DE S IGN CENTRE
culture, retail, restaurants, bars and nightlife – it has huge cosmopolitan appeal.” World-city status aside, the post-Covid bounceback
and boom of luxury travel played out against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty has boosted the popularity of hotel investments. Unlike other commercial real estate impacted by hybrid working, hotels have a degree of financial flexibility built in – when costs rise you simply increase room rates. The one- upmanship in luxury hotel design has already hit the headlines. The arrival of The Claridge’s £60k-a-night Penthouse Suite, which overlooks a rooftop lake and glass room containing a Steinway, raised eyebrows in 2023. While reviewers of both Raffles London at the OWO (a £1.4bn transformation of the storied wartime haunt of statesmen such as Winston Churchill and Lord Haldane) and the shiny steel-and-glass The Emory mused over the value of the £1,100-£1,600-per-room-per-night price tags. Oh, to be one of the wealthy American, Chinese, Indian, and Middle Eastern visitors who the luxury hoteliers are banking on – because they’re spoilt for choice in this Roaring Twenties epoch of London’s luxury hotel scene. Paris-based designer Jean-Louis Deniot, currently
juggling three high-end hotel and residential schemes in the capital (including residences at 1 Mayfair
and a penthouse at The Whiteley), adores London’s constant evolution. “You have some of the most eclectic architecture, the language between the juxtaposition of contemporary and classical is fascinating. All these hotels will be very different, so the offer is generous for London tourism with so many genres.” Deniot “had a blast” applying historic English architectural details to the interiors of the new rear extension of the
"THERE’S A DEGREE OF
FAMILIARITY, COMFORT AND CONFIDENCE ABOUT
COMING HERE – IT HAS HUGE COSMOPOLITAN APPEAL”
Grade I-listed Georgian hôtel particulier at the heart of Cambridge House, ensuring a cohesive neoclassical feel throughout. Wedgwood’s iconic Portland vase informed his palette with “fun, sweet pastels” of pale greens, yellows, blue and peach juxtaposed with off- white plasterwork detailing. “This references English patrimoine, which always has an incredible sense of
colouration in backdrops if you think of architects like Adams. It’s graphic, fresh, optimistic and decadent,” he adds. While another Paris-based designer, Laura Gonzalez,
is creating the F&B, spa and nine members-only rooms at Cambridge House, Deniot is responsible for the lobby, sitting rooms, internal courtyard, conservatory, ballroom and guestrooms. Custom-designed furniture throughout is inspired by vintage English pieces with rich mahogany wood paired with tweed and plaid upholstery and textiles “from Colefax and Fowler to Pierre Frey and everyone in between”, he says. Great British Kings and Queens lend their names to the five Royal Suites, the peaceful Queen Elizabeth suite features discreet, petite florals and dusty pastels, “You’ll feel like you’re sleeping in Buckingham Palace,” he says. While the sunset hues of the Queen Victoria Suite nod to India and her friendship with loyal attendant Abdul Karim. Famous Victorians also inspired the 111 guestroom
interiors at the recently opened Hyde London City, which occupies the Grade II-listed Spiers & Pond building in Farringdon, originally built as a hotel in 1874. With Hyde-branded properties in Ibiza, Bodrum, Dubai and Johannesburg, owners Ennismore enlisted Studio Moren to transform
ABOVE: At The Emory, Champalimaud Design’s suites are a sanctuary from the bustling city, with fabrics from Holland & Sherry and a ‘Stingray’ rug, part of Alexandra Champalimaud’s collaboration with The Rug Company
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