Nowhere in the annals of style does it say that luxury décor has to be all ice-cold chrome, blond wood and right angles that are so sharp you can shave with the dresser. There’s something to be said for lusciousness.
I recently stayed at a real icon in the hotel biz, the fabled Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles. Serving up sumptuousness since 1946, the Bel-Air briefly blipped off the radar for a two-year refurb. In the day, the property was...