When Hotel Russell opened in 1898, its grand silhouette caused such a stir that not only did its Russell Square neighbours rush to copy its distinctive light terracotta façade, but the owners of the RMS Titanic also tapped the hotel’s designer, Charles Fitzroy Doll, to create their ship’s dining room.
Happily, the Grade II-listed building survived the intervening century rather better, and is just emerging from a lavish overhaul of its interiors.
Designers Tara Bernerd and Russell Sage have modernised the 334-room pleasure palace, now renamed the Principal, with a dose of creamy drapery, tufted fabric, and artwork that is intended to evoke the Bloomsbury neighbourhood’s artistic and literary heritage. The restored Palm Court is once more a light-washed eyrie, while chef Brett Redman’s Neptune restaurant sports a raw bar as well as an aquatic menu speckled with Exmoor caviar, Isle of Mull scallops, and cured chalk stream trout served with mole-spiced beetroot.
There is a 200-kilo custom-designed chandelier in the hotel’s entrance. There are 30 bespoke cast-iron panels surrounding the entrance lobby fireplace
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
1-8 Russell Square
-
The Barbican as muse: composer Shiva Feshareki on bringing the brutalist icon to life through musicFor the last two years, British-Iranian experimental composer and turntablist Shiva Feshareki has been drawing on the Barbican’s hidden history as a gateway for her new piece. She talks to Wallpaper* about her Brutalist muse
-
London's coolest design-led coffee shops for your Fashion Week fixCoffee shops are the heart of London’s neighbourhoods, discover those fusing speciality beans and stylish interiors for the perfect brew
-
Martine Rose’s first gallery show celebrates the radical queer energy of Bronski BeatTaking place at Sadie Coles over London Fashion Week, ‘Everything Must Change’ centres on a 2016 short film by menswear designer Martine Rose and image-maker Sharna Osborne starring Bronski Beat frontman Jimmy Somerville
-
Villa One at the One & Only Palmilla — Los Cabos, Mexico -
Martim — Wroclaw, Poland -
Tattersalls Hotel — Armidale, Australia -
KLoé Hotel — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -
Casa Hoyos — San Miguel de Allende, Mexico -
Littlenap — Hangzhou, China -
Casa Santa Teresa — Corsica, France -
Swedish studio Claesson Koivisto Rune designs K5, a new hotel in TokyoStep inside Claesson Koivisto Rune’s design as a 1920s bank turns hotel
