All "Dolled Up"

 

The architect for the Kimpton Fitzroy Hotel in London was a man named Charles Fitzroy Doll (1850 - 1929).  Learning this helped me to understood how the Kimpton hotel group chose the name "Fitzroy" for the hotel.  As I said last week, the hotel's original name was the Russell Hotel, named for the beautiful Russell Square garden right across the street.

After the hotel was completed, Doll was asked to "smarten-up" the facades of some of the houses around Russell Square by adding some of his terracotta ornamentation.  This gave rise to the expression "dolled-up".  I think that "dolled-up" fits this hotel perfectly from the ornate, terracotta exterior to the marble details in the lobby to the beautiful mosaic floors below my feet.  Every inch of this hotel was beautifully designed to be as palatial as possible.     

My room was located on the second floor and that's where I met Lucky George.  

The restaurant Doll designed in the original hotel served as his inspiration for the first class dining room on the RMS Titanic which he also designed. 

When the design work was in progress, he  commissioned two brass dragons to be cast.  One of the dragons was to reside at the hotel, the other was to sit aboard the RMS Titanic.  It's easy to figure out why this one is called "Lucky George".  

I was also lucky to stay at this beautiful hotel and to see George every day as I passed him in the hall.