(Bloomberg) – “It’s insane,” says a woman while a butler takes her through a tour of the spa of the Rosewood Chancery. We are in the basement levels of what used to be the US embassy in London, where there is now modern hydrotherapy pools and a cold plan tank, along with a sauna and steam room. I’m stretching like a cat on a heated marble chair that is much more comfortable than any cornerstone sheet has the right to be. “It’s a kind of insane,” I think, if a staff member uses an immediate reading thermometer to see if the pool water has not cooled down. The Rosewood Chancery is a hotel that has been running for about eight years – a project that started forming before US diplomats moved their British headquarters from Mayfair’s Grosvenor Square to nine Elms, near Battersea, in late 2017. A giant gilled eagle, once enshonic over the edge of the building, is now crowning the roof bar, a place that has already established itself as the luxury hangout of London. The hotel has accepted guests since early September, but its big opening is October 14. The renovation, by David Chipperfield Architects, was extensive, but true to the original designs of Saarinen. Office walls on the ground floor were taken down, which opened the space in a large foyer and expanded his signature Diagrid ceiling. The windows and the Portland stone facade received a careful recovery, but everything on the top floors was removed and in 144 rooms (all suites) suitable for another type of visiting VIP. There is a lot of it. On my first day in the hotel, the elevator doors opened to unveil a butler with a stack of green leather strains with a golden palm tree and swords: the emblem of the Saudi -royal family. I asked a staff member if I saw what I thought I saw. “It’s not the only royal family in the house,” they replied. Anyone who visits London soon – Royals or otherwise – wants to stay with the pulpit. At a time when luxury hotels became complacent, predictable and priced above reason, Rosewood managed to prevent them from falling into those traps. The latest outpost performs not only in its greatest statements, but also in the smallest details. Let it be said that a room at the pulpit is not cheap. The lowest prices I could find in January, a month when prices for London hotels were typically low, climbed around $ 1.400. Yet the refinement of the overall experience makes that amount feel justified. In my suite, the complimentary facilities have a copper bar with crystal glassware and a large decanter filled with enough apple and chai-infused Negroni to provide a party. There was a adjusted leather-wrapped Nespresso machine that could make flat whites and cappuccinos on demand. There were two mini-Fridges with the British equivalent of honorary juices and bottles locally acquired milk, plus three separate plates of the pastries. In the bathroom, I marveled at a few recycled leather-shelters filled with things you could bring home, including a full-size tube cardamom scented lotion by a Somerset beauty mark called Never Go Alone who usually does not sell to the general public. (The leather bags are also looking for grabs.) Even the cabinets contain delicious surprises, such as fluff rollers covered with custom leather casing. At night, for the turnoff, a black lacquer and golden leaf bowl with a porcelain teapot, a silver caraph of hot water and all the necessary accessories for an evening brew. The Chancery competes directly with Claridge’s and The Connaught – Mayfaughs and two of the world’s best hotels – but also with a large number of expensive London newcomers such as the Emory, the Peninsula and the Raffles London at the OWO. (The latter shares a historical connection, after he once served as Winston Churchill’s Old War offices.) Access prices at some of these properties have printed $ 2,000 a night, although London has seen so many luxury openings that over-supplement began to reduce prices. It’s not just that the hotels are expensive; It is also that the price tags often do not match the value they offer. And it’s not just in London – it’s everywhere. I stayed in two hotels before and after the pulpit, in Marrakesh and Rome, both with the same price rooms, about $ 1,500. One had a shaky electrical system so that my phone could only load from one outlet far from the bed; The other was so small that there was not a single place to hang a long dress, and the only window to a wall. These examples speak of the many problems that are luxury hotels old and new: it is difficult to build, thanks to a scarcity of prime real estate, and exceptionally expensive to maintain, given their surprisingly small margins. (It is common for five-accommodation properties to earn less than 10% in profit, consultants have said me over the years. Budget chains often make three times as much because of their low overhead.) Labor is another problem: Talented staff has been difficult to find and retain since the pandemic. Still, the overwhelming demand for luxury travel means that these hotels can still ask for a striking rates and fill their rooms, even if guests feel somewhat formidable. The pulpit avoids some of these problems by being new, but also through smart service and design. Even the smallest rooms are lush and full of generous amenities, while the experience in some competing hotels is very different, depending on the room. If you take into account that the facade of the building is so serious – it feels like you are walking in a gestilitated building – the inside of the pulpit feels like a cocoon. The atrium of the foyer glows with spiral gold chandeliers. Shades of Bordeaux and walnutwood soften the space. Surfaces are loaded with crowded flowers: stems of delicate pink bells and the tower of British beuk on my visit. In corners that flank the most important foyer area, are three restaurants: Jacqueline, a tea and pastries to the Kennedy Doyenne; Tobi Masa, a Omakase -Sishi joint that opens in January in full; and Serra, a all-day dining concept where breakfast is served. Several restaurants fill the ground floor of the building, including a grab-and-place place called GSQ and an outpost of the cultic beloved Italian place in New York. A restaurant by local legend Ruth Rogers is also on its way. These are many options for 144 rooms. There is a nod to the history of the building in the art. My favorite pieces are two Peter Blake collages of Vintage Americana displayed together on the third floor, close to guide plates pointing to the “West Wing”. But there is little trace of the decision -making with a high interest that happened earlier here. Security personnel thoroughly disconnected the building when it stopped serving as the US Embassy. All that remains, a hotel spokesman told me, were traces of a perpendicular and air filtration system used to seal a panic on the third floor. The rooms that exist here are now starting on a generous 570 square feet, giving them enough room for beds that are not “king” but rather “emperor”. My suite is more than double the footprint, with a dining room table for six and a dozen window panels that make up two walls in the living room. The eclipse curtains were then pushed with the cling of a button. The obsessiveness about the design goes beyond what you would expect: Rosewood was not only responsible for the interior, but also to plant a circumference of trees around Grosvenor Square, for which he exclusively chose -allergens varieties to ensure the comfort of his guests. It provides a beautiful, leafy view from all the windows. This does not mean that the hotel is flawless. Breakfast is expensive and mediocre for $ 20, the two poached eggs I got on avocado toast still looked like a runny whites and what looked like a shop bought. I struggled for what the British call ‘filter coffee’ and what guests from the US or the Middle East just call ‘coffee’. There was only espresso. (GSQ, who baked street prices and big, was a welcome alternative.) Based on what I heard, other guests had different legs to choose, including that the gym, while breathtaking, needed well -being Mavens to fight over a single weight bank. Good luck even there. The fitness center is connected to the basement spa, and to find it involves a hunt for detecting a poorly marked lift on the south side of the building. Separately, I couldn’t quite understand why the sound of sound came from behind the walls, every time I drove the sink. No matter. People are begging for a chance to get into the pulpit. The rooms are fully sold out over solid pieces of October and November; There are a rumored 5,000 people waiting list to get to carbone, which requires reservations up to four weeks in advance; And the roof Eagle Bar has Londoners who plead the broadcaster to just let in for a look. (Pro -Tip: The drinks at Tobi Masa are better than those above.) The buzz is justified. At a time when luxury hotels in London are provided too much and are under delivered in many major cities, the pulpit shot the highest ranks of the world’s big stay. For all the hype around the legacy of the building as the former home of the US Embassy, it stands out for what it once was than the luxury industry today should strive: thoughtfully, obsessively detailed and an experience for himself. More stories like these are available on Bloomberg.com © 2025 Bloomberg LP
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