The Pavilion Hotel Groovy and eclectic only begin to describe this London Hyde Park boutique Located on a busy street lined with hotels within London’s Hyde Park is the eccentric Pavilion Hotel. It is difficult to imagine a small boutique of only 30 rooms being able to run its business entirely through word-of-mouth recommendations, but the Pavilion has a secret weapon: each of its rooms has a unique look that is impossible to re-create. “It was an experiment we tried when we bought this quirky old building,” said Noshi Karne, GM of the Pavilion. Karne personally decorated each of the 30 rooms individually and added a thematic flair to each of them by purchasing furniture and decorations from warehouses and auctions. Nothing in these rooms is made to order, and visually every room is very busy. Billowing sheets hang from many ceilings while and vibrant knick-knacks shine that have been sourced from collectors. Because the historic nature of the hotel prevents extensive renovatons and rooms require pieces that are one-of-a-kind and can't be ordered in bulk, Karne is presented with some operational difficulties. “There is a limit to how much remodeling we can do,” said Karne, adding that constraints with space have caused her to reject many pieces of furniture that she otherwise would have loved to employ. “It is always a work in progress. I’ll revisit rooms I’ve done earlier and change my mind about things. Sometimes I’ll spend weeks and weeks looking for one curtain for one room. It isn’t like picking up the phone and ordering curtains!” Shifting rooms Karne’s liquid designer interests keep the Pavilion from ever becoming stale. Even if a customer has stayed in each of the 30 rooms, Karne insists that if they return again they will find something new. A thirsty collector, Karne never stops looking for ways to change her rooms to accommodate the addition of new items. “Sometimes I walk into a room and hate it, and I’ll have to change it,” she said. Due to the high volume of unique material that Karne works with, it is not uncommon for small items to go missing from time to time, which causes more operational headaches. “I’m sure there is the odd thing that has disappeared over time, and we don’t always spot it right away when it happens,” said Karne. “We haven’t had too many losses.” Uniquely photogenic Others have recognized the unique look of the Pavilion’s interior, and the location is used often for fashion and celebrity photography shoots. Karne chalks this up to the hotel’s artistic and mutable atmosphere. “I get inquiries for photo shoots on a daily basis, and we do at least one or two shoots a week,” said Karne. “They aren’t the sort of celebrities that court the press. We see ourselves as a low-key alternative, and we never get paparazzi. Our hotel is pretty much still a secret.” True to its hushed nature, the Pavilion mostly operates through word of mouth. Its desirable location helps, too; the Pavilion is near other hotels that help promote its visibility. It’s also within walking distance of the Heathrow Express at Paddington station. Karne claims that the hotel is often filled to capacity during summer months and whenever major events visit Hyde Park. “It’s a very unconventional way to operate,” said Karne. The Pavilion’s insistence on remaining fresh has allowed it to carve out a niche for itself along the busy streets of London. Karne, the unceasing collector, said it best: “The whole idea is that you walk in and you feel like you are staying with an eccentric aunt.”