Looking for OTT glamour in Paris? Hotel Lutetia is your girl.
Or if you’re not straying far from central London, give The Beaumont a go.
What is it?
A fun, funky newcomer in Covent Garden.
What's the deal?
Situated in a disused office building, groovy young Australian architectural practice Woods Bagot were given carte blanche to zhush up the interiors on the 141-room spot, plumping for a 21st-century luxe vibe, all dark surfaces, earthy tones and boujee pops of precious metal, not least those gorgeous freestanding gold tubs in the curvaceous bay windows overlooking Drury Lane.
Location wise you can’t really go wrong, a few minutes pleasant wander to the river, about the same to Leicester Square and Soho. Get your bearings up on the 7th-storey skybar over a posh cocktails overseen by Mikey Lucombe (who used to run the show just up the road at The Mandrake). The basement bar is a slick social setting where, in all honesty, you could hang all night with good-looking movers and shakers vibng to weekend DJ sets.
Soon, maybe by the time you read this, in-house restaurant Penelopes will be up and running, doling out a cosmopolitan fusion of Israeli and Spanish nosh from Amano’s culinary bigwig Ronen Dovrat Bloch. The Amano group, by the way, originally hails from Berlin, and it’s only fitting that this – their first international outpost – should be situated in an office block. Because it really works.
A slick, affordable downtown base that doesn’t scrimp when it comes to amenities or style.
££££
Drury House, 34-43 Russell St, London WC2B 5HA
amanogroup.de