Palace in Wonderland (From Living Northeast)

Palace in Wonderland

11:41am Saturday 17th July 2010 in

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Whitby’s La Rosa hotel has been named one of the five weirdest hotels in the world. Ruth Campbell discovers why it is attracting celebrities in search of some good, old-fashioned seaside fun.

THEREis a large glass bottle of mysterious blue liquid marked “poison” on the reception desk.

A two-headed duckling stares at me from a glass case. I spy a stuffed swan and a Victorian pickled specimen of the life cycle of a tapeworm.

And this is just the beginning.

It doesn’t take long to realise why the La Rosa, in Whitby, has been named one of the five weirdest hotels in the world.

There aren’t any flat-screen TVs or trouser presses in the bedrooms. Nor will you find bidets with gold-plated taps in marble-tiled bathrooms. La Rosa, where Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll stayed on his many visits to Whitby, is definitely a luxury hotel, but it is luxury served with flair, humour and the sort of individuality that borders on bonkers.

Furnished with thought and care, it is a riot of Victorian inspiration. Everything, from the eclectic paintings, vintage wallpapers, colourful rugs and old china teasets to the bizarre displays of curios and seaside kitsch, has been painstakingly sourced and lovingly restored to create unique, theatrical rooms that are simply unforgettable.

There is even a dressing-up box for guests, complete with an Alice outfit and vintage military jackets and theatre costumes. “La Rosa was designed as a place of fun, romance and escapism,” says owner Amanda Boorman.

Set on a Victorian clifftop terrace, with views across to the Abbey and of the sea, it’s hardly surprising that, as well as the usual tourists and weekenders, La Rosa attracts pop stars and other creative types desperate to escape the boredom of characterless corporate and chain hotels.

Locals have spotted members of the band the Kaiser Chiefs staying at the hotel, as well as some of Chumbawamba, but Amanda and fellow owners, David Owen and Claudia Mariette won’t, despite my pleading questions, give anything away.

“We love our customers and they are often as eccentric as we are. Yes, some famous people have stayed but we are not telling. Ever,” she says.

There is no denying La Rosa’s most famous celebrity guest, however, as there is a blue plaque on the door marking the fact Lewis Carroll stayed here many times, once for three months.

One of the eight themed bedrooms, complete with an old writing desk, a stack of battered suitcases, a telescope, a game of solitaire and display cabinet full of Carroll curiosities, is a tribute to the famous author. Here, guests sleep on an antique brass bed, covered with black and gold eiderdowns.

The parents of Alice Liddell, Carroll’s inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, also stayed at the hotel. “It still amazes us to think Lewis Carroll actually stayed here and walked up the stairs and maybe thought of some ideas for his Alice books here,” says Amanda.

With a nod and a wink to Alice, La Rosa holds Mad Hatter tea parties in a stunning but wacky deep blue room with antique red velvet curtains and views of the sea. One large table, Hatter-style, sits in the middle of the room, piled high with delicious home-made cakes and buns which are sparkling with edible glitter.

A huge wall hanging from an old shooting gallery declares: “Our true intent is all for your delight,” perfectly summing up the ethos of the hotel.

Playful kitsch and curios, such as fossil and shell collections, Victorian Punch and Judy puppets and an old Butlins sign set the mood for some good, old-fashioned seaside fun. There is a ship’s piano in the corner, as well as a working gramophone.

“We buy from local antique shops, the Bazaar and the Stonehouse and Whitby Auction House, as well as eBay,”

says Amanda, who recently finished a degree in cultural studies and says she is inspired by the amazing Whitby Museum.

She, David, a freelance graphic designer, and Claudia, who used to work for the Brain Injury Trust, are also behind the popular La Rosa retro campsite, just outside Whitby, where they have decorated a selection of charming vintage caravans with finds from their years of brica- brac hunting in charity shops and boot sales.

“In the hotel, we’re hoping to create a similar Wonderland feel as at the La Rosa campsite,” says Amanda.

“It’s the same philosophy – to provide good, old-fashioned service as an antidote to corporate, soulless hotels. We buy second-hand, make do and mend, more Wombles than eco warriors, more Steptoe than Selfridges. We may not have marble bathrooms and flat-screen TVs, but we do actually care that people have a nice day.”

The hotel was a major renovation project and took them eight months. “It had been empty for a long time and needed a lot of work,” says Amanda. “But we love a challenge and did it at a fraction of the cost because we used second-hand and antique fittings rather than buying everything new.”

It is a credit to them that, since opening in December 2008, they have been listed in a Sunday Times Top Ten Romantic Bedrooms feature and in the Independent’s Fifty Best British Hotels. Metro newspaper also names La Rosa, which features in in Bettina Kowalewski’s Bed in a Tree and Other Amazing Hotels Around the World book, as one of the top five weirdest hotels in the world.

As well as the Lewis Carroll room, there is a Bram Stoker room – Dracula being Whitby’s other claim to fame – and a Crow’s Nest four-room attic apartment, with a Peter Pan theme.

All of the other rooms, from the seductive Sacre Coeur to the lavish Arabesque, tell a story. Most of the bathrooms have Through The Looking Glass-style black and white chessboard tiled floors, with Victorian roll-top baths and beautiful old mirrors. But the huge, indulgent wooden bath tub in the Saloon room has got to be every cowgirl’s dream.

Another typical La Rosa innovation is to provide media hampers with iPods, DVD players and a selection of movies or music instead of TVs in the bedrooms. Breakfast, with treats including home-made scones, nuts, honey, yoghurt, fruit and bread, is delivered to your room in a picnic basket.

Even the relaxing library room downstairs has been painstakingly kitted out with a huge range of unusual and interesting books, from histories of seaside piers to books about Carroll. Amanda and her crew also organise private parties for residents in the atmospheric basement tapas bar, decorated in the style of a Victorian apothecary.

I feel as if I have entered a sort of magical wonderland, full of the sort of childlike charm and fun found in the pages of Carroll’s most famous story. And a quick glance through the La Rosa visitors’ book, full of gushing descriptions of delightful stays, confirms I’m not alone.

“The best bit about running it is the lovely feedback we get from the customers. That’s what keeps us going,”

says Amanda. “We hope our hotel will spread the word gently at the same time as offering good, old fashioned seaside fun to all who sail in her.”

■ Double room, B&B from £80-£120 a night. Tea party £12 a head for up to 12 people; hire of tapas bar for up to 30 people with food and bar staff, £20 a head. La Rosa, 5 East Terrace, Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO21 3HB. Tel: 01947-606981; info@larosa.co.uk