April 23, 2008

EUROPE | ENGLAND | SOUTHPORT

Paris on the Mersey

By Nicole Cotroneo

Can a radical makeover return a corner of northwest England to its former glory?

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Move over Brighton. Stand aside, St. Ives. Southport is now “England’s classic resort.” Or, at least that’s what the Merseyside town would like to be. While the wind rarely blows balmy here (Southport is 17 miles north of Liverpool), the seaside city has big plans to transform its “bucket-and-spade” image into something more glamorous and green. The proposed renaissance includes an eco visitor center powered by wind turbines, and a multi-million-dollar marine park with a winter garden and heated outdoor swimming pool. Somehow it’s all supposed to reinvent the glory days when Napoleon III allegedly swooned over the boulevard ambience here –- and Southport flaunted another nickname: England’s own “Paris by the sea.”

Leading the charge is new Design Hotel The Vincent (pictured), which opens May 26 in the heart of Southport’s shopping district. More Manhattan-minimalist than Parisian-chic, the six-story, glass-faced bolthole flashes its own revisionist attitude: Visitors don’t check into guestrooms; they check into “V-studios” with rainforest showers, free MP3 libraries and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Lord Street (Southport’s said “Parisian boulevard“). But if it’s an outdoor Jacuzzi and private steam room you want, then you’ve got to hit up the penthouse. For the rest, there’s the V-Spa run by ESPA and off limits to children under 16. Back in the bedroom, though, it’s up to you to keep the little ones out of Booty Parlor’s “intimate seduction kit.”