcast:
https://anchor.fm/gostelow