THE ST PANCRAS STATION HOTEL

Here's another pattern-fest - this time right here in London when I got an unexpected tour around the quite staggering interior of the St Pancras Hotel - a bedazzling gothic madhouse to which my shaky camera-phone images do not do justice. It was all the more interesting for me because I once got a tour around the same building pre-multi-million-pound refurb, when failing light, dangling cobwebs and sad neglect left a spooky impression that was hard to shake. What's impressive now is the meticulous attention to detail in the restoration - from the hand stencilling around ancient pipework to the wallpaper re-imagined from a scrap found behind a mirror and the subtle re-colouring of brand new carpet to suggest an older pedigree. Though Victorian Gothic is not really my thing, you couldn't help gawping at the sheer audacity and confidence of the original vision. The only pity was the oddly bland modern furnishings (especially the curtains!) in some of the actual bedrooms we were let into.