(Obviously this is our night for quoting Northanger Abbey.)
The Telegraph has a review of the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath, complete with P&P opening line hijinks:
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a city girl in possession of a stressful job, must be in want of a well-earned break from time to time.
Dorothy was saying that to us just the other day.
Designed in 1767 by the architect John Wood the Younger, the hotel occupies two Grade I listed houses in the centre of the five-hundred-foot long Crescent, with remarkably picturesque views over the city.
Entering the building is like stepping back in time. Everything has been impeccably preserved in its original Regency style both inside and out
Psst…1767 wasn’t the Regency.
Copies of Persuasion and Northanger Abbey had been placed in my suite
Unfortunately for modern womanhood, today’s clothing is not quite as forgiving as the billowing empire-line frocks of Austen’s time, so after all that food, those with a guilty conscience can head to the next-door Bath House to sweat off the calories in the gym, or, preferably, have them massaged, wrapped or steamed away. Gentlemen are of course welcome too, though they have less of an excuse as I suspect 21st-century trousers are generally less binding than breeches.
We had never thought of it quite that way before, but she’s right! It’s not fair! Bring back tight breeches and loose gowns!!! DOROTHY! Make up protest signs directly!
