Page 50 - Sharp September 2023

SLOW COACH
GILDED WITH ROARING TWENTIES OPULENCE, THE NEW VENICE SIMPLON- ORIENT-EXPRESS SUITES ARE ART DECO TIME CAPSULES
By Nour Abi-Nakhoul
IN EARLY 1929, AN UNFORTUNATE BLIZZARD RESULTED IN
an Orient Express passenger train — the long-distance service between Europe and Turkey that launched in 1883 — getting stuck in the snow for a few days. Though she wasn’t on board, the incident inspired Agatha Christie’s renowned work of railway-bound detective fiction Murder on the Orient Express, a novel that forever enshrined the train in our shared cultural imagination as a mysterious method of travel, gleaming with grandeur. Today, the Venice Simplon-Orient- Express (VSOE), a decidedly more luxurious spiritual successor to the original service, is serious about respecting that legacy — so much
so that one of the original carriages of that Christie-era snowbound train can be found among its rolling stock, a little piece of literary history transplanted into the modern day lineup.
Though renovated and tweaked for contemporary needs, the entire ethos of the VSOE train is grounded in loyalty to its history: the cars are dressed elegantly in opulent Art Deco flairs, bursting with Roaring Twenties lavishness. This holds true even for the train’s latest additions, eight suites that launched this summer as part of a new class of rooms in-between their famed Grand Suites and the cozier historic cabins. Added as a response to modern desires for privacy — amenities include ensuite bathrooms and dressing tables — the suites remain richly nostalgic. Constructed according to the aesthetics and craftsmanship of the golden era of travel, they are located in original Orient Express carriages, restored by French artisans and designers in a historically respectful way.
The eight suites are all comfortably self-contained, each in- cluding either twin beds or a double bed that can be converted into a sofa during the day, an ensuite marble bathroom, a removable table that hangs beneath the windows, and a dressing table to assist you in selecting the most elegant outfit for dinner (always a formal affair). Dressing elegantly is a must; as general manager Pascal Deyrolle says: “Travelling in these suites is a dream for a lot of people, and when you come aboard you enter that dream. While we have a great stage and great decor, the guests have to play their part in the dream.”
50 GUIDE • SEPTEMBER 2023
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