New Britannia: London’s Boomlet of Modernist Hotels

London has long drawn visitors to its traditional Tudors, Edwardians, and Vics, architectural styles by turns traditionalist and stuffy and often reflected in its hotel décor. But as the city readied itself for two epic events—the Queen’s Jubilee and the 2012 Summer Olympics—its hotel sector started adopting more modernist and contemporary styles. And this has been a boon to more modern-minded travelers. Here’s a look at ten newly opened London hotels that are taking hospitality design to new heights and reinterpreting British style and comfort.

Text by

Adam H. Graham

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The generation of hotels began opening in 2011 and includes the work of Renzo Piano, David Chipperfield, and Sir Norman Foster, while big name designers, chefs and hoteliers, like Tara Bernerd, Anouska Hempel, David Collins, Nobu Matsuhisa and Ian Schrager have jumped on the London hospitality bandwagon too.

New Britannia: London’s Boomlet of Modernist Hotels - Photo 1 of 9 - — Brit firms EPR Architects and Tara Bernerd & Partners joined forces to create the winning warm modernism that lead Thompson Hotels into London hospitalitydom. The subdued 85-room Belgraves opened in February of 2012 in London’s Belgravia neighborhood, a stone’s throw from Sloane Square. Quasi-industrial brick walls with geometric furniture and lend the property a neo-Brooklyn texture, while plush velvet upholstery and contemporary pieces from Brit artists Miranda Donovon and Mat Collishaw amp up the New Britania. Rooms from $350.

"We knew we had to create an exceptional experience for guests that would make the hotel stand out in an increasingly competitive design-led market," says Giles Robinson, Partner, Foster + Partners of the new ME by Melia property in Covent Garden. "Every material we used has been carefully selected and items of furniture are bespoke, developed by our product design team and the rooms were extensively prototyped and tested to ensure every aspect of a visitors experience had been fully considered."

New Britannia: London’s Boomlet of Modernist Hotels - Photo 2 of 9 - — The Bulgari eschews granny florals and Empire-era chintz for a steely 1920’s modernist look that could have been lifted from Milan’s Villa Necchi Campiglio (the modernist mansion used in 2009’s I Am Love). Poster-sized sketches of its vintage jewelry collections, glossy mahogany woodwork, and tidy silver chandeliers set a restrained lobby tone, while a showier jewel-box spa made with onyx, oak, and Vicenza stone sports a vertical fireplace and a 75-foot pool. Rooms from $770.

Not only has this raised the bar for hotel design, but it’s kick-started a hotel migration away from the traditional luxury areas of Mayfair and Knightsbridge, allowing for fresher perspectives and a freeing of the tethered styles that accompanied the ideas of luxury design in Great Britain—often floral wingbacks, worn leather chesterfields, and dark oak paneling.