In our ongoing series, Millie Walton selects and explores the world’s best art hotels. In this edition, she checks into The Connaught in Mayfair.
The Connaught is one of the oldest five-star hotels in London. It opened in 1815 as the Prince of Saxe-Coburg Hotel, comprising two buildings owned by the Duke of Westminster, which were rebuilt in 1892 when it became The Coburg. It was rebranded The Connaught in 1917, after Queen Victoria’s seventh child Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. Today, managed by the Maybourne Group, it remains true to its old-world roots. Part of the charm of walking through the revolving front doors is the sense of stepping back in time: imagining the candlelit chandeliers and all the illustrious figures who swept up the grand staircase – visions that are coloured by the portraits and naval paintings lining the wood-panelled walls. And yet, like London itself, it’s also a place where the old and new collide and come together.
In recent years, the hotel has undergone major renovations, with the addition of a new, as the general manager put it, more ‘contemporary feeling’ wing, a Japanese Garden and Aman Spa. The interiors of all of the bedrooms have been refreshed and the hotel’s collection of contemporary art has expanded, so that the likes of Jenny Holzer rub shoulders with painters such as William Wyld.
The Concept
Despite its prestigious reputation and heritage, nothing about The Connaught feels stuffy or pretentious. This is a grand hotel that remains surprisingly down-to-earth. Arriving on a dreary January day, with wet, wind-whipped hair and a coat ripped enroute, nobody batted an eyelid, while a general sense of travelling chaos was quickly soothed by the low lighting, a crackling open fire burning and the scent of fig and spice from the hotel’s signature candle. The staff speak to you on a human level, not as if they are reciting lines from a hospitality handbook – which, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the glistening marble and dark wood, does wonders to put you at ease.
The Collection
More than 3,000 artworks hang on almost every inch of wall space. There is some separation between historic and contemporary works: on the main staircase, for instance, you’ll find portraits of dogs, lavish balls, ships and nobles in gilt frames, while monochrome photographs hang in the newer wing of the hotel. The Red Room, the hotel’s hidden wine bar tucked behind a velvet curtain, exclusively features work by women artists (not counting the stained-glass panels by Brian Clarke), including several by Louise Bourgeois and the young Vietnamese artist Tia-Thuy Nguyen – united by a crimson colour palette. Works by Damien Hirst set the scene for Hélène Darroze’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant, while outside the hotel’s entrance, there’s a water installation by Tadao Ando.
The Design Details
While the central part of the hotel has a grand colonial feel, the restaurants, bars and spa each have their own distinct identity. The Red Room has a chapel-like atmosphere, with stained glass, smooth white walls and curvy furniture, while the Connaught Bar channels a more grown-up, masculine vibe, with studded leather furnishings and glass and lacquered surfaces. The Aman Spa – the first to be built outside of Aman Resorts – is faithful to its Japanese roots with a serene, paired back aesthetic. Somehow, rather than competing, these disparate styles speak to one another, and as a guest, it’s fun to turn the corner and find yourself swept into an entirely different mood.
The Rooms
The King’s Lodge
No two rooms at The Connaught are alike. The King’s Lodge suite, designed by Guy Oliver – who was responsible for many of the recent interior updates – was inspired by Kabul’s 19th-century Peacock Palace and created in collaboration with Turquoise Mountain, a charity founded by King Charles which supports artisans across the Middle East, Afghanistan, Myanmar and India. The Apartment, by David Collins Studio, sits on the rooftop, filled with limited-edition books and art, including a chandelier by sculptor Philippe Anthonioz.
The Mews
The Mews is a three-storey private townhouse by Blair Associates Architecture with an outside terrace. The Sutherland Suite features a Steinway piano that once belonged to renowned Polish composer Wladyslaw Szpilman, whose life inspired the 2002 film The Pianist. We stayed in one of the hotel’s signature Connaught Suites, which comes with butler service. Here, original decorative mouldings, velvet drapery, a glass chandelier and a mini bar tucked inside an antique Chinoiserie cabinet lend the air of a stately home.
The Food & Drink
You could stay for a week at The Connaught and never eat in the same place twice. Breakfast is served at New York-based French Chef Jean-Georges’s restaurant, with tables in a conservatory overlooking Mount Street and a menu that charmingly includes boiled eggs and soldiers. It’s also open for lunch and dinner, serving a relaxed pan-Asian menu, as well as afternoon tea.
Hélène Darroze at The Connaught
Then, there’s The Connaught Grill, where you can settle into cosy timber-lined booths, for grilled fish and meat, or Hélène Darroze’s more formal affair, where an innovative array of dishes revolve around seasonal ingredients. Alternatively, you can eat in any one of the hotel’s bars. In The Red Room, we feasted on lobster rolls, sushi and hash browns topped with caviar.
Art in the Neighbourhood
A Story of South Asian Art: Mrinalini Mukherjee and Her Circle is showing at Royal Academy of Arts. Image details: K. G. Subramanyan, Untitled, c.1950s. Gouache on paper. Taimur Hassan Collection. Photo:
Justin Piperger. © Uma Padmanabhan
You’re in the midst of some of the city’s best galleries and museums here. Big commercial galleries such as Gagosian, Michael Werner, and Stephen Friedman are all within easy walking distance, each with a regularly rotating programme of exhibitions. Nan Goldin at Gagosian’s Davies Street location (until 21 March), featuring all 126 photographs from her photobook The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is well worth a visit, then wander over to The Royal Academy – less than a ten-minute walk away, where there’s currently a show tracing a century of South Asian art, from the 1930s to the present day (until 24 February), with the much-anticipated retrospective of Rose Wylie opening on 28 February.
All image credits: The Connaught
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