Charles Lucas, Born 1964
CHILDHOOD LIVING IN A CHELSEA HOTEL
Charles Lucas writes of spending his teenage years living in the Wilbraham Hotel, at Wilbraham Place, Chelsea, London. His mother was Deputy General Manager of the hotel and was provided with a flat on the premises. It was there that she, Charles and his brother lived for several years, doing no cleaning or laundry, and eating their meals in the hotel restaurant. He describes the elderly owners, Mr ffytche and Monique von Kospoth, and the large and eccentric staff. He also describes the antiquated lifts, with their sliding grille doors, which would become stranded at the top of the building when someone failed to close the lift door behind them.