When the hoardings went up on Berkeley Street in 2020, closing off a key corner site of Mayfair, a dark cloud seemed to descend over the area. The Boots chemist — one of the last useful shops in Mayfair — had vanished. The Holiday Inn — the last budget hotel in Mayfair — had shut its doors. And the handy little rat run, an alley between Berkeley and Dover Street, was boarded up.
It was only when locals heard that Barry Sternlicht, the CEO of Starwood Capital Group, was involved in transforming the old block that their spirits rose slightly. The billionaire is known not only for having his finger on the money (in every sense) but also building sustainable hotels such as Treehouse and 1 Hotels.
Sternlicht has certainly made sure that Europe’s first 1 Hotel is unlike any other in the capital. It shouts “green” the minute you step through the door. Enter the reception, walk past a hydroponic wall of plants and under a giant epiphyte “chandelier” (whose forest plants unsurprisingly, staff admitted, aren’t that happy hanging in the centre of London) and you’re greeted by a reception desk carved from an old fallen tree trunk from Balcombe Estate. Order a drink in the Dover Yard bar — buzzing with happy Mayfairites — and the cheery young bartender will tell you about the local fruit, veg and spirits it’s made from. Have lunch in the hugely popular Dovetale restaurant and the menu will inform you about the local provenance of every ingredient, from English burrata and wagyu beef to that day’s Dover sole. The little spa is run by Bamford. Even the things you can’t see (the electricity supply, the reimagined old building, the LED lighting) have been considered by its adviser, Livia Firth from Eco-Age.
Because the skeleton of the old building was recycled, many of the 181 rooms (excluding the 44 suites) are the same size they were when it was a Holiday Inn: cosy. It’s only when you get to the top two floors, which were added to the old hotel, and step into its penthouse, that the “luxury” label starts to make sense.
This is a penthouse that’s clearly designed for cool modern travellers such as Sternlicht. It may be right across the road from the Ritz and in the heart of Mayfair, but this apartment-sized, 274 sq m hotel room oozes easy-living Californian style, from the double-height glass walls to the pale wooden floors. A chandelier made up of handcut leather thongs and tiny glass globes shimmers in the sunlight. Stroll out onto the wraparound balcony and you can see the ancient limes of Green Park and miles beyond. There’s a spacious wood-lined dressing room hung with cotton gowns that encourage you on their labels to “Wrap up/wind down — everything can wait” and a covetable Rains navy raincoat.
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There’s a capacious bathroom, floored and walled in marble from Italy, with a walk-in shower, sauna (the only one in the hotel) and a sunken tub for two. And, as you’d expect from a magnate who created the W Hotels brand and transformed the St Regis from a single hotel to a global chain, the detailing is spot-on, including the master switches by the bed, the reading light just above your head and the water dispenser by the front door so you can fill up your 1 Hotels bottle to head out for the day.
If there is any problem with the 1 Hotel Mayfair it’s that when you create an eco hotel guests have high expectations. Which means you don’t expect the (cheap-looking) creamy carpets in the hallway to be fraying soon after opening. Or to find the covetable-looking objects and chairs to have Zara Home, OKA and Made in China labels. You certainly don’t expect the staff to admit that the hydroponic walls and moss and lichen arrangements look good but don’t survive long in the air conditioning.
But in the grand scheme of things — and this seventh-floor hotel space in the sky is grand, albeit in the most pared-back, Conranesque way — these are quibbles. This is a penthouse that will undoubtedly become a hotspot for eco-fashionistas and businesses wanting to capitalise on their green credentials. And with its private bar (carved from one oak tree, natch, and stocked with biological wine), its triple-insulated glass walls and eco-gas fire, this place might make guests rethink their own choices. It certainly introduced me to eco and local makers I didn’t know: Kassatex, which weaves eco-friendly towels and linens; Archana Pathak, who embroiders English maps; and Amanda Westbury, who crafts ceramics. If you don’t care about these, there are the views — and what might be some of the best croissants in town made with, best of all, English butter.
Penthouse from £15,000 a night, 1hotelmayfair.com
