There are beautiful hotels – and then there are hotels with beautiful design, where exceptional attention to interiors and architecture elevates the entire experience for their guests. In this edition of our series of hotels for design lovers, we visit the The Londoner
When it comes to design hotels in London, we’re spoilt for choice – it’s a place where eclectic interiors and innovative design strategies abound. One of the city’s most talked-about openings of recent months, however, is The Londoner, which – following six years of construction and a £500 million investment – opened its doors in the capital’s bustling West End towards the end of 2021.
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Envisioned as an ode to the art of performance, design firm Yabu Pushelberg was enlisted to devise its interiors, which perfectly echo Leicester Square’s extroverted and alluring voice. “We approached this project with its surrounding context in mind,” co-founder Glenn Pushelberg tells Effect. “Located in the heart of the theatre district, the hotel needed resonance and a sense of place mindful of its surroundings, while still offering a reprieve from the energy that is Leicester Square.”
Dubbed the world’s first super boutique hotel, The Londoner is spread across 16 floors and home to 350 guest rooms, 35 suites, six bars and restaurants, a member’s club-style private area plus dedicated wellness space. While the hotel may name-check the British capital, Yabu Pushelberg has injected a distinctively New York spin thanks to a strong colour palette and bold artworks – some 400 are on display, including pieces by Antony Gormley and Idris Khan.
Its scale captivates, and the way it provides connectivity and continuity from one space to the next loans a cohesion and familiarity that resonates.
Design firm Yabu Pushelberg co-founder Glenn Pushelberg
Rooms are equally slick, with its crème de la crème, the duplex Tower Penthouse, home to 2,153 square feet of globally sourced art, sculptures and furnishings, an extravagant wooden staircase, skylight, Calacatta Tucci marble bar plus bathroom with wall-to-wall windows and an Apaiser tub.
When quizzed on the stand-out design elements, Pushelberg cites a Cipher chandelier suspended through four stories of the hotel’s public spaces. “Its scale captivates, and the way it provides connectivity and continuity from one space to the next loans a cohesion and familiarity that resonates,” he says.
As for George Yabu, the firm’s other co-founder, it’s the ropework in 8 at The Londoner – the Londoner’s rooftop restaurant – that draws him in the most. “We drew inspiration from the Japanese art of Shibari to create a network of ropework spanning the ceiling of the restaurant, which is carried out onto the terrace. It was designed with a performer in mind, restrained and on the verge of unwinding.”
A combination of playful aesthetics and a sealed-off location offer little reason to leave.
The Londoner, 38 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7DX, UK