The Grand Old Lady of the Steamlands

Tucked away in the very north end of the 14 region “City State” of New Babbage (more about New Babbage in a later article) is probably one of the biggest buildings of the city.  Brunel Hall.

I first stumbled on an earlier version of the hall years ago when i was exploring the grid visiting various steampunk and Victorian themed regions.  In 2012 when i stayed at the hotel it was much smaller, having only two floor, since then its been extended out a lot into 5 floors in total.

Brunel Hall, in all of its different builds is at its heart a hotel, it has been since it was first built more than a decade ago.  Most of the upper floors of the building are given over to the 17 hotel rooms which has weekly rent’s of around 250L$ per week.  From what the intro notecard for the hotel said, its the room rentals that are offsetting a large chunk of the tier costs for the land the hotel is sitting on.

The rooms come in single fllor of double floor variety and as standard come with a standard layout which is copied throughout all 17 rooms of the hotel.

The Age Of Decadence

Brunel Hall’s hotel rooms, and the rest of the interior has a very specific theme.  Victorian.  This is mostly down to the 14 regions that the hall is a part of.  New Babbage is (from what i know) the grids oldest continually running Steampunk residential city, with Brunel Hall being the (as the owner puts it) “Last of the Grand Dining establishment” left on the grid.

The entire ground floor, and the basement and cellar are given over to the public content of the Hotel.  The restaurant, the bar, “Brunel Hall” itself (the formal dance hall) and the cellars and swimming pool.

On walking through the front door you walk into what is basically one giant open plan…well…hall really.  Measuring about 110m from side wall to side wall there is a LOT to rez, and my old laptop struggled a little.  I noticed a chat script which advised people to drop their draw distance down to below 90m.  The problem with Brunel, and for that matter New Babbage itself is the ground of the regions are very densely packed with buildings.  People on older PC’s may struggle a bit.

To the left of the entrance is the actual “Brunel Hall”.  A very large (like…VERY LARGE) open dance floor which has obviously been built with some kind of formal event or even wedding ceremonys in mind.

To the right of the entrance is the restaurant.  There is a mix of couple and four seater tables with a large 12 seater table at the back.  The menu for the dining plates is one of the most extensive menus i’ve come across for a free to use restaurant as large as this, and yes, it is free to use, you only need to join the group to access the dining plates and the group is free to join as well.

Downstairs from the restaurant, in what is essentially the upper basement is the main bar called the “Three Craws” which has an entrance outside as well.

Carrying on down further, you end up in what looks to be the entrance into the swimming pool, cellar and some sort of tunnel system which seems to join up into a wider sewer and tunnel system for the city of New Babbage itself.

Ageing Decadence

Brunel Hall is old.  Not just in terms of how long its been on the grid, it is one of the first major hotels and the first (and as far as i know only) large hotel of its kind for the Steamlands and Victorian era based regions, but it also “feels” old when you are walking around inside.

The building itself is in mesh, but the way it has been decorated inside gives off that fading decadence of the tail end of the late Victorian era in England, when everything was just beginning to fade away and the new Edwardian age came about after the death of Queen Victoria.

With so many of its inside area dedicated to the 17 hotel rooms, its a wonder the building’s owner has managed to find the spare LI to cram as much as he has into the ground floor dance hall, restaurant, bar and swimming pool, he;s probably got a couple of prim farms dotted around the region to make up for all the stuff crammed inside the place.

Where Brunel Hall shines though is not its looks, cause there are far more “chic” and “trendy” hotels out there which other bloggers concentrate on while leaving Brunel Hall largely ignored (i informed SL Hotel Inspector of Brunel Hall months ago…he never done a write up on it), no, its not the looks…its where it is.

The hall is in the north of 14 joined regions all making up New Babbage.  The reason Brunel Hall almost always has at least half its rooms booked is simple…people use the hotel as a base to go out and spend a week or more to explore what New Babbage has to offer.  More about New Babbage itself in a future blog article.

Brunel Hall is a hidden ageing gem within the gem that is New Babbage itself.  It’s not trendy, its not chic.  However the nickname that seems to go with this place of “The Grand Old Lady of the Steamlands” is fitting.  She is the old lady of New Babbage, sitting to the north with an air of fading decadence fitting with its surroundings.

Visit Brunel Hall Hotel: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Academy%20of%20Industry/52/76/108

Written by Fenella Baily

Edited by Liza Blackwood