St James's Hotel & Club – London

Issue 22 – January / February 2009

The Althoff Collection’s London hotel is a former gentleman’s club featuring luxurious interiors from designer Anne Maria Jagdfeld.

It took Thomas H. Altoff, one of Germany’s best known hoteliers, many years to find the right location to bring his take on luxury hospitality to London.

Having found the perfect site – a former gentleman’s club nestled in a quiet corner of Mayfair – Althoff wanted a designer who could express the  individuality, luxury and attention to detail found in the other hotels in his eponymous collection. He found her in Anne Maria Jagdfeld – an interior designer known for her work with numerous exclusive private residences around the world as well as her more public involvement with Berlin’s Adlon Hotel, China Club and the Japanese embassy.

Jagdfeld’s dictum of “no elegance without personality” is certainly evident at St James’s Hotel and Club. Jagfeld has taken her inspiration from the hotel’s distinguished past and nobly proportioned Victorian architecture. This dramatic 19th-century townhouse has been reinvented to capture the feel of an esteemed gentleman’s club.

The palette throughout is a subtle spectrum of soothing neutrals, with a strong period flavour. Taupe and olive, cream and black, chrome and steely grey have been given added drama with flashes of jewel-like gold, copper and aquamarine. The materials are sensuous and indulgent: marble and velvet, silk and leather, cashmere and lacquer glisten beneath the carefully orchestrated lighting. Every piece of furniture and every metre of fabric – from the Murano glass chandeliers to the walls lined with Loro Piana cashmere – has been carefully selected.

Dernier & Hamlyn, working in partnership with London based Lighting Design International, produced a number of the light fittings including: pendant fittings comprising hundreds of geometric chrome hoops for the restaurant; a crystal and fabric fitting for the stairwell over one metre in diameter; solid steel table lamps for the reception desk and crystal and chrome wall lights for the corridors and powder rooms.

The building’s history as a gentleman’s club is evident in its collection of historic portraiture and 20th-century paintings.

The Rosenstein Collection, dating from the 1920s-1950s, includes fine examples of Impressionist, Expressionist and Cubist work from all over Europe, displayed throughout the hotel’s public rooms as well as in the suites. Rooms are equipped with the latest technology, including flatscreen TVs with a VDA multi-media system, WiFi, and iPod docking stations.

The hotel’s compact, 20-seat Andaman restaurant is overseen by Michelin-starred chef Dieter Muller, whilst the bar offers a selection of cocktails including Bar Manager Joel Lawrence’s signature ‘Anglo–Italian’ blend of prosecco, gin, elderflower and pomegranate.

WORDS: Matt Turner

PHOTOGRAPHY: Courtesy of Luchford PR

St. James’s Hotel & Club
7-8 Park Place, St James’s
London, SW1A 1LP
Tel: +44 (0)20 73161600
www.stjamesclubandhotel.co.uk

Rooms:    60 guestrooms and suites
Food:    Andaman Restaurant & Bar
Drink:    4 private dining / meeting rooms