Summary

Only open on weekends, The Emerald is part of “Breathe”, a popular private members’ group and bathhouse.  Offering a mix of free and paid for rooms and suites, it is incredibly well thought out and designed, and with a good range of facilities.  

We were really impressed by what we saw.  So much so that we’d say that you could justify the 1200L Breathe joining fee just to get access to The Emerald.

Highly recommended

All pictures by Aria Christen, rights reserved.

• Breathe - Landing point to reach the Emerald

• Breathe Group

What you need to know

• The Emerald is open Fridays to Sundays, there’s a TP board from the main Breathe landing point

• Like the main club, the hotel is adult  However, there is no dress code, so you can wear your normal outfits (rather than just a towel)

• Six of the rooms are free, but being in the main building anyone can also cam in. However, the Emerald will also very soon have three private suites that owner Veronica Puddles showed us.  Veronica told us that these will probably cost 400L for the weekend, and will feature assorted ‘goody bags’ for guests

• Lag was not too bad, I was able to navigate around the Emerald perfectly well on very high graphics on a macbook

• You do need to be a member of Breathe (cost 1200L) to get in, though there are occasional open access days too

Overall look and feel

The Emerald looks like a modern city hotel.  In terms of layout (but not design), it’s quite similar to other hotels following the same theme like the Essencia and the (now closed) Rizzi.  There’s a main road out front, a reception area past the main entrance, a bar to the side, a pool and beach at the back, and elevators to the rooms.

There are six free rooms, located in the main building, and three private suites in skyboxes.

Owner Veronica Puddles enlisted the help of Darius Godric and Shellina Omy to help with the project, but despite several different people having worked on it, everything hangs together and flows really well.

Lots of care has been taken with small details, one example is the Emerald Hotel logo, which is RL-hotel worthy.  The rooms also have little touches such as nespresso machines and bottled mineral water.  The overall design is modern, and uncluttered - clutter and the need to pack too much in being something you find in a lot of other SL Hotels.

The corridors between the rooms also look like something you’d experience in an RL Hotel.  You know when you are staying in a really nice hotel suite or room, and then walk down a corridor with those standard hotel carpets and an ice machine? That same feel has been created here.

Overall - 4.5 / 5

The Rooms

These were a real highlight for us.  The six free rooms are all themed and include:

• Birds of paradise

• Tiki Bliss

• Executive suite

• Shag pad 

• Oceanic Escape

• Bondage Boudoir

There’s an incredible amount of detail that’s gone into their design, from the wall decorations to the choice of furniture.  

For example, the “Birds of Prey” room has a beautiful wall mural behind the bed, with Ruckus bedroom and Zaker bathroom furniture. ‘Tiki Bliss’ simlarly has Polynesian style decor and wall murals, including in the bathroom.

Really, these rooms are so good, we were surprised that they were free.  You’d easily pay 500L+ a month for this standard elsewhere.  

Veronica Puddles also gave us a preview of the paid for suites.  These are in private skyboxes, and are large, modern and clean.  They contain a really good sized living area separate from the bedroom and large bathroom.

Veronica says that these will be for couples looking for a getaway in privacy.  Here, the proposed price of 400L for the whole weekend represents excellent value for money.  We’ll be coming back to stay in one of these suites soon, and will update the review when we do.

The facilities

These include the pool, beach, a small outdoor spa, and a bar.  We also saw a restaurant and ballroom being built upstairs, which we assume is for future live events.

The one thing we’d say is that this is not a hotel or resort where you will find RP staff waiting on you. This is somewhere where you will need to do your own thing.  If you want a fully catered for RP experience, this isn’t for you.

Overall

This is a great addition to the Second Life hotel scene, and Veronica and her collaborators should be congratulated for doing such an excellent job.  In particular it passes the biggest test we always have - is this somewhere we’d want to stay if it existed in RL?  Does it feel immersive and real?  Yes and yes.  As a result, the Emerald is highly recommended.