Fodor's Expert Review Sanderson Hotel

Located in the former showroom HQ of the once mega Sanderson textiles company, the Sanderson Hotel borrowed the old company’s name and continued the theme of design, except out went the chintzy florals and in came slick, ethereal interiors by superstar designer, Philippe Starck. A world away from the formal, proper look of the average luxury hotel, the Sanderson is about fantasy and fun, its glass-walled interiors, ever shifting lighting themes and opulent bars a fashion crowd’s dream. More Margiela than Macy’s, expect a classy clientele at this luxury retro design hotel in the heart of Fitzrovia.

The hotel provides complimentary bikes to guests to explore on, with a potential Tour de Regent’s Park just a short ride away.

room

While there’s still a hint of 1950’s office block about the rooms, that’s part of the charm as the vaguely modernist leanings of the original architecture merges with whimsical, ornate additions. Despite the overriding flood of white, the deep rugs, glass wall partitions, and sleek furniture keep things opulent.

bathroom

You might not want a bathroom like this in your own home, but that shouldn’t stop you luxuriating in the sheer beauty and simplicity of the design when you’re here. Somewhere between a futuristic sci-fi boudoir and a bare showroom bathroom, it’s not your everyday water closet.

YOU SHOULD KNOW Glass walls and sheer curtains are all that stands between some bedrooms and their bathrooms, a design quirk not everybody will enjoy.

lobby

Punctured with thick pillars and sparsely dotted with chic chairs and sculpture, the lobby is an avant-garde playground of design that won’t take kindly to tatty luggage spoiling the look. A place to spend some time, if only to try out every single one of the eclectic selection of sofas, armchairs and chaise longue.

spa

Again with the draped curtains, baroque furniture and angelic color scheme, the Agua Spa provides all the treatments and pampering you need to pull yourself out of that rabbit hole.

gym

Personal trainers are on hand to motivate in the well-equipped 24-hour gym.

dining

Not quite fine dining, much more fun and less formal than that, the menu at the restaurant at The Sanderson Hotel, cunningly named The Restaurant at Sanderson, is a celebration of British produce. Keeping up with the Jones’, the restaurant matches the hotel’s chic public spaces, looking out over the beautiful courtyard garden that twinkles at night. If wandering the Sanderson Hotel feels a little like getting lost down the rabbit hole, that’s because it’s all by design—enjoy the eccentric Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea and go with the flow.

Wake up late and eat brunch here to experience great food and even greater people watching.

drinking

The extravagant Long Bar is one place where you shouldn’t have trouble finding a chair at the counter, since this one happens to be 80-feet long. If you’re not at the bar drinking the expensively assembled cocktails, you should be grooving—yes, grooving—on the dance floor to the DJs who play throughout the week. If the thought of ‘grooving’ leaves you a little discombobulated, make for the sultry Purple Bar for more intimate cocktails.