Waste itself taxes, tests and stretches the mind, but what an overwhelming experience
Alistair Darling is poised to give the go-ahead for a multi-billion-pound injection of capital into Britain's banks within a week
More...
Posh's hotel gets Cristal clear list of demands
By Chris Millar, Evening Standard Last updated at 13:26pm on 01.11.06
Demanding: Victoria Beckham
Ultra-chic: the Hempel Hotel, where staff pulled out the stops to please the Beckhams
She has been pictured shopping at Oxfam - but it seems Victoria Beckham still has a taste for the grander things in life.
When the former Spice Girl announced she and her husband were checking into the ultra-chic Hempel Hotel in Bayswater, staff were handed a formidable list of requirements. They spent about £20,000 in an effort to make Victoria happy.
Her exacting demands included £350 of cakes from a local patisserie, ultrathick towels and extra dressing gowns and £1,000 of smart Jo Malone bath scents, plus a full set of Spanish newspapers so her husband could read reports from football matches in his home league.
Anxious staff decorated the hotel's £1,500-a-night Beluga suite with £5,000 of orchids, six silver platters of fresh tropical fruit, and lit it with 60 candles.
Another £5,000 was spent f lying in Italian linen sheets by designer Francesco Calvidini.
A butler was put on standby to look after the couple during their twoday-stay at the west London-hotel. They were also offered a chauffeur-driven Porsche Cayenne should they need to venture out.
At one point, five porters were dispatched to a patisserie, where they emptied its shelves.
But still there was one thing missing from the Beckham's suite: Cristal champagne.
A source at the Hempel said: "Victoria arrived here with David on Sunday afternoon. We made a massive effort to get ready for them - in total we must have spent around £20,000 preparing for their arrival.
"Victoria came here to promote her book - she did a series of interviews in her suite. We did everything we could to get it ready. But she was not happy with champagne on ice in her suite - we had stocked it with Ruinart champagne a nd she insisted on Cristal.
"She was quite clear that she and David were not happy with anything but Cristal."
Reader views (14)
Here's a sample of the latest views published. You can click view all to read all views that readers have sent in.
Will you people believe any story? I doubt she is like that.
- Carl, Usa
Does anyone know if Victoria is still in London? I missed out on the book signing day and my fiancee really wants it.
- Nas, England
People with true class don't have lists of expensive goodies as long as your arm. What they do have is good manners and an ability to behave gracefully in what is ultimately a public place.Whether the Beckhams can afford it or not or whether they have a brain or not, what they definitely don't have is any form of class. Money doesn't buy that, standards are passed down from parent to child. Granted if they have the money then why not spend it, but nobody else really needs to know about it. I was however, interested in the £350 of cakes from a patisserie. I am assuming that these must have been for David. The sight of Victoria tucking into a cream, calorie-laden fancy would definitely be newsworthy. I don't have anything against the Beckhams, they simply aren't worth many deep thoughts in the grand scheme of things. Have we really become so desperate for zeleb news that we're listing pathetic lists of their demands?
- Anni, Fleet, Hampshire
17°c
