Ian Schrager's London hotel, where the man who invented the boutique hotel concept (with Studio 54, Morgans, the Royalton) brought that philosophy to a former office building on Berners Street. The lobby bar is a social scene — fashion, media, and the particular London crowd that treats hotel lobbies as living rooms. Berners Tavern, the Jason Atherton restaurant occupying a vast, painting-covered dining room, is worth visiting even if you are not a guest. The rooms are Schrager's signature: pared-back luxury, muted tones, the feeling that someone with excellent taste has removed everything unnecessary. The location is in Fitzrovia — Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street, and the BT Tower visible from upper floors.
Location
Fitzrovia, London
Insider Intel
A room facing Berners Street for the Fitzrovia roofscape. Dinner at Berners Tavern — the room is more impressive than the food, but the food is good. A drink in the lobby bar for the scene.
Evening, when the lobby bar fills and the social dimension of the hotel emerges. The Berners Tavern dining room is dramatic at dinner — the paintings, the high ceiling, the lighting.
10 Berners Street, between Soho and Fitzrovia. Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus tubes. Rooms from £350. Berners Tavern (Jason Atherton) is the in-house restaurant and open to non-guests. The lobby bar is a scene, especially Thursday-Saturday. Marriott EDITION brand. Gym available.