If These Walls Could Talk: London’s Most Storied—And Stylish—Hotel Bars
If you think hotel bars are dated, tired, and dull, it’s time to reconsider. Step into London’s hippest new boutique accommodations and grandes dames of hospitality and you’ll find watering holes esteemed among the best in the world—superstar bartenders; niche, small-production spirits; and award-winning drinks presented within a chic, discreet setting are de rigueur in the English capital. And, needless to say, these stylish haunts are perfectly situated in the most fashionable neighborhoods to attract a certain class of clientele. Even if you aren’t staying at one of these gorgeous boutique hotels during London Fashion Week, you can linger at their ultrachic bars until late. And don’t look now—isn’t that Tom Ford and Alexa Chung just behind you?
Photo: Courtesy of Hotel Café Royal1/6Hotel Café Royal
Hotel Café Royal has been open only a few years, but it’s already a firm favorite among fashion notables. Elle Macpherson, Daisy Lowe, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and Cara Delevingne have all been spotted there; Miu Miu staged a showcase on the property before it opened in November 2012; and the golden-hued, $16,000-a-night Empire Suite is still Macpherson’s preferred London base for press conferences when she’s in town. But this Regent Street address has been a fixture on London’s fashionable social scene for centuries: It’s built around Regent Street’s iconic 1865 Belle Époque Café Royal Grill Room, recently restored to its gilded Louis XVI detailing using 45,000 sheets of gold, and reopened Oscar Wilde Bar in honor of its former patron. By day, you can compare show notes over the hotel’s refined London Royal Tea (gentlemen, be sure to wear a jacket); in the evening, the cocoon-like, mirror-walled space becomes a champagne-and-intimate-performance space—don’t miss the Black Cat Cabaret if you’re in town on a Friday or Saturday. There’s also the Green Bar, Botanicals Tonics, set on the site of the original 1865 Café Royal wineshop and where David Bowie retired his alter ego Ziggy Stardust. Formerly an absinthe bar, it’s now dedicated to gin, and alongside designer cocktails inspired by Givenchy Parfums’s latest collection and the 1937 Café Royal Cocktail Book, you can embark on a journey through various preparations of London’s favorite spirit—we love Battersea-made Dodd’s Gin with Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic, fresh chilies, and lemon peel.
Photo: Courtesy of The May Fair2/6The May Fair Hotel
It’s not surprising that the guest book at London Fashion Week’s official partner hotel includes some of fashion’s most revered signatures. Former French Vogue editor in chief Carine Roitfeld and former style director of Elle Kate Lanphear have both stayed here, and the fuchsia pink Schiaparelli suite—inspired by the 1920s designer renowned for reveling in postwar color—is one of the most hotly coveted Fashion Week accommodations. But even if you can’t score a suite, you can still stop by to indulge in fashion-inspired drinks and desserts during Afternoon Tea, or lounge in The May Fair Bar. The crowd—and menu—changes from morning until late, but during Fashion Week you’ll find a gaggle of designers, bloggers, and editors propping up the curved illuminated neon blue bar or lounging on curved spearmint banquettes, sipping flutes of Dom Pérignon 2004 or savoring signature cocktails and views over bustling Berkeley Street, for much of the day. February’s Fashion Week cocktail menu is themed Streets of Style—we love zingy Mount Street, crafted with Belvedere vodka, limoncello, rose syrup, and lime, and Albemarle Street, an instant pick-me-up made with Olmeca Altos Plata tequila topped with coconut water, rhubarb cordial, agave syrup, lime, and guava juice.
Photo: Courtesy of Claridge’s3/6Claridge’s
With a pedigree dating back to 1853, Claridge’s myriad attractions include Diane von Furstenberg–designed suites, Christmas trees designed by Dior’s John Galliano and Alber Elbaz for Lanvin, and some of London’s most stylish guests—Carolina Herrera and Christian Louboutin are regulars, and when Marc Jacobs designed his Louis Vuitton collection, he took his cue from the women walking the corridors and public spaces. Claridge’s bars are equally alluring for London’s well-heeled high society. Tom Ford frequents 1930s Art Deco–themed The Fumoir, where low crystal lighting and a distinctive 1930s René Lalique crystal panel evoke the chic, decadent flapper party atmosphere of yesteryear. Order a swizzle, daisies, crusta, or julep, all made to original contemporary recipes, and it’ll come served in the corresponding Lalique coupe, saucer, slim jim, or high ball. Dita Von Teese has been drawn here by acclaimed fashion illustrator and Claridge’s artist in residence, David Downton, along with Kristin Scott Thomas, Dame Joan Collins, Carmen Dell’Orefice, and Yasmin Le Bon. This February, as he does every Fashion Week, Downton will be hosting a series of fashion soirees in The Fumoir from his favorite spot, table four.
Photo: Courtesy of The Dorchester4/6The Dorchester
Another of London’s most stately hospitality institutions, The Dorchester on Mayfair’s illustrious Park Lane has been the business-cum-pleasure venue for legions of celebs and notables for more than 80 years. General Dwight D. Eisenhower planned the Normandy Invasion from his accommodations, and Prince Philip hosted his bachelor’s party in the hotel’s Park Suite on the eve of his wedding to Queen Elizabeth II (oh, to be a fly on that wall). Overseen by bar manager Giuliano Morandin, credited with an uncanny ability to know what his guests want before they do, The Bar at The Dorchester is a cloistered sanctuary in which rare, forgotten spirits and their traditional drinking rituals hold dominion. The Martinez, precursor to the modern martini and made using a special recipe on commission by Old Tom Gin—London’s Dry Gin’s more affable cousin—exclusively for the hotel is one of the most popular drinks served. Bellinis are poured from bespoke teapots, Mulitos presented in South American mate pots, and all drinks are poured into bespoke glassware designed especially for the hotel by John Jenkins and Sons. Many drinks are created from recipes by legendary mixologist Harry Craddock, the first head bartender at The Dorchester and champion of the 1930s British craft cocktail movement. In 2011, as part of The Dorchester’s 80th anniversary celebrations, Morandin and his team reintroduced Craddock’s long-forgotten Dorchester of London cocktail, made with exclusively re-created Forbidden Fruit liqueur—a special ingredient previously unavailable in London for more than 60 years.
Photo: Courtesy of The London Edition5/6The London Edition
The London Edition established its fashion circle cred from the get-go. Its opening party in September 2013 did double duty as a celebration for that month’s edition of W magazine—cover model Cara Delevingne hosted London fashion darlings Alexa Chung, Kate Moss, Ellie Goulding, Harry Styles, Daisy Lowe, and Pixie Geldof. In 2014, models Lily Aldridge, Karlie Kloss, and Kasia Struss were among the crowd packing out wooden cube-like, invite-only club Basement for the Victoria’s Secret after-party. And the hotel’s location, a five minutes’ stroll from the Brewer Street Car Park campus—Fashion Week central—only bolsters its appeal as an after-show hangout. At RSVP-only Punch Room bar—a fumed-oak-paneled space redolent of a 19th-century private club and concealed behind a dark wood door—punch and cocktail mixologist extraordinaire Davide Segat will be serving individual drinks; large-sharing punch bowls; and his most recent afternoon tea concept, Scandal Water (Earl Grey has never been sexier). The team will hit the road this year to share the Punch love, visiting Miami, Singapore, and New York, but back home, the Punch Room will continue to serve in-the-know patrons, as well as host Raw Punch live music sessions, during which up-and-coming singer-songwriters perform their own work. You heard them here first.