Three a long time after I briefly owned Mayfair — essentially the most coveted and costly sq. on the London Monopoly board — I’m bedding down on this prosperous district for actual.
However my (momentary) house bucks expectations from what you’d perhaps anticipate from a West Finish enclave typically related to bling and extra.
In reality, 1 Lodge Mayfair has been billed as “London’s first mission-driven sustainable luxurious resort”.
It makes its eco-minded ethos obvious from the get-go, with vegetation dripping from its exterior and foliage galore greeting you inside, together with dwelling partitions fed by rainwater from the roof and sculpted moss hanging from the ceiling.
Recycled wooden, stone, materials and alluring seating form the full of life foyer, the place persons are on laptops, chatting and absorbing caffeine hits from Neighbours, a restaurant that morphs right into a bar within the night.
Others are checking out and in at reception, which is ready round a salvaged tree trunk from Sussex, a county south of London.
Yorkshire stone and Welsh slate are among the many different British supplies furnishing this resort, which spreads throughout two transformed present buildings and adheres to BREEAM (Constructing Analysis Institution Environmental Evaluation Methodology) requirements.
Clad in wooden, the lifts take you upstairs to the 181 visitor rooms, which span from 23sqm Alcove Kings to suites which can be seven instances greater and have $10,000-a-night worth tags.
I’m in room 707 — a 55sqm Junior Suite, which has a stone-paved terrace that I’m instantly drawn to, stepping exterior to glimpse the higher ranges of the long-lasting Ritz resort, about 50m away on Piccadilly, and the tree tops of neighbouring Inexperienced Park.
The resort arranges Friday afternoon group park jogs and it’s additionally linked up with the Tree Council, an area impartial charity, to supply an app-led stroll that will get you up shut with nature — discovering the again tales of hidden bushes in and round Mayfair.
Rides will also be organized within the resort’s absolutely electrical Audi e-tron automobile and workshops might be booked with the Botanical Boys, a London duo that specialize in crafting terrariums (that are like aquariums, however for vegetation as a substitute of fish).
My suite lounge is a serene place to hang around.
It has a settee on rustic timber flooring, small eating desk and chairs, TV, espresso desk books (together with one by prime panorama gardener Tom Stuart-Smith) and a woven cabinet that hides a mini bar with a Nespresso machine, kettle and teas.
The resort has a no single-use-plastic coverage and every room has a filtered water faucet by a wall of vegetation and glasses concocted from recycled wine bottles.
A sliding picket door divides my lounge from the bed room, the place locally-sourced mattress linens layer an natural mattress and bedside tables are hewn from tree trunks.
Opening the wardrobe, I discover gentle linen robes and spare hangers made out of each licensed responsibly-sourced rubber producers and recycled milk cartons and books.
The stone-floored lavatory has a walk-in rainforest bathe, vegetation and merchandise infused with geranium, lavender, and peppermint by Bamford, a high-end spa that gives holistic remedies on the resort’s first ground (subsequent to the 24-7 gymnasium).
State-of-the-art, energy-efficient heating and cooling techniques use lighting and airflow techniques that average relying on for those who’re in your room or not.
Half the time I’m not, whether or not I’m out having fun with London or frequenting Dover Yard, the resort’s lounge bar, or the Dovetale restaurant, which, fittingly, is large on seasonal farm-to-table delicacies with a menu of reimagined European classics, a uncooked bar and dishes cooked over the grill.
Cocktails (some with repurposed components) are about $45 and it is best to anticipate a invoice of round $200-250 per particular person for a three-course meal with wine.
Run by head chef Tom Sellers, who helms the 2 Michelin-starred Restaurant Story close to Tower Bridge, Dovetale has already gained popularity for its Sunday roasts, however I’m right here in midweek when it’s busy with an after-crowd – fits on, ties off.
There’s a convivial environment. Soulful tunes drift by the room and a hearth in a glass cupboard sparkles earlier than me as I tear into the nice and cozy, scrumptious do-it-yourself sourdough bread.
I take pleasure in a starter of Orkney scallops (with Yorkshire rhubarb), adopted by grain-fed black Angus ribeye steak with fries and peppercorn sauce.
I had been tempted by the Maison Burgaud duck, however the steak is ace and effectively paired with an natural 2020 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
For dessert — really helpful by my pleasant waiter — the baked Alaska is revitalising, stoked with ardour fruit, banana and pineapple.
Another candy could be a Knickerbocker Glory, which workers conjure from a particular cart that they create to your desk.
This layered ice-cream sundae was first popularised within the US and Britain within the early 1900s (not lengthy earlier than Monopoly was created).
After sleep, I’m again at Dovetale for breakfast, the place I skip the American-slanted choices like pancakes and fried rooster, and plump as a substitute for granola, croissants, yoghurt and honey, eggs benedict and a flat white.
It fires me up for one more morning of London.
I reckon I’ll have a wander in Inexperienced Park, pop over and have a peek at Buckingham Palace, then loop again to browse the bookshops and boutiques of Mayfair.
Fingers crossed, I could even have time for a mid-morning nap earlier than it’s time to take a look at of this spectacular resort.
* 1 Lodge Mayfair is the primary European outpost of SH Inns & Resorts, an affiliate of the Starwood Capital Group that launched with properties in Miami’s South Seashore and Manhattan. It’s spreading its wings additional, bringing its “sustainable sanctuaries” to Australia, when it opens the 277-room 1 Lodge Melbourne by the Yarra River at Docklands in December 2024.
* Steve McKenna was a visitor of 1 Lodge Mayfair and Go to Britain. They haven’t seen, influenced or authorised this story.