Celebrated Hotelier Alex Polizzi Shares Her Favourite Home and Away Haunts

Preferred hangout close to home?

Trinity Restaurant, Adam Byatt’s Michelin starred affair in Clapham is my absolutely favourite place to take colleagues and friends for a treat.  Also, above it he has a tapas bar, which I think is wonderful for something more relaxed and I have spent many a jolly Friday evening there!

Best global getaway for design inspiration?

I would say Barcelona but Barcelona because of Gaudi, not necessarily for its hotels.  I find Spain completely inspiring regarding design because they do the mix of traditional and contemporary better than anywhere else in Europe, I think.

When I travel I’m never without

A good book and a mascara.  I am lucky because my good friends, Cate and Nash, who run the fabulous bookshop ‘Much Ado Books’ in Alfriston East Sussex, which is virtually next door to my new hotel The Star, are always giving me hardbacks to read.  So I constantly have a hot-off-the-press, or an Editor’s copy of a brand new novel; I am lucky to always be very well supplied.

City pad of country pile?

City pad.  I have never seen the point in having a country pad unless you have enough room for loads of friends to stay, and if you have loads of friends staying then you need loads of help as otherwise you spend your whole time running around cleaning.  I would much rather have a wonderful city pad and go and stay with other people in the country or at a luxurious country hotel.

Style trend you’d like to bring back?

Everything comes back inevitably.  One thing I am not an enormous fan of are fringes on the bottom of sofas.  Everything I really care about has come back at least once in my lifetime already.  The main thing that I am very relieved to see has come back into fashion is bellbottoms.