Dine at Mayflower Inn and Spa

When one door closes, another one usually blows wide open. And that’s exactly how Chef April Bloomfield ended up the current chef-in-residence at Mayflower Inn & Spa, Auberge Resorts Collection. After her beloved Manhattan gastropub The Breslin closed down last March per COVID protocol, the British-born chef found herself in a position she hadn’t been in for nearly 30 years. “I've been working solidly since I was 16, so of course I didn't really know what to do with myself. I was going stir crazy and feeling a bit restless,” she says. “So when I got the offer I was in the right place to start spreading my wings.”

Kemble approached the redesign to Mayflower’s historic site with “great trepidation, respect and a sense of enthusiasm.” More than a hotel, she says the Mayflower Inn & Spa feels like someone’s home, with a sense of gracious hosting, comfort and personality. The idea was a refresh, not a demolition.. She picked out the things that were worth preserving, that had aged well and brought a sense of authenticity to the site, including mahogany four-poster beds and lamps, refectory tables, chinoiserie chairs, a papier-mache chinoiserie coffee table and game tables. She mixed in Scandinavian and colonial American design influences with sisal carpets, Turkish rugs, hand-crafted ceramics, wicker, as well as textiles from Schumacher, Sister Parish, and Penny Morrison.