Café Royal Hotel reopens summer 2012 as a member of The Set
The reopening of the Café Royal in June 2012 as a member of The Set, Alfred and Georgi Akirov's visionary new contemporary hotel collection, marks the return of a London institution that, throughout its 150-year history, has continually reinvented itself to define the moods, social mores and style of the capital.
Over the last three years, the Café Royal has undergone its third architectural reincarnation under the deft hands of David Chipperfield Architects and Donald Insall Associates.
The comprehensive works have sensitively restored the listed interiors dating from the 1860s and 1930s whilst simultaneously creating a visually stunning 159 room luxury hotel and spa that is at once totally contemporary and referential to its illustrious past.
Located at 68 Regent Street, facing the cosmopolitan glamour of Mayfair to the West and the creative diversity of Soho to the East, the Café Royal has, since its opening in 1865, been geographically, socially and intellectually pivotal to London life. In keeping with this role, when the Café Royal re-opens as a hotel in June 2012, it will offer a diverse selection of restaurants, cafés and bars, from the exquisitely restored Grill Room (of which Wilde, Shaw and Kipling, Elizabeth Taylor, Winston Churchill and Princess Diana were all patrons) to the buzzing Domino Room.
The pure geometry of the 159 new rooms and suites, extensive, but understated use of exceptional natural materials and obsessive attention to detail creates a palpable sense of timeless mid-century glamour. The five vast suites of historical significance, restored with the help of Donald Insall Associates, provide a window onto the Café Royal's past whilst also offering all of the state of the art amenities of its future.
A superb expansive Holistic Wellbeing Centre featuring a huge pool completes what promises to be the most exciting opening of the year and the welcome return of one of the capital's best-loved institutions.
The Set
The Set is a collection of contemporary hotels conceived to redefine the concept of the luxury hotel for sophisticated, design literate travellers in the 21st Century.
Both of The Set's first two members, Café Royal Hotel London and Conservatorium Hotel Amsterdam, combine prime locations, unique heritage, and exceptional design. A third member the Hotel Lutetia Paris, is scheduled to re-open in the coming years, after a comprehensive refurbishment program.