THE five-star Hotel Café Royal in central London has just launched The Club, marking the culmination of an ambitious refurbishment initiated over five years ago to reincarnate a glamorous and iconic haunt of the rich and the famous in the heart of the UK’s capital.
True to the hotel’s legacy, The Club provides members an exclusive haven within beautifully appointed entertaining and dining spaces that blend English and French design. The opening ceremony, attended by prominent invitees including fashion model Amber Le Bon, fashion designer Patrick Grant and TV personality Noelle Reno, was held on October 2 and celebrates Café Royal’s return to London’s vibrant social scene.Exclusivity, luxury and privacy are perhaps the watchwords at this stately hotel, which continues its tradition of attracting the elite while respecting their desire for total privacy. Originally opened in 1865, Hotel Café Royal has held an iconic status, welcoming a variety of guests over the years, from royalty to rock stars, and serving as a rendezvous for creative minds. The property, which is owned by the Crown Estate, was leased in 2008 to The Set, a collection of landmark hotels, as part of plans to redevelop the southern end of Regent Street.Following refurbishment, Hotel Café Royal reopened in late 2012 as a new Set collection hotel. With Mayfair’s glamorous clubs, elegant boutiques and fine dining restaurants to the west and Soho’s lattice of alleys and streets to the east, Hotel Café Royal is perfectly located within walking distance of London’s finest shopping streets such as Bond Street, tourist attractions such as Trafalgar Square and Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and world-famous theatres and art galleries.The premises have been sensitively restored under the expert guidance of architects and designers including David Chipperfield, Piero Lissoni, and Jean-Michel Wilmotte, who have deftly reworked the DNA of the hotel and created spaces that are contemporary in conception while being evocative of the style and glamour of the past. The transformation has created rooms that virtually eliminate any noise from the bustling Regent Street. Because of the high standards of insulation installed, the premises is probably “the heaviest hotel per sq m,” quips Anthony Lee, the genial general manager of Café Royal.Lee, who joined the Hotel Café Royal six months ago having previously worked at the well-known London retreat The Connaught, is looking at promoting the hotel among celebrities who are looking for luxury, history and, above all, privacy.Following its transformation, the hotel now features 160 contemporary guestrooms, including 49 suites and six signature suites and a selection of restaurants and bars that are overseen by the passionate executive chef Andrew Turner. Crowning the hotel under a copper domed rotunda is the stunning Dome Suite, which can transform from a penthouse retreat to a dynamic party hall exuding vibrancy within its circular space and terraces that overlook the statue of Eros at Piccadilly Circus. Other signature suites which come with a butler service include the Empire suite – the hotel’s largest at 212 sq m – Marquis, Tudor, Celestine and Club. The suites and rooms come with complimentary wi-fi and access to the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre.Hotel Café Royal offers a selection of dining and entertainment venues, each with a story to tell. The latest to be added to this selection is The Domino, a newly opened fine-dining restaurant in one of the hotel’s key historic rooms.Perhaps the most stunning of these venues is one that once was frequented by the famous English playwright Oscar Wilde, and pays tribute to him by being named after him. Originally established in 1865 as the Grill Room, the Oscar Wilde Bar has been through a four-year restoration to revive its former resplendent Louis XVI décor and detailing. The place to go to sample British high tea, the space serves cocktails and a light menu of British dishes, complemented by live entertainment on select evenings, after 6 pm.Other less formal settings include the Ten Room, a British all-day dining venue with a French twist, and The Café, which proudly sports black-and-white prints of the hotel’s well-known patrons including Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw, Elizabeth Taylor, and Mick Jagger besides Oscar Wilde.While The Café has its own executive pastry chef – Andrew Bas – the gastronomic delights from the hotel’s kitchens are the creations of chef Turner and his team, who take particular pride in its “house-made” fare, right from their delicious butter created using Himalayan salt to the jams, chocolates, pastries. They are now developing ‘lamcon’ – a bacon that is made using lamb.When TTN visited the hotel’s kitchens last month, Turner’s team were enthusiastically preparing for the forthcoming Chocolate Week, planning to create chocolate masks of celebrities (specially treated so that they don’t melt!), and for the NFL games (October 18).Completing the holistic experience is the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre. Spanning over 1,200 sq m, the centre offers a range of signature treatments which marry innovative Western practices with ancient Eastern traditions.Akasha features an 18-m lap pool, a dedicated Watsu pool offering a selection of Watsu hydro experiences and water meditation, a private hammam, a steam room, a sauna, and a Vichy treatment room. It also includes a gym with spacious fitness and spinning studio, and bespoke yoga, Pilates and meditation classes offered in a calming studio and meditation space.In September, the wellbeing centre launched five treatments by luxury Swiss skincare specialist Valmont, to complement the existing treatment menu. Debuting for the first time, the Elixir des Glaciers treatment, exclusive to Hotel Café Royal, is an anti-ageing and firming treatment for the face and body, which is priced at £250 ($400) for 60 minutes, or £350 ($560) for 90 minutes; the signature Valmont Hydration Ritual, the Valmont Energy Facial and the Valmont Anti-Wrinkle and Firmness Ritual and the Valmont Peaks of Slimness. By Bina Goveas