Singer KATIE MELUA struggles to relax in luxurious hotel suites, because she's used to sharing tiny bedrooms with her relatives.

The CLOSEST THING TO CRAZY beauty was raised in civil war-stricken Georgia and was often forced to spend her sleeping hours in close proximity to her parents and brother.

And although she once yearned for her own bedroom, these days she suffers restless nights if hotel managers upgrade her to spacious suites.

She says, "I was born in the capital T'bilisi, where I lived in my grandparents' house with my parents, my younger brother and my uncles. When I was four, I moved with my parents and younger brother to a one-bedroom flat in Bat'umi, a coastal town by the Black Sea.

"We all lived in the same room, but I dreamed of having a bedroom of my own. Now, when I'm staying in luxurious hotels, I think back to those days. I was in Cape Town recently and I booked a standard room at the amazing Table Bay Hotel. It was upgraded to a suite with ten bedrooms and I ended up losing things in it. I'll never get used to that kind of luxury."

10/05/2005 02:15