The Emory London review: is this £1k per night hotel more fun than Claridge’s?
INTRODUCING THE EMORY
As the hotel beloved by Princess Victoria and the late Queen and Madonna and just about everyone worthy of admiration, Claridge’s is considered by those lucky enough to go as the pinnacle of London luxury. Even if you visit once a year for their afternoon tea or to stare at the Christmas tree, or, as I do, to wander through the lobby to gawp at the original Art Deco typography on the restaurant doors, you’re the type of person that will know about The Emory.
The first new property from the Maybourne Group, which owns Claridge’s, in 50 years, The Emory is everything The Big C isn’t: fresh, funky, disruptive. With rooms starting from £1,100 per night, it’s also a third more expensive. So if you’re bent on Maybourne’s Brook Street address, is it worth switching things up to try their new kid on the (nearby) block?
Read more: Claridge’s hotel review: Is this the best sleep in London?
WHAT’S THE VIBE?
In many ways, The Emory feels like something new for the travel industry. “It’s in, through and up,” my dinner guest explains as we dine in the hotel’s exquisite restaurant, abc kitchens (yes, without caps, very cool) where every dish is a memorable flavour and colour wash, especially the signature English pea guacamole and dover sole tacos. Waving her arms around to explain what she was talking about, the idea is that Emory guests get the opulent treatment without the pomp and pageantry: the entrance is hidden down a side alley, there’s no check-in, just someone to show you to your lodgings, where you head straight.
Rather than fabbing about in the lobby and people watching as you’d do at Claridge’s, at The Emory you’ll spend 90 per cent of your time behind the closed doors of your room. Actually no, suite: every room is a suite, a novelty that’s being touted by The Emory as a first for a London hotel.
The Maybourne group, thanks to Qatari backers, has spent £24 million encouraging guests to bring the party into their private quarters. Unique art adorns every room, as do floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the knotty treetops of Hyde Park, which from the perspective of the height of the suites looks like some impossibly verdant jungle.
Alexandra Champalimaud, Pierre-Yves Rochon, Patricia Urquiola and André Fu have made each dorm gleam with playful ingenuity; ours had a gold pair of oversized glasses begging to be picked up and used as a prop for photos after we’d popped the champagne from the mini bar, included in the price of the room.
THE SUITES
Everything is bespoke. Of the designers, insiders believe the clashing textures of Urquiola’s maximalist carpets and walls are the most Marmite; my suite had Andre Fu’s genteel mid-century aesthetic, all sweeping wood panelling given glow-ups by high camp pops of glistening gold on tabletops. The bathroom’s symmetry is so pleasing it encourages relaxation in and of itself, and then there’s the lighting, which looks like letting out a long sigh feels. Somehow the sum total gives the impression that the space goes on forever, even if my apartment was 530 feet squared.
Guests follow their favourite designers from Claridge’s or neighbouring Maybourne hotel The Berkeley to The Emory; Fu has designed rooms for all three properties. This in-crowd likes to experience these hotels like a night spent at an exhibition: there’s already a trend emerging for guests to spend two nights at The Berkeley and two nights at The Emory (this new build was originally an extension of The Berkeley; the hotels are interconnected) to get a feel for both. The attention to detail is what you’ll notice first: my room had four types of coat hanger.
There’s also a gorgeous spa, where I found the design details most provocative: in the lockers there’s a shelf that’s just too small to place your phone on, even though it looks designed for that purpose. Everywhere you go the design makes you think.
The metal reinforcements poking jauntily from the rooftop will in time become as iconic as the turning circle at the Savoy or the flags outside Claridge’s
THE REST: Gwyneth Paltrow’s personal trainer, Tracy Anderson, runs the gym in the basement. She hadn’t been yet when I went in but her staff ran me ragged in the bouncy-floored gym. Then there’s the rooftop bar, for guests only, which offers a fresh perspective over west London, highlighting the best of the late Richard Rogers’ architecture, the metal reinforcements poking jauntily from the rooftop will in time become as iconic as the turning circle at the Savoy or the flags outside Claridge’s.
THE VERDICT: The Emory is part of a new cohort of luxury hotel rooms in the capital alongside The new OWO on Whitehall and The Peninsula on Hyde Park Corner costing north of a grand for one night. Management justify the cost with the inclusion of two car transfers and breakfast in the morning, and added extras like free champers in the room. Claridge’s still wins if you want to dress up to be seen, but The Emory’s attention to detail is unmatched. Lock yourself away and have the most fabulous behind-closed-doors party.
What these prices mean for hotel room rates in the capital in the years to come is mildly concerning, but if you can afford it, go: a stay will make you feel as important as the people who get photographed falling out of Claridge’s in the early hours. And who doesn’t want to feel like that sometimes?
Suites at The Emory start from £1,100 per night; book online