The London hotel boom continues with a handful of new and newly-rebranded hotels. The Nadler Soho(pictured) is scheduled to launch mid-May, entering a crowded field of other affordable hotels like Aloft, Citizen M, La Suite West, Z Hotels, and the upcoming Hudson. It will be the second London property and the new flagship from Nadler Hotels (formerly known as base2stay). The 78 rooms, with their in-room kitchenettes, will have courtyard-facing terraces or views of Soho Square. There won’t be a restaurant but the hotel promises that each of its staffers—including the “local ambassadors” at the front desk—will be able to provide insider tips on the local scene.
Also set to launch this May, in South Kensington is the Xenia Hotel, with 99 contemporary rooms in a restored Victorian building. Apparently the restaurant will bring a health-conscious Italian cuisine concept to the U.K. for the very first time, while the bar will feature a terrace with an herb garden and (of course) a cigar menu.
How do you dive into the heart of a city? Better rephrase the question—where is everyone eating right now? A hot restaurant is more than a place to have a meal; it’s the microcosm of a scene, the movers sitting elbow to elbow with the shakers. Case in point: Coya(pictured; $$$), in London, where aristos and art dealers alike dine on sea-bream ceviche, rib eye with chimichurri, and other bites from Peru, culinary touchstone of the moment. It’s the newest opening from restaurateur Arjun Waney, whose Zuma and Arts Club were themselves era-defining canteens for the in-crowd.
The long-awaited Covent Garden outpost of Balthazar(44-20/3301-1155; $$) is a near-replica of the New York original, down to the distressed mirrors, steak frites, and media bigwigs in the booths.
Seems chicken is the muse of the moment for London restaurants. To wit:
In Kentish Town, Soho House recently opened Chicken Shop. The design was modeled after a 1950s American general store (think checked floors and a bar with stool seating).
After a food truck test drive, Canteen co-founder Cass Titcombe opened Roost as a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Soho, offering free-range British chicken—fried, grilled, or roasted.
At Tramshed, Mark Hix’s buzzy new chicken-and-steak restaurant in Shoreditch, a specially commissioned Damien Hirst featuring a cow and a cockerel in formaldehyde takes center stage (how appetizing); in the basement, Cock ‘n’ Bull gallery showcases works by local artists.
Wishbone, a fried chicken joint and cocktail bar from William Leigh and Scott Collins (also behind Meat Liquor), is now open at Brixton Market.
The U.S. Embassy in London is moving to Vauxhall—which is interesting, considering the south-of-the-Thames location. Currently, the area is known for its gay bar scene as well as its scattered but strong food offerings, such as the excellent Brunswick House Café.
The Ballymore Group is heading up a surrounding residential/retail development, complete with a 100-room waterside hotel, called Embassy Gardens. It’s part of the mayor’s Nine Elms South Bank regeneration project, aka London’s “Third City” (after the Square Mile to the east and Westminster to the west). Sir Terry Farrell is the architect, and will incorporate elements of New York’s meatpacking district as well as London’s Victorian and Edwardian mansion blocks. This is all pretty far off (dates pending), but in the meantime, this area is on the up.
Christine Ajudua is Travel + Leisure's London correspondent.
“We were finishing up a morning shoot in the Philippines on White Beach in Boracay, this big, long stretch of supersoft, sugary sand on the island’s western coast. It’s lined with resorts.
Before heading to our next location, we took a swim in the sea just outside our hotel. While drying off, I spotted this couple sleeping with their big, floppy, matching sun hats. They weren’t wearing bathing suits, so I assumed they were just arriving, maybe waiting to check in. For me this moment encompasses that whole feeling you get at the start of a vacation: when you know that everything’s going to be taken care of and your needs will be met. The sky is going to be ablue and the sun will be out, and the palm trees will shade you. The water is going to be warm; the drinks, cool; and the daybeds are there. It’s time to relax.” —Emily Nathan, photographer
The food truck movement has officially made its way across the pond. In fact, some of London's best new restaurants—Pitt Cue Co., for example—started on wheels, while a number of brick-and-mortar spots—like Wahaca—are going mobile. Meanwhile, this summer saw the launch of Street Feast, a super-popular Friday night market in Dalston with a range of global vendors (Mama’s Jerk Station; Pop Up Barbados; Kimchi Cult; Bhangra Burger). It began as a 12-week pop-up, but it’s still around; in late September, it moved into an indoor spot farther east in Hackney, with live entertainment to boot.
Christine Ajudua is Travel + Leisure's London correspondent.
Belgraves, A Thompson Hotel, has launched Project Bell Boy, collaborating with renowned English hairstylist Errol Douglas MBE to design custom coifs for Belgraves’s trendy front of house team that “pay homage to the hotel’s location in the chic Belgravia neighbourhood.”
Meanwhile, there’s a new Belgraves Big Night Out package (until December 23, from £1,200) for guests, which includes an overnight stay in one of the hotel’s top suites and a visit to Douglas’s Motcomb Street salon for a blow-dry or a cut; afterwards, you’ll be chauffeured to your West End nightlife venue of choice. The project is set to continue into 2013 and to launch at Thompson properties around the globe, each of which will offer destination-specific hairstyling tips.
As the only hotel in the UK to offer polo, Dorchester Collection’s Coworth Park, in Ascot, recently launched a Polo Academy. Under the tutelage of Andrew Hine, who both captained and managed the English national team, guests could learn to play the world’s oldest team sport.
In anticipation of the new 007 movie, Skyfall (out in the U.K. October 26; in the U.S. November 9), Dukes bar at the Dukes hotel is offering martini-making classes with its head barman, Alessandro Palazzi. After all, it’s said that this is where author Ian Fleming was inspired to write the line “shaken, not stirred.”
Christine Ajudua is Travel + Leisure's London correspondent.
Café Royal, the 150-year-old Regent Street institution once frequented by the likes of Oscar Wilde and Virginia Woolf, is on track to reopen in December—as a hotel. It’ll be the second member of The Set—a new collection from Alfred and Georgi Akirov, the guys behind Jerusalem’s Mamilla hotel—after Amsterdam’s new Conservatorium. The 159 rooms will have historic touches such as timber and bronze ceilings and fumed oak paneled walls. The property will also feature a revamped Grill Room and Domino Room, an Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre with a lap pool and a hammam, and a private members club. hotelcaferoyal.com
Christine Ajudua is Travel + Leisure's London correspondent.
In London this weekend? Don't miss the 10th annual Frieze Art Fair (Oct. 11 - 14), in Regent’s Park. With 170 participating contemporary art galleries from 34 countries (not to mention the splashy May launch of a sister fair in New York), this is its most international year yet. One major highlight: the inaugural Frieze Masters, a sort of fair-within-a-fair exhibiting works that date back to ancient times—an unprecedented move for Frieze, which has to date focused solely on living artists. Set on Gloucester Green in a temporary structure designed by New York–based architect Annabelle Selldorf with transparent walls and silver birch trees, it's all about old meeting new.
—Christine Ajudua is Travel + Leisure's London correspondent.
Credit: Gaetano Gandolfi (Bologna 1734 -1802 Bologna); Venus ordering armour for Aeneas at Vulcan's forge
The latest go-to product for jet-setters: beauty balm. An Asian skin-care secret for years, the combination anti-aging concealer, moisturizer, and sunscreen adapts to almost any skin type. And it’s finally stateside, thanks to South Korea’s Dr. Jart, whose Premium variety ($39) is said to promote collagen production. Dior got into the game with Hydra Life BB Crème ($56), which blends a mattifying powder with hydrating plant extracts. Clinique’s oil-absorbing Age Defense formula ($37) uses light-reflecting pigments for a healthy glow. Lab Series even created one for men ($38.50). They don’t call it the Swiss Army knife of skin care for nothing.
