Berlin's Iconic Club

I have decided to go with the idea of a 24 hour party to experience fragrance. After, I looked into the best cities for nightlife and Berlin came up on most lists. In particular, Berlin's Berghain, the notorious sex-fueled world of techno cool music. The secretive club's parties can go on for 24 hours plus, probably because it takes so long to get in and the bouncer is a celebrity himself on who he lets in. The club only opened 20 years ago after Ostgut closed and before that the fetish gatherings known as Snax in various locations in Berlin. The feel of place is industrial and the architecture is spiritual. Its your quintessential, gritty, hedonistic Berlin club. They have an underground vibe mixed with a professional service. Drinks are shuttled through hidden hallways where you can get lost in the surroundings. They attract die hard techno fans, bearded young professionals on drugs and in a nutshell non-conformists. There are no mirrors to see yourself in your state. It's definitely a fascination and an experience as a very exclusive club. The aesthetic isn't what I am going for but the idea around the party they offer is alluring and what I am inspired by.

Love,

Shaleen

xxx

References: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/berghain-the-secretive-sex-fueled-world-of-technos-coolest-club-20140206

The Hoxton

When looking at W Hotel, I was reminded of The Hoxton hotel. The boutique hotel was first introduced to me by a vlogger on YouTube, who stayed at the hotel on her trip to London. Ever since, I have wanted to stay in one. The open house hotels are inspired by the streets and scenes that surround them. They are very aesthetically pleasing as a design led hotel. They even have event spaces for meetings or parties. Currently, they are located in Paris, Holborn, Shoreditch and Amsterdam. Their website is so easy to navigate and they have a guide on what to do in the city depending on your personality. Next up they are opening in Downtown LA, Portland, Williamsburg and Chicago. I can tell they don't choose the typical tourist locations but the quirky cool neighbourhoods. To match their vibe, they also showcase work of local artists in their galleries. GQ has described them as 'effortlessly cool.' Even the Hoxton Instagram is a dream lifestyle in itself. As a millennial targeting hotel too, they focus on the lounge area. The hotel is a destination with locals visiting as well as residents from out of town. That might be me going to the London ones! It is painfully trendy and shows you don't have to sacrifice style for budget. 

Love,

Shaleen

xxx

References: 

https://thehoxton.com/

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/hotel-week-hoxton-paris/

W Hotel

My chosen brand is W Hotel. I love the unique take on hotels and their customer service. They are a luxury hotel chain owned by Starwood and marketed towards the younger crowd. They operate in 77 hotels in 33 countries since opening in 1998. W is everywhere in the brand. There is a 24/7 service called Whatever, Whenever which is something that is attractive to a young person who's day doesn't end at 10pm. In addition, they have a Wet Pool and Wired Business Centre so there is a level of consistency. Rooms even have funky names such as Wonderful, Cool Corner and Extreme Wow. Their consumer are millennials who like the hip interior design, and flirty, futuristic lobbies (known as living rooms).




W promote on Snapchat as that is the new digital platform for an interactive brand exposure that gives you feel for the brand. They don't believe in traditional advertising. Experience cant be shown and social media and word of mouth have more of an impact. As the hotel is not just a place to stay they take inspiration from all lifestyle sectors such as music. Coachella being a major hit with millennials they mixed travel with music and used that as a place to promote. As well as music; fashion, design and health play a part in the brand.



The hotels adapt to each destination to make memorable experiences. They're known as the 'wild child' in Starwood and have a huge party scene too. It has the mentality of their opening city of New York where 24/7 is in their nature. They rely on partnerships and exclusive events. The W consumer is a taste maker and lifestyle traveller. It has the personality of an independent hotel with the reliability of a major business one. Their consumer is basically me, I would love to stay in one of their hotels! I am looking forward to learning more about he brand and think there is a broad range of fragrance ideas that can come out of it.

Love, 

Shaleen

xxx

References: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/hotels/articles/w-hotels-is-this-the-worlds-coolest-hotel-brand/

http://www.chiefmarketer.com/w-hotels-creates-one-kind-experience-coachella/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/bryan-elliott/how-ditching-traditional-_b_9989106.html

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/index.html

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/quirky-hotel-names/index.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/hotels/2015/11/23/hotels-marriot-target-millennials-over-baby-boomers/76093970/

https://www.nunwood.com/excellence-centre/blog/2017/whatever-whenever-the-unique-customer-experience-design-of-w-hotels/?sixPillarIdList=

https://skift.com/2014/04/17/interview-how-starwood-hotels-sells-luxury-to-a-diverse-consumer-base/ 

Moving to New York

Ever since I decided to put NTU as my top choice I knew I would apply to the exchange program they have with FIT in NYC. I couldn't think of a more exciting opportunity offered by any course in other universities. Although, not until I got here did I realise that it is a lot harder to get on it than I thought. There was a whole lot of requirements and the process is stage after stage. The process started with a 250 word statement which was good as I achieved an interview. However, I did initially get rejected after the interview process. It is tough competition with 3 other girls on my course alone against me. The exchange is also for the whole of fashion not just FCP plus graphic design. After getting a no I was gutted and disheartened with the course and didn't really enjoy uni for a while or have the mood to go out. However, a week later I had gone out and met new people and with the help of my friends realised that maybe I wasn't meant to leave Notts so soon. My friend from home came for the last week of spring term and I received an email to say that a place had opened up for me and I could now go. So instead of drinking my sorrows away I was actually celebrating this week. Oh how much can change in a week is incredible. I had such a good week that I actually started thinking about how much I would miss Nottingham and the people I have met here. Though, it will still be here for second and third term and New York won't wait. I was ecstatic as in literally having to sit down and drink some water kind of adrenaline. Then there was the application to FIT now that I had convinced my home uni. It was stressful having to do it whilst on holiday in France but things have to be done. After a 2 week wait, I have just received a confirmation that FIT have also accepted me. There is still so much to do but I am so excited that I am enjoying every moment of it. Plus, I keep thinking about the fact that at the end of it I will live in my favourite city very soon! I will definitely blog more when I get there and my life across the pond.

Love, 

Shaleen

xxx

The French Riviera

Nice, France
I have always been fascinated with the South of France hearing about it from movies and books. Plus the amount of celebrities who visit Cannes on their yachts and Cannes Film Festival. So we thought take advantage of the fact we're already in France to spend a few days there. The train journey wasn't that bad as I slept through most of it and we arrived pretty early around 1pm so we had the whole day. However, it was raining in Nice and not what I had pictured the Côte D'Azur to look like. Although, not all was at loss we checked into our Airbnb and settled in and decided to explore Vieille Ville a bit later in the day and it still looked pretty regardless.

Cannes, France

Looking at the weather forecast, it was raining in Cannes too but we couldn't go any other day so we made the most of it and made our way to the resort town. It was torrential rain unlike the spitting in Nice and Paris. The beach was out of question but we still walked the promenade and walked the Rue d'Antibes shopping stretch. You definitely saw the luxury and it reminded me of Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills. We ate at La Croisette where I had the best rosé from St Tropez. I feel like Cannes didn't get a fair chance so I will revisit. 

Monte Carlo, Monaco

We were surprised and happy to see the sun whilst in Monaco which we didn't prepare for and I left my sunglasses at the apartment. Wasn't complaining though, saw the famous Monte Carlo Casino, Prince's Palace and enjoyed taking photos outdoors. Once again, the rich feeling was everywhere and I loved it. It was quite different from the film Monte Carlo that I watched as a kid.

Stumbled across a cute street trying to find the palace and took a standard photoshoot

couldn't get over the view 

the classic french riviera picture

Nice, France

For our last day we spent it in Nice again and did the things we couldn't do on day 1. It was a beautiful day so we went to the beach and Promenade des Anglais. A lovely stretch quite like Santa Monica. Also, we climbed the Chateau Hill which had a waterfall and a view of Nice. 

I'll miss wining and dining everyday :(

Love,

Shaleen

xxx 

Paris Day 2&3

Day 2
On a rainy day in Paris we decided to visit the Galleries Lafayette which has to be the prettiest mall I have ever been to. It is massive too so there is a huge range of high street and high end fashion. We went to the chain macaron stand called Pierre Hermès for a selection of macarons. We spent the entire day there before heading to dinner in another shopping district called Le Marais. 

We found this cute cafe which played really good music and overall had a great vibe to it. The food was also amazing. Also, having seen the Eiffel Tower in the day yesterday, I wanted to see the sparkle which happens every hour after dark for 5 minutes.

Day 3

For our last day in Paris, we went to the famous Pont des Arts bridge where the love locks are left by romantics. Also climbed up to the Sacré Coeur for a view of Paris. It was a nice sunny day again and I enjoyed a crêpe sitting outside it. 

The day ended early as we had a train to Nice the next day!

Love, 

Shaleen

xxx