London’s Latest Hotel, The Emory, Is Modern and Discreet
Tranquil privacy underpins the all-suite hotel.
If you walk past The Emory you probably won’t even realize that it’s there. The hotel sits quietly tucked behind Knightsbridge on the private Old Barrack Yard whilst neighbour and sister address The Berkeley enjoys all the attention, tempting guests inside with a window display of Cedric Grolet patisseries.
This is of course, completely the point. Tranquil privacy underpins The Emory. And if you’re staying you wouldn’t be walking anyway: the hotel whisks guests from the airport lounge to hotel lobby all as part of its ultra luxury service.
The sixth hotel in the Maybourne group, whose other London addresses include the institutions that are Claridge’s, The Connaught, and the aforementioned The Berkeley, The Emory is a project 20 years in the making. It’s also the group’s latest London opening in 50 years. But although the idea took a while to develop, Maybourne didn’t have to go very far to realize it, transforming what was once the group’s headquarters into London’s first all-suite hotel.
A whole host of designers were brought onboard to complete the ambitious project, including Richard Rogers not long before he passed in 2021, who along with Ivan Harbour of RSHP designed The Emory’s distinctive facade, a sail-like structure which has the makings of a modern London landmark.
Inside, the 61 suites spaced across nine floors continue the discreet residential feel of the hotel. Maybourne tapped some of the world’s most renowned architects and designers to oversee the interiors, Pierre Yves Rochon, Patricia Urquiola, Alexandra Champalimaud, and André Fu, and entrusted them with two floors each. The ninth floor is dedicated completely to the The Emory Penthouse, a private apartment with wraparound glass windows and terraces imagined by Rigby & Rigby.
Each space was presented as a total blank canvas for each designer to imagine as they please both structurally and stylistically. For example, whilst Champalimaud chose to divide up her suites in the traditional living room, dining room, bedroom and ensuite and keep each space open and pared back, Fu placed the bathroom elsewhere, added in a small office area, and introduced a marble kitchen island as a striking centrepiece. Although each designer stayed true to their own creative aesthetic, common threads pull the collection together and the overall feel is contemporary, calm, and quietly luxurious: bespoke furnishings, noble materials, and modern art add a highly polished finish no matter the style. Roger’s floor-to-ceiling windows add the real wow factor, and offer one of London’s most beautiful views across the lush tree tops of Hyde Park.
Rémi Tessier reimagined the public spaces, from chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s ABC kitchens and The Emory Bar on the ground floor, up to the dizzying heights of the tenth-floor Bar 33 and the private smoking room, The Emory Cigar Merchants. Tessier wanted to imbue each space with a warmth that contrasted with the outer steel structure, cue layers of wood, leather, and polished copper married with hues of brown, orange, and terracotta. But the top floor designs, and more to the point the spectacular views, are for guests’ eyes only, or for those who are lucky enough to receive a private invitation.
Guests also have exclusive access to The Emory’s new spa concept and private members’ club, Surenne. Spread over four subterranean floors, it’s one of London’s most serious wellness offerings. There’s of course a gym, a beautifully serene pool, sauna, steam room, a snow shower (a more bearable alternative to a cold plunge), and a range of treatments that can either bliss you out or stretch you out. Add in the medical element which offers tests such as full health checks, a microbiome analysis, and a biological age test and it’s got it all. Just like The Emory.
