As a writer for one of the most popular publications in this
Virtual World, I am often invited to check out places I have never seen
before. Some of them are quite creative,
with extensive histories. Brunel Hall is
one such place. In a world populated
with cookie-cutter homes, Brunel Hall stands out, noteworthy for its
fascinating charm and Old-World Elegance.
In my travels the other day, I came across the Grande Dame of days gone
by, and I asked Vic Mornington, the proprietor, to share some of the story of
this enchanting place with our SLE readers.
Josh (Thomas1 Bellic) (JB):
Soo, tell me, Vic. What is Brunel Hall, exactly?
Vic Mornington (VM):
It is first and foremost a hotel.
The bulk of the building, namely all of the upper floors, are dedicated
to the 17 hotel rooms which are used on a rented basis for the folks visiting
the wider city, either for RP or simply using the hotel as a home base for
exploring. Even back to its early days
when the original building was only a pub, there was still two small hotel
rooms to the side that folks could rent out.
As the place grew via expansions into neighboring plots,
that’s when the Bar Restaurant theme started to take shape for the ground
floor. As it stands now, Brunel Hall is
what you would see in most modern cities.
It's a working hotel, with "added amenities". It's also turned into a Second Life build
equivalent of Scotland's Forth Rail Bridge, just as you finish an overhaul of
the building...it’s time to go back to the beginning and start all over again.
JB: Where did you get
the inspiration for Brunel Hall?
VM: The inspiration
for the look of the building, at least on the outside, is from the Liberty of
London building in London, England. If
you are ever visiting Brunel Hall, take a look at the front, and then search
for Liberty of London on Google, there are very striking similarities.
Back in 2010, there were 5 top-tier "Grand Restaurants". In order to even enter, you had to pay an
average of 500L$, to enter, you had to book a table, that was on average
another 1000L$. Once you had booked the
table and sat at the table, you were already down a grand and a half. On top of that, you either had to pay or tip
the RP wait staff, the chef, the owner...etc.
...all that, to sit and stare at badly textured prim food. Lia (my cousin in RL) had a bad experience
with one of those old grand restaurants.
That bad experience she had, along with others I heard about was in the
back of my mind when the original version of Brunel Hall was extended out
further and further to the west as I took over more and more parcels. I decided, once I had enough prims on the
parcel, to open a restaurant as good as the old grand diners, but do one thing
they didn't do. Make it free to use.
More than 10 years on, Brunel Hall is the last of the old
Grand Restaurants, the rest are long gone.
JB: Do you ever host
special events at Brunel Hall?
VM: There are normal
parties DJ'd by me (at the time of writing this) on the 2nd and 4th Friday of
the month at around 9 or 10pm UK time.
They are mainly UK timed as I'm based in the UK. In the future the plans for The Three Craws
basement bar is for guest live singers and guest DJ's to perform for the 1st
and third Friday of the month. Then of
course there are the main holidays like Easter and Christmas where special
event parties take place.
The Restaurant and bar downstairs are also open for bookings
as well, this is one of the main reasons there isn't a wall to wall listing of
events, a lot of the week have to be clear for bookings for weddings, birthday
parties and so forth.
JB: Who are your
Guests? What is your target demographic?
VM: The guests who
rent or just pop in to use the restaurant cover a huge demographic. Even though the hotel is in the north side of
a 12-region large steampunk city (New Babbage) about half the guests are
visitors who wear anything but Steampunk or Victorian clothing. We have had folks new to SL with 1 week old
accounts, we've had oooooooold accounts dating back to 2004/5. accounts whose
typist behind the keyboard are in their 80's in real life to accounts whose
typists are in their early 20's. We've
had countless members of various LGBT inworld groups stay in the hotel, members
of Cyberpunk groups, Sci-Fi groups, furrys, tinies and other groups over the
course of the hotel being open.
The reason there's been such a broad base of people is
because of New Babbage. Since New
Babbage isn't "RP enforced" it means that folks can wander around and
explore without having to change their clothes or their looks to fit in with
the general 1880's theme of the region.
Most of the guests do end up changing into some more Victorian or
steampunk looking outfits if they go to one of the events in the city or just
wander around, that’s probably why they end up renting a room, so they can
change clothes in some privacy while remaining inside the city.
JB: How long does the
average guest stay at Brunel Hall?
VM: On average it’s
about three months. The "Long
Stay" guests generally appear around November/December time when the
entire city gets covered in snow for the winter. Then there is the gradual progression from
the thaw (March) into the summer months as long stay summer/autumn guests start
renting around May and then leave around August/September. There are a handful of hotel renters though
who have remained as hotel renters from when they first rented, the longest
guest we have in the hotel started renting the same room back in 2010 and has
remained with the hotel ever since through all 6 of its tear-downs and
rebuilds.
At any given time, because of the long stay renters, the hotel
is generally half to 3/4ths rented out with only about 5 or 6 of the 17 rooms
laying empty for short stay visitors who rent for about 2 to 3 weeks just to
explore the city. In between the rental
"seasons" which is where we are now, the room vacancies go up to
about half the rooms laying empty for a month or so.
JB: Tell me more
about the rooms, please. They are much
larger than what I have seen in most places in SL…More like complete
apartments. Who does your design work?
VM: When the first version
of the hotel was being laid out, I decided at that point that the rooms would
basically be livable. Not the normal
"bed, table and chair" common hotel rooms that you see today. The Grand Hotels of the early and middle
period Victorian era were mini living rooms, so what I decided to do was to
take the basics of a complete "apartment" and cram them into a single
floor and double floor sectioned off "mini house". The way I looked at it was simple, folks who
were going to be staying in the hotel were no doubt there to look around the
city, they would be renting for at least a week...I may as well make the room
as comfortable as possible for them and their friends.
As the hotel expanded out and upwards in the 6 overhauls,
the rooms got progressively bigger and bigger.
It’s now at the point that the bulk of the actual building is given over
to hotel rooms, with only the ground floor and basement being used for the
other stuff. I generally look at the
"Grand Design". Lia and Lizzy
usually take care of the finer details.
JB: What a lovely
dining area. How does dining at Brunel
Hall offer an experience that is unique in
SecondLife.
VM: This is an easy
one to answer, and it’s been my guiding philosophy in the 10+ years of running
the hotel. Brunel Hall offers a bigger
menu, a grander building and a better surrounding (hey, there’s a whole city
out there) than any other restaurant, we don't pester you with RP wait staff,
don't spam you with messages to donate...we just leave you and your partner,
friend or family alone. Ohhh...and its
free to use.
That basically covers it!
JB: Tell me about the
underground Tunnels. That is quite a
complex you have down there.
VM: The tunnels are a
late addition to the hall. The southern
regions of New Babbage have a vast network of
underground sewers and tunnels interconnecting the older core regions. About 3 years ago, Mosseveno Tenk who is the
Mayor and overall land owner of the 12 regions of New Babbage (the city is a
rented land-based city, with individual land parcel owners) decided to drop the land surface of Academy of Industry down to water level in many parts so landowners around Academy can hook up tunnels to the main sewer line that connects
Academy to Port Babbage in the south, and Babbage Palisade to the west.
That’s when I thought "ohhhhhh, I can put a cellar and
some tunnels down there!"...so I did!
It's great for explorers or role players, cause the tunnels hook up to
the old Palisade wall in the north, the sewer which runs along the front of the
hotel under the road and the old crypt cavern below the cemetery.
JB: Is there anything
else you would like to share with our readers?
VM: If you do decide
to visit, I would recommend you drop your draw distance below 100. The hall itself is crammed with stuff, but
it’s not just that, New Babbage itself is very densely packed on the ground, as
you would expect for a Steampunk Victorian city, so having your draw distance
too high would mean your viewer is rezzing half the north end of the city at
the same time.
Most of all, if you do visit, have a look around the city as
well once you have finished your look around Brunel Hall, New Babbage is a very
old community, one of, if not the oldest steampunk-based communities and cities
on the grid. You never know, you might
like it that much ya might end up either renting a hotel room for months on the end, or, as is the case for a good number of hotel renters, you may end up
buying land and putting down roots in the city.
thanks a Bunch!
So, there you have it, Folks. If you’ve a hankering for Old World Charm on
a modern, pixelated Virtual World grid, head on down to New Babbage. Visit the Shops…the Academy, the Port Area,
and the other many fun and quaint paces to visit there. While you are there, enjoy a meal in Brunel
Hall, and rent a room to crash for the night, or for the week…or for the
month. And tell Vic, the proprietor
that “Josh sent me”
Be there. Aloha!
JB
SURL:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Academy%20of%20Industry/51/71/108
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