“Stepping inside the carriage is like being transported into another world.” That is the charm of Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin’s fantastical Belmond train carriage. Trains are usually built to move people from one place to another, but when touched by legendary Australian director Baz Luhrmann and his four-time Oscar-winning designer partner Catherine Martin, they become portals of fantasy, time travel, and extravagance.
The extravagant new carriage, Celia, is an all-new private dining and events carriage on the Belmond British Pullman. Built around a fictional muse named Celia, she is imagined as a 1930s West End leading lady who played Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In Luhrmann’s story, she is gifted her own Pullman carriage by a wealthy American admirer.“It’s a magical mystery carriage for Celia to dine in, throw parties, probably make out in the nooks and crannies,” says Luhrmann. “Though in the ’20s, we’d call them stolen kisses in the shadows.”
In reality, however, Celia joins the British Pullman’s restored carriages from the 1920s and ’30s, which operate from February to December out of London’s Victoria Station. Available for private hire, with seats for up to 12 guests, she comes with a cocktail bar, lounge, dining area, and entertainment space. It is safe to say that Celia is so much more than a collection of sections and amenities. The train carriage is a lesson in storytelling, Art Deco detailing, and a kind of charm that is hard to come by in this day and age. Let’s explore the magic hidden in the details.
The next best thing to owning a train
For a group of up to 12, with prices starting around $20,000, the Celia carriage makes moments unforgettable, first with its milieu and then with its meals. At full capacity, the starting price works out to roughly $1,700 per guest, making it less like buying a train ticket and more like hiring a private London dining room that happens to glide through the countryside. A dedicated team serves scrumptious three-course meals, with dishes such as beef Wellington and chicken liver parfait on offer.
Toasts to the good life are raised with an exclusive cocktail list by Monica Berg, co-founder of London’s acclaimed Tayer + Elementary. According to CNtraveller, Guests can also curate and stock their own bar with their preferred drinks, making the experience feel less like a formal reservation and more like a private party on rails.
An environment that is cinematic, charismatic, and wildly glamorous
The muse may be a movie star enjoying quintessential Hollywood glamour, but the real star is the décor, which takes inspiration from the character and the époque. The walls feature tri-color marquetry panels showing pastoral English scenes, flowers, fairies, and Celia as Titania. Pansies are omnipresent, thanks to their association with Titania in Shakespeare’s play. The theatrical interiors play with rich hues like yellows, reds, and purples. Case in point: a cozy purple velvet lounge, scalloped dining chairs, red curtains, floral floors, and a dramatic oval ceiling detail. Even the ceiling is not just decorative. It has been engineered to improve live acoustics, which means Celia was designed not only to look theatrical, but to actually perform like a tiny moving salon. Another whimsical detail shared by Wallpaper was that the dining area brings its own little show behind an electronic panel that can be lifted to reveal the chef preparing the meal. As Luhrmann rightly said, “Trains have a way of putting you in a dream-like state,” and Celia indeed is the world’s most elegant, extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime private party bus.
In fact, were it not for the linearity of the space, one could easily forget this was a train car. The carriage also includes a long bar cabinet and, to etch the experience into one’s memory, a custom scent co-selected by Luhrmann and Martin. It can also switch moods. A curtain can close and turn the carriage into a performance space, meaning the same setting can host lunch, a speech, a DJ set, an unplugged music performance, or a private announcement.
Where does Celia take you?
While time does stand still aboard the Celia train car, fact is it takes you around. Itineraries can include day trips to Oxford and Bath, historic house visits such as Blenheim Palace, sporting events like Goodwood Revival, and Belmond’s own theatrical experiences, including Moving Murder Mystery lunches and dinners. That makes Celia flexible enough to become a high-society birthday lunch, a fashion-world after-party, a corporate launch, or a very extravagant proposal.
