Room 1301, The Velvet Suite: Meet Vivienne Vesper

Room 1301 · The Velvet Suite · Floor XIII

“Fashionably late. By a century.”

She arrived at two minutes to midnight, which she later described as early.

We heard her before we saw her: the slow roll of trunk wheels across a lobby that doesn't have its carpet yet. Seven trunks. Black lacquer, brass corners, each one labeled in the same looping hand. Behind them came Vivienne Vesper, in a collar so tall and so precisely pleated it seemed to be holding the rest of the evening together.

The invitation

We checked the ledger. There was no reservation under Vesper, or under anything at all, because the ELE Hotel has not opened. We said so, as gently as we could.

Vivienne produced an envelope. Inside was a handwritten invitation to a masquerade on the thirteenth floor, the ink gone soft and brown with age. It was dated one hundred years ago, to the night.

“I hosted the most memorable party this hotel has ever had,” she told us. We reminded her, politely, that the hotel hasn't had a party. It hasn't had a guest. “Darling,” she said, handing over her gloves, “that has never once stopped a party.”

The elevator has no button for a thirteenth floor. She pressed it anyway. The doors opened.

The Velvet Suite

She chose Room 1301 before we could offer her anything, and the key fit, which no one has been able to explain. By morning the room was velvet from floor to ceiling, the color of the last glass of wine at a very good dinner. There are candles on every surface. There is a gramophone that plays only waltzes.

Every evening at seven, Vivienne dresses for dinner. Dinner is not being served. She dresses anyway, sometimes three times, because she believes an outfit should be chosen for the person you hope to become by the end of the night.

Notes beneath the doors

This is the part we didn't expect.

Late at night, Vivienne walks the hallway of Floor XIII and slides small cream cards beneath the other guests' doors. They aren't invitations. They're compliments, written in that same looping hand. “Your laugh carries beautifully down a hallway.” “That coat was the right choice.” “You were braver tonight than you think.”

By the end of the first week, the guests on Floor XIII had started leaving their doors open just a crack, in case she came by.

The one request we can't fill

Vivienne has made only one formal complaint. She would like the front desk to cancel sunrise.

We told her we would look into it. We are still looking into it.

Front desk note: Blackout curtains. Two glasses. No mirrors.

She has never said who the second glass is for. It is always polished. It is never used.

Who do you think the second glass is for? Leave your theory with the Front Desk in the comments.

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Take Vivienne home. Shop the Midnight Masquerade on Etsy Tees, prints and stickers from the Midnight Masquerade are a limited run, available until Halloween only. Every shirt arrives with Vivienne's Guest Registration tag and a Check-out Slip from the Front Desk.

Join the guest list. The ELE Hotel opens its doors in December, and new guests are already on their way. Leave your name with the Front Desk to hear who arrives next: Join the Guest List

Every guest of the ELE Hotel is hand-drawn by Erika Erlenbach in her Everybody Loves Everybody studio.