were tarnished from the outside by the smog which hung over London, and from the inside by the fumes that belched from the fireplace. So the most striking thing on entry to the Ampersand hotel – a conversion of a hotel originally built in 1888 – is the natural light now flooding into interiors that would once have been dark and oppressive. It’s most noticeable in the ground floor Drawing Room patisserie, and extends to the front-facing bedrooms, where enormous windows overlook Harrington Road. Who knows what the notoriously prudish Victorians would have made of the rolltop baths now set into some of the window


T


he hotels of the Victorian era may have been grand, but they were also gloomy. Lit by gaslight or candle, windows


bays. Even in the newly added bar and restaurant Apero, some clever architectural jiggery-pokery has enabled a surprisingly light and airy feel to the basement location. The hotel re-opened its doors at


the end of August 2012, following an extensive refurbishment by architecture and interior design practice Dexter Moren Associates. It is just seconds away from South Kensington tube station, on the doorstep of Hyde Park and Knightsbridge The Victorian façade – originally


clad in the red brick so redolent of that era – has been replaced with a freshly contemporary dove grey. Inside, the design scheme references


those pursuits that defined the late 19th century. The Victorians were avid collectors, classifiers and categorisers, in fields as


WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2012 067


ABOVE: The Apero Bar & Restaurant features vintage lighting and exposed brickwork alongside leather banquettes and a marble bartop


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