Hip, Hip, Olé! Rosewood London Debuts La Veranda With Patrón Tequila

Touring to the U.Ok. for the primary time because the pandemic started – and now, fortunately, with out the necessity for Covid assessments and burdensome paperwork – I didn’t essentially anticipate finding the identical pre-pandemic London that I so fondly remembered. Nonetheless – as clearly evidenced by the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations final week – I’m pleased to report that London is again! To my nice shock, London was very a lot alive, its retailers, bars, and eating places full of consumers, and its streets buzzing with exercise.

Whereas I normally keep in Mayfair or Marylebone, I made a decision on this journey to attempt someplace new, and on a advice booked my keep on the five-star Rosewood London, set close to Covent Backyard simply off the Holborn tube cease. The posh Rosewood Lodge Group is increasing rapidly in Europe, with upcoming openings deliberate in Vienna, Amsterdam, and Rome, amongst others, and a a lot ballyhooed second London outpost set to open within the former U.S. Embassy constructing on Grosvenor Sq. in 2024.

In the meanwhile, nonetheless, Rosewood has London well-covered with its beautiful and historic Edwardian-style lodge on Excessive Holborn Road, which has develop into a favourite of celebrities from Drake to Justin Bieber. The construction was first accomplished in 1914, and for 75 years served because the headquarters of the Pearl Assurance Firm.

The extraordinary property was then remodeled from an workplace constructing to a luxurious lodge, recognized in its most up-to-date iteration because the Chancery Courtroom Lodge (therefore the “CC” within the Rosewood London’s emblem). After intensive renovation, the lodge was reopened in late 2013 because the Rosewood London, and has since taken its place amongst London’s best accommodations.

Maybe my favourite characteristic of the lodge is the very very first thing that you just expertise once you arrive – entry to the property by way of a carriageway entrance and dome which ends up in a grand courtyard, offering a refuge off the busy essential road and permitting for discreet entry into the lodge. One is made to really feel like they’re arriving at an embassy or a countryside property reasonably than a lodge. Briefly, the doorway couldn’t be any extra British.

However there’s rather more to the Rosewood London than its beautiful courtyard entry. The foyer is attractive, from the black and white marble mosaic flooring to the massive featured portray by Argentinian artist Eduardo Hoffmann depicting the rolling English countryside.

That includes Cuban mahogany and wealthy marbles, the general public areas of the lodge are refined, with simply the correct quantity of caprice. Essentially the most memorable and dramatic inside characteristic of the lodge is the seven-story Italian Renaissance-style marble grand staircase which rises up from the Excessive Holborn entrance of the lodge.

It’s this staircase which led to my suite, one of many nicest I’ve ever stayed in. Whereas the Rosewood options spacious rooms all through, this lovely suite featured an extended lobby, giant sitting room and powder room, a fridge stuffed with distinctive snacks, and a well-stocked bar that was something however mini. The décor of the suite was elegant and, appropriately, very British – however on the similar time I very a lot appreciated the Italian marbled rest room and beautiful Rivolta Carmignani Italian linens.

The room got here outfitted with a Nespresso machine and Dyson hairdryer, however – if I’m being sincere – I have to admit that the Rosewood had me on the customized monogrammed pillowcase that greeted me at my mattress. As I’ve stated earlier than, it’s the little touches that separate the great accommodations from the good.

Eating choices on the Rosewood are highlighted by the Holborn Eating Room, described by the lodge as a “bustling brasserie with a menu of British dishes with a twist.” Whereas I used to be ready to take a look at the restaurant’s lovely pink leather-based banquette seating, I didn’t have a chance to pattern the delicacies of the restaurant’s acclaimed Pie Room. That’s on the to-do record for my subsequent go to.

Additionally on the to-do record is to spend extra time on the Rosewood’s implausible award-winning Scarfes Bar, the quintessential London bar. Named after famend British artist and caricaturist Gerald Scarfe, the bar’s marble partitions are a canvas that includes the artist’s quirky illustrations – a distinction to the normal luxurious of the remainder of the bar (for instance, the greater than 1,000 vintage books on show on the bar).

Scarfes options dwell jazz music and what needs to be one of many world’s nice collections of whiskey, with over 500 sorts to select from. A comfortable sales space close to Scarfes’ roaring hearth is a good spot to finish a night. However Scarfes is extremely widespread, and on busy nights non-hotel company could not be capable to get a desk… but one more reason to be staying on the Rosewood.

I hope, nonetheless, to make it again to London earlier than the tip of the summer season, and the Rosewood London has now given me one other nice motive to return – the launch of La Veranda by Patrón Tequila, reworking the long-lasting Rosewood courtyard right into a Tulum-inspired hideaway.

Launching June 16 and impressed by Rosewood’s Mexican properties, the collaboration with Patrón Tequila guarantees to convey a “style of Mexico” to central London with Latin-infused dwell music and Mexican decor together with Aztec rugs, rattan furnishings and enormous agave vegetation. Signature drinks and an genuine Mexican menu will transport your tastebuds south of the border.

And whereas I’d be pleased sipping a “Patrón Paloma” and consuming nice guacamole nearly wherever, the renderings of La Veranda clarify that will probably be a London hotspot in the summertime of 2022. Hip Hip, Olé!