The newest London offering from the Maybourne hotel group is the capital’s first all-suite hotel – and a compellingly sybaritic new option.
Where is it? The Emory might be located in the heart of Knightsbridge, but from the moment you turn into Old Barrack Yard, you’ll feel a million miles from the capital’s hotel zone. The glass-box entrance, hidden down a private, cobbled side street, feels far removed from the busy main road behind you – even though you’re only a few steps from both Knightsbridge and Hyde Park Corner Tube stations. Not that anyone is arriving on the Piccadilly line here: transfers in a chauffeur-driven electric BMW i7 are all part of the package (the only time you’ll see a yellow line is on the credit card bill).
What’s the style? Think quiet-ish luxury – even if the armchairs in the reception are by Loro Piana and cost 25,000 USD each, and the art is by Damien Hirst. An episode of Succession wouldn’t look out of place here. The hotel is one of the last projects of the late starchitect Richard Rogers, the steel sails on its roof rising above the trees of Hyde Park. Inside, a handful of world-renowned interior designers got two floors each: Pierre-Yves Rochon, Patricia Urquiola, Champalimaud Design, Rigby & Rigby, and André Fu – the man responsible for our Hyde Park Corner Suite, where the soft colour palette, warm oak and marble touches work in harmony. In the communal spaces, attention to detail is everything (even the fire extinguishers are rose gold – emergencies, but make it fashion), and the four-storey wellness centre, Surrenne, is a masterclass in designing a spa with imagination and flair – we’re still coveting the Humans Since 1982 wall clock by the pool.
We should also mention the hotel’s sustainability credentials: the Maybourne group has switched all four of its London properties (Claridge’s, The Berkeley, The Connaught and this one) to 100 per cent renewable electricity and it has a 90 per cent recycling rate. So it is green, and glossy.
Which room? All 61 rooms are suites, and each comes with an assistant to fulfil your every whim – think very well-dressed genie, minus the lamp. Ours added a special L-shaped pillow to the bed after I mentioned I had a bad back. (The Emory had thought more about my quality of sleep than I had.) The bottomless minibar is stocked with artisan beverages and salty nibbles, and there are Apple chargers, should you have accidentally left yours on the private jet on the way in. The buzzword here is ‘residential’ and the suites do feel that way – if your home is a deeply luxurious and comfortable piece of prime real estate, dedicated to ensuring you sleep like a nepo baby every night. There are Japanese Toto toilets with seat warmers that greet you like an overenthusiastic butler, all the Dyson hair appliances you could want, a leather yoga mat, sheepskin slippers and Ascend toiletries with soothing scents. Yum.
Food and Drink? Eating takes place at ABC Kitchens – an amalgamation of award-winning Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s three New York restaurants. That means a menu spanning Latin American, plant-based and Mediterranean dishes, with an atmosphere that’s about as far from white-tablecloth stuffiness as you can imagine. The service (as it is throughout the hotel) is warm, professional and charming – the food is just as superb. We only semi-jokingly ask if the chef can bottle the green chickpea hummus for us to take home, while beetroot carpaccio and vegan mushroom bolognese will live long in the memory.
The place for drinking here is in the rooftop bar, which has amazing views of the South Bank. The vibe, and that of the adjoining cigar lounge, is a 1970s vision of the future and I mean that as a compliment. Superyacht designer Remi Tessier has combined orange-toned leather and glass orbs, with circular lighting and marble. It’s bloody good fun, basically, as are the cocktails – during our stay, they’re via an Argentinian pop-up, one featuring ‘local rainwater’, which we can only hope was collected in Buenos Aires rather than Marble Arch.
If you have space after the previous night’s indulgence, don’t miss breakfast: granola, chia and yoghurt bowls that continue that wellness feel, and soft scrambled eggs with aged Cheddar and broccoli are highlights. The Emory is connected to its next-door sister hotel, The Berkeley, which means Cédric Grolet’s patisserie is also (dangerously) on hand.
Facilities? Relaxing at The Emory is all about Surrenne – the property’s four-storey wellness and fitness centre that can provide a full medical check, advanced nutrition programmes by Rose Ferguson, treatments by New York cosmetic surgeon Dr Lara Devgan and advisers including epigeneticist Dr David Sinclair. It’s easy to while away the day here: a 22-metre pool, sauna, steam room, premium gym, yoga room, Tracy Anderson workout studio with a sprung floor and – my favourite – a snow shower that I spent enough time under to make Wim Hof proud. You’ll emerge either a new person or at least someone whose pores have seen things.
Extracurricular? If you really feel the need to venture away from Surrenne, then Hyde Park is surely first on the agenda – it’s just over the road. During our stay, Winter Wonderland was being set up and there’s no better park for people (and equine) watching. If shopping is your bag, the likes of Harrods, Harvey Nichols and umpteen Knightsbridge boutiques are on the doorstep – it’s basically window-shopping cardio. Down the road in South Kensington, you’re in museum-land. Or take a 15-minute stroll to Buckingham Palace – although, admittedly, if you’re staying at The Emory, you won’t feel far from royalty yourself.
Best for? Suites, spa, spectacular views, Shiv Roy fantasies – a high-end London stay that might be luxurious, but genuinely feels it, too. Inner Court Junior Suites start from around 2,100 USD per night, and Park View Suites from 2,600 USD. But pack your best pyjamas; the bed is the main event.
