In an effort to steer its image away from its known propensity for 19th-century rural English motifs and an near-cloying gusto for all manner of florals, famed textile brand Laura Ashley—"shabby chic before Shabby Chic," as Glamour describes—has, as of Wednesday, opened its own hotel and live-in catalog. Carved from an old tutor manse bought and renovated by the company in 2012, The Manor Hotel in Elstree, Hertfordshire, UK, now boasts 49 rooms wearing contemporary rehashes of the brand's beloved Jane Austin aesthetic. Sure the colors are muted (silvers and patinaed pinks and blues) and the florals have ballooned to a more modern scale, but the architecture of the building itself—with its dark exposed beams against cream walls, heavily detailed fireplace mantles, and paned windows—is quintessentially British enough to make the brand recognizable. Still, can't help but wish they'd stuck with some of their tiny delicate florals of yore rather than go velvet with the armchairs. But alas.
· Laura Ashley's The Manor at Elstree [official site via Glamour]
· All Hotels posts [Curbed National]
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