Claridge’s. By Martin Williams. Hodder & Stoughton(英国著名出版社); 320 pages; £35
《克拉里奇酒店》，马丁·威廉姆斯著。霍德与斯托顿出版社；320页；35英镑。
THINGS CHANGE all the time inside hotels. Guests check in and out(入住和退房); towels and bed sheets are regularly laundered(洗涤（衣物）) (or so you would hope). Hotels are also forced to accommodate upheavals(剧变；动荡) that take place outside their doors. Two recent books, “The Finest Hotel in Kabul” and “Hotel Exile”, explored the turmoil of the 20th century from the front desks of hotels in Afghanistan and France.(最近有两本书——《喀布尔最好的酒店》和《流亡酒店》——分别从阿富汗和法国酒店的前台视角，探讨了20世纪的动荡。) Now readers can journey to Claridge’s, one of London’s most prestigious(享有盛誉的) hotels.
酒店里的事物时刻都在变化。客人入住又退房；毛巾和床单定期送洗（但愿如此）。酒店也不得不承受门外发生的剧变。最近有两本书——《喀布尔最好的酒店》和《流亡酒店》——分别从阿富汗和法国酒店的前台视角，探讨了20世纪的动荡。现在，读者可以踏上前往克拉里奇酒店的旅程，这是伦敦最负盛名的酒店之一。
Martin Williams, a historian, traces(追溯；追踪) how the hotel has witnessed all manner of(各种各样的) political and cultural shifts since 1812. This is a top-down view of history, for Claridge’s clients have always been exceptionally posh(豪华的；上流的). Princes and empresses slept there on visits to Britain; the future George IV, then prince regent, was thought to have slept there with lovers.(王子和皇后访问英国时曾下榻于此；未来的乔治四世——当时还是摄政王——据信曾与情人在此共度良宵。)
历史学家马丁·威廉姆斯追溯了这家酒店自1812年以来如何见证了各种政治和文化变迁。这是一种自上而下的历史视角，因为克拉里奇的客人向来都极其显贵。王子和皇后访问英国时曾下榻于此；未来的乔治四世——当时还是摄政王——据信曾与情人在此共度良宵。