The boutique hotel experts at Mr & Mrs Smith don’t just love Kate Middleton for her hair, or Prince William for his accent – we’re also proud of the noble newlyweds’ gung-ho approach to life. Take their tour of Canada, where they’ve been busy paddling canoes, meeting tribes, having a stab at street hockey, playing cowboys in Calgary, throwing a stove into a ‘chuck wagon’, speechifying, smiling, hand-shaking – we’re exhausted just thinking of it. Now the prince and his duchess have hit California, where we reckon they deserve a good rest, in a great hotel (or three). We’ve always had a soft spot for them, so here’s our pick of courtly Californian hideaways, fit for a future king and queen.
The Standard Downtown LA, Los Angeles
Wills and Kate kicked off their Stateside stay in the hills of Tinseltown, so we’re launching into our regal round-up with this sizzling Sixties-style bolthole in LA’s coolest corner. Bet Kate has a frock to match the lobby’s punchy pink sofas; Wills might be tickled by André Balazs’ witty interiors: oversized sculptures and mirrors, a red AstroTurf sun deck, canary-yellow restaurant, billiards, a photobooth, and a flaming water fountain. There’s a Rudy’s barbershop if the future regent fancies a trim, and a heated rooftop pool with scarlet Perspex chairs to hang out at, afterwards. Sticking to the dizzying heights, the rooftop also has an ice-cool bar, where the couple could sip potent cocktails, unwind to chilled-out house, and ponder on what treat to round off the day with: syrup-drizzled pancakes, croques monsieurs or meatballs, perhaps?
Rooms 207 (including two penthouse suites).
Rates Double rooms from US$275, excluding tax at 14 per cent.
