A prime location, luxury offerings and a steady eye on innovation and evolution have primed The BoTree Hotel for success in London. Its clientele already includes a steady stream of people from the Middle East less than a year of opening, says Eva Mount, General Manager of The BoTree, in an interview with TTN Middle East.
The first of Place III Hotels’ luxury ventures, The BoTree is located at the point where Marylebone, Mayfair and Soho meet. It opened its doors to the public in September 2023 and has been making headlines since for its take on ‘Conscious Luxury’. This has meant introducing several tech innovations to improve the efficiency of power use such as PIR, or motion sensors that conserve energy by turning off lights and heating systems when they are not in use; rainfall shower heads in guest rooms with an aeration valve for water saving, and a BMS and air handling system that optimises the building’s use of heating and cooling. It’s just as well. One of the interesting offerings at the hotel is floor heating, which can be a drain on its energy reservoirs. For its efforts, the hotel has already achieved an Excellent rating from the environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings, BREEAM. The hotel has 199 rooms including suites. When it opened however, the hotel kept occupancy low and grew it gradually. “We’ve tried to keep the occupancy low until we settle in. We spent as much time as we could in doing training before we opened and then we tried to grow it every month. And I’m really happy to say December was simply the best month ever,” says Mount. The hotel has been designed by Amsterdam-based designers Concrete and executed by award-winning EPR Architects. Who built some of the suites to be interconnected. These, says Mount, are very, very in demand, especially from Middle East visitors. “The connecting aspect to the suites has been a huge success. We are one of the few hotels where you can book connected rooms online - you can book a deluxe room that’s connected to a twin. And they’re taken literally every weekend. Doubles and twins are full of people from the Middle East.” There are 30 suites in all at this hotel, all with a lounge, balcony, personal bar, and integrated cocktail station. The largest of the suites, The BoTree Suite, offers commanding views across central London. It has its own guest entrance and an outdoor terrace and can be combined with the adjoining suites to create a large wing. “In 2024, we’re going to have a three-bedroom suite which is going to have a wall that we can open so that you’re going to get the views across London,” says Mount. The property has been rebuilt right up to the eighth and ninth floor, which are the focus of this year. And all the rooms are different sizes. “The design of the hotel with all this latticework at the top meant we could carve out larger rooms and give them balconies and that’s why they’re all suites. And then the pricing changes depending on the size of the suites and all the suites are individual, so the Mayfair suites are different to the Soho suites are different to the Votary suites, which different to the Henriettas.” Apart from a variety of accommodation options, a spa and a swimming pool are also in the offing. “We’re going to have all these new areas. We’ll have a swimming pool on the roof,” she adds, saying it’s an infinity pool. “If you need a private space, we’re also designing another bar, Hoefler. It’s going to be under the Rotary bar. It’s got 60 covers, a DJ deck. And then it’ll walk through from there into a private dining room,” she adds. The hotel’s bookings come through agents and online, but from Middle Eastern guests more and more through online travel agencies. “But quite often when they arrive, they might book for one night or two nights. And then they like the hotel and wish to extend.” Many people also staying in other hotels, she says, stroll off the streets to get a better look at the venue and decide to check in. Tao Group Hospitality is overseeing all of the dining and bars in the hotel, including LAVO, The BoTree’s signature restaurant, which serves Italian cuisine with coastal flair. Standout dishes include fresh homemade pasta such as Tagliatelle al Limone infused with marjoram, sweet butter and Kaluga caviar, whole grain, single-source flour pizzas, Wagyu meatball topped with whipped ricotta, a delicate salt-baked Mediterranean seabass and an indulgent 20-layer chocolate cake. And at the BoTree Bar, one can indulge in drinks and sit at the teal-marble bar, which curves across the space. The bar menu, curated by Chef Stefano, features dishes such as the oyster on the half shell with limoncello mignonette; caviar sandwich with egg salad, caviar, and homemade chips; and the Truffle grilled cheese with hot honey. When ordering room service, there’s a difference in the way The BoTree does it too; there’s a core menu, but a seasonal one on hand too. One standout service offered at this hotel is the atypical butler service – wherein, there are discreet hosts deployed across the property to cater to guests. “It is,” says Mount, “a step into the modern world. They are hosts, there to assist with whatever you need, without the stuffiness and formality associated with the traditional butler service.”