This morning, we were treated to an intimate tour of The Fitzgerald Suite inside The Plaza Hotel, which serves as an important backdrop to many iconic scenes in the upcoming Baz Luhrmann adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Catherine Martin — the film's award-winning costume and set designer — led us through the suite, which features furniture and lighting from Restoration Hardware, props from the actual movie set, and soft furnishings from Martin's burgeoning line of home goods.
"We started by going back to what the rooms at The Plaza looked like in the 1920s, they were very spartan — this suite is a reaction against that," Martin told us. "We wanted to change the experience of what getting a hotel room in that time period would be like." She and Luhrmann also looked to Fitzgerald's original description of the hotel for inspiration, and the oak walls and antique wood floors — which have never existed in a suite at The Plaza — are a direct reference to the novel. To create a clean, deco look, Martin took inspiration from the '20s, using some of the decor tricks found in that era, namely domed and mirrored ceilings that create the illusion of endless height. The dark colors are both an homage to the heavy emotion of the scenes that play out here, and to Gatsby's masculinity.
Martin made sure to pay extremely close attention to detail, and not one nook in The Fitzgerald Suite was left untouched. "I'm most proud of the bathroom," Martin said. "We changed all of the tiles and fittings for a more '20s feel. We didn't want to lose any sense of the luxury." One of the recurring details throughout the decor is the Gatsby seal that's embroidered on the towels and bedding, which has a very special meaning to the director. "Baz wanted to use the Gatsby logo as a symbol that pointed out his secret obsession with Mrs. Buchanan," Martin explained. "It's his initials surrounded by a daisy."
You can see this fantasy suite come to life when The Great Gatsby hits theaters on May 10, or, if you want to experience its magic first hand, the room is available at The Plaza Hotel, starting at $2,795 a night. See more of our exclusive photos below!
