Postcards from Budapest: Emma Winder on How Travel Sparks Her Creativity

Presenter and model Emma Winder on why visiting new cities can be potent fuel for creativity – and how W Budapest fabulously derailed her trip to the Hungarian capital

Emma Winder is the effervescent presenter and model with a steadily growing audience. On TikTok she’s loved for her ‘fit checks’ in outlandish circumstances, such as galloping near out of control through a meadow; and impromptu interviews during fashion weeks – at which she may be modelling or taking front-row seats – using the truly micro microphone that, she tells us, is one of her travel must-haves.

The ‘fits Emma checks are invariably vintage, with 1970s pieces her signature. It’s a striking look, often with a dash of sultriness. It’s this latter quality especially that inspired the pairing with W Budapest for a Hotel Tale – a series capturing the unfiltered moments that W Hotels’ energy has a knack for inspiring. “Yeah, the black WOW suite that I’ve been staying in, it has this dark, opium, sort of rock aesthetic,” she says with relish.

The Hotel Tales series invites viewers into a galaxy of star guests' missed itineraries and magnetic detours, all infused with W Hotels’ signature tagline of “You just had to be there” and the rally call: “Next time, be there”.

Emma favours striking vintage looks, making her a natural fit for W Budapest’s dark, rock-tinged WOW suite (Photo: Marriott International)

At W Budapest, Emma has found herself detouring to one part of the hotel in particular. “I feel like each area of the hotel has its own vibe, and they all complement each other, but I really love the grand staircase with all the stained glass windows and the way the light was dappling in.” (On the subject of staircases, she also salutes W New York – Union Square’s example. “It had this shiny black lacquer and black tiles, and this very Halston vibe,” she explains, referencing the iconic 1970s designer.)

W Budapest (Photo: Marriott International)

The hunt for creative inspiration

When travelling, Emma’s eyes are constantly peeled for visual inspiration, be it a backdrop (like that staircase) or incidental prop for a video, or even a whole new outfit. She rarely has time to linger in any one destination – “I like to keep to a very strict itinerary because, with the way my work goes, I'm only there for maybe two nights” – but then it only takes an instant for inspiration to strike.

There was the time in Milan she put her schedule in danger to speed-try on a “mini green Gucci dress that was staring at me from the window of this little vintage shop," she recalls. "It was fashion week, so I couldn’t risk someone with the same sort of style as me snapping it up. Anyway, I ran in, ripped my clothes off and it fit me like a glove. And I got to the show in time, so no heart attacks.”

And at W Budapest, one glance at a particular hallway was all it took to send her off on an imaginative flight of fancy. “The diamond carpet really reminded me of the music video for Happy House by Siouxsie and the Banshees. I felt like I was in the actual video and Siouxsie Sue’s an inspiration, so it was magical.”

It just goes to show the creative synergy possible when visually curious guest meets visually rich hotel. They become “fuel for creativeness” in Emma's words. “For someone else, maybe it’s reading a book in a certain corner that they found. Everyone reacts differently. Whatever lets your thoughts run free, you know.”

Emma's stay at the W Budapest has led to a creative synergy between a curious guest and the visually rich hotel (Photo: Marriott International)

From another part of Emma’s creative brain, W Budapest takes on a different persona. “Before I came out here, I had a sneak peek at the hotel online and thought it had a real dollhouse vibe, so I was like, ‘OK, mini dresses, cute gloves, little dolly shoes, knee socks.’ Then really loading up on the accessories and seeing which ones were mixing together. I want to thank my years and years of shopping addiction for this: the perfect moment for me to style myself!”

With the likelihood of interviews cropping up during her Budapest trip, Emma had tailoring on her mind. “I had to incorporate a suit,” she says. “I can't neglect the suit moment for an interview! But it was in a pink colour so it had sort of dolly vibes.”

Timelessness over trends

The suit she’s most often seen in is her beloved double-breasted pinstripe number – like so many of her fashion choices, it’s another classic. With such an emphasis on timeless pieces, it’s unsurprising to hear that Emma is largely unmoved by trends. Indeed, one of the most popular narrative threads in her TikTok is her pantomime horror at the so-called “Hedi boy” trend, named after the designer Hedi Slimane, with its resuscitation of the skinny jean. 

“Forget the trends,” Emma tells us. “We're just living. Just do what you gotta do!”

Even though Emma’s making her name in a trend-based industry and on trend-mad social media platforms, her style has substance. While many Gen Zs are all in on Y2K, Emma deals in cuts, styles, and forms that have survived half a century or more of communal cultural sifting. Pussybow blouses, platform boots, oversized sunglasses, bell bottoms, pantsuits – they’ve all gone the distance. Maybe that’s why Emma is such a hit: she sees beyond the ephemeral.

It might also explain why she finds rich visual inspiration in travel. In cities across the world, it’s largely the classics that stand the test of time and draw the crowds, after all: the great works of art, the deeply rooted cultural traditions, the centuries-old architecture, from great civic and religious buildings to castles and stately homes (just like W Budapest, a modern reinterpretation of the 19th-century Drechsler Palace).

W Budapest (Photo: Marriott International)

And how is Emma finding Budapest itself? “I really love the architecture. It's a perfect mix of Milan and Paris – like they’ve had a baby.” But then she hasn’t seen a whole lot of the city yet – the hotel grabbed her attention and, she won’t deny, kept it in a very firm grip. “Yeah, the hotel really stole the show, I have to say.” She’s looking at you in particular: AWAY Spa and chic Le Petit Beefbar, two of W Budapest’s most irresistible charms.

Beyond the visual inspiration travel can bring, Emma loves the licence new cities give to reinvent ourselves. “Nobody knows who you are, so you can be a totally new character. It gives you space to develop that I-don't-care bone.”

And with that, she prises herself away from the hotel to try her Budapest self on for size: Emma, Queen of W Budapest, in the city they call the Queen of the Danube River.

W Hotels, part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of over 30 hotel brands, unveils its Hotel Tales series in Europe and the Middle East. Shot in an editorial-documentary style and released on Instagram, the brand content series captures the spontaneous, unfiltered, “You just had to be there” moments that unfold when travel plans give way to the unexpected energy of W Hotels. Watch the video here.

Published: October 22, 2025

Last Updated: November 06, 2025