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Classes in Stylish Consolation from an Inside Design Combine Grasp

September 15, 2021

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Lessons in chic comfort from an Interior Design Mix Master

Behind the old New England facade of the famous and luxurious Mayflower Inn & Spa hides a new surprise: a Celerie Kemble redesign that combines influences from all over the world – patterned tile ceilings, lampshades wrapped in ikat, botanical wall paintings that otherwise creep mischievously – proper khaki walls – along with a hugely airy, state-of-the-art spa from The Well and epic bone broth (and an epic entire menu) from April Bloomfield. About two hours from NYC, it’s a place to switch off, enjoy, and relax – and it’s also a near inexhaustible source of design inspiration.

Scale can be as charming as color.

Step through the door into the huge entrance hall and your gaze wanders … everywhere at the same time. There is a light blue wallpaper in a wild, large-scale print; a plush rug in dark eggplant and pale pink; a modernist wire chandelier with small traditional shades; and a round wooden table littered with beautiful objects and surrounded by bright stools in organic shapes. Somehow the effect of all these details is calming and draws you further into the room. Kemble is a master at mixing colors, textures and patterns, and she also takes care to contrast large spaces with small, cozy and stately objects with smaller ones.

A hollyhock made of black paper almost one meter high by the New York artist Livia Cetti anchors a collection of smaller objects along a mantelpiece; In every room there is a simple, dramatic detail that is a charming reference to nature.

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Point out the natural world to make a room feel special (and a little wild).

Whether fragrance, texture or a literal image of nature, there is no room in the Mayflower that does not bring in the outside.

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In the dining room you can go a little bizarre.

Walk through a hallway (small after the soaring entrance, of course) into the airy restaurant with a view of a wide meadow lined with evergreen plants. Botanicals, birds and insects are painted along the walls; the ceilings are criss-crossed with Turkish tiles and hung with glass pendants; and elegant sofas and rattan cafe chairs crowd around the wooden tables.

April Bloomfield is the head chef in residence, and the food is epic – farm to table with all the richness and complexity Bloomfield’s cuisine is famous for. The bone broth already mentioned combines beef, pork and chicken broth with warm spices (star anise? Cinnamon?). The cauliflower tikka masala is out of this world, the haddock soup is smoky and inventive, and the fried chicken is amazing.

Drink cocktails (and the unfathomably delicious Deviled Eggs) in the cozy, wildly wallpapered Tap Room or take them outside to the Shakespeare Garden.

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For an instant atmosphere, add a fire pit.

The Mayflower’s back lawn, centered around the charming Shakespeare Garden, is dotted with small clusters of Adirondack chairs around small fire pits. Watching a crackling fire and sipping an amazing cocktail as the sun goes down and the world goes dark is one of the most enchanting ways to spend an evening. Particularly spectacular trees on the property are strategically illuminated by the hotel as soon as it is completely dark. So stay until late at night and enjoy the magical atmosphere.

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Layers create a cocooning retreat in a bedroom.

The guest rooms mix time periods, patterns, fabrics, and colors with devotion, but the overall feel is calming. (There are a number of rooms with four-poster beds draped in layers of light turquoise, cream, or pink silk that made us feel like we were sleeping in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.) It becomes clear throughout the hotel, but especially in the rooms that pale pink is the chicest neutrality – mix it with virtually any other color for a calm, warm feel.

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Bring the next generation spa into your home.

The Well partnered with Mayflower to create one of the most beautiful, relaxing, and transforming spas around. Even if you are only taking one yoga class (they are amazing); Soak in the plant-filled, glass-enclosed hot tub; or look out of the huge windows of the airy relaxation room, you will come out deeply calmed and energized. But indulge in the craniosacral massage outside on a heated bed in a pine grove while lace snowflakes swirl around you if you can. The spa offers all kinds of bodywork, skin treatments, and full inclusive health coaching (Dr. Frank Lipman is The Well’s Chief Medical Officer) along with incredible farm-to-table spa food.

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Plants add life (literally) to every room.

Plants are absolutely everywhere at the spa, from the stunning gardens (the Mayflower spans fifty-eight acres) you can stroll through the dreamy glass-enclosed hot tub to the giant pots of everything from succulents to evergreen plants in the towering rooms.