Ian Schrager has opened the London EDITION, marking his return to the city in some 15 years.
Housed in a historic building-formerly the Berners Hotel-Yabu Pushelberg has infused the hotel with a design that fuses the past with the present. Inspired by Great Britain’s traditions, the design reflects an aristocratic English country manor and the quintessential London private gentleman’s club with a modern, edgy feel. Behind the Georgian exterior are two bars and 173 wood paneled rooms and suites akin to cabins on a private yacht.
Originally built in 1835 as five townhouses, the buildings were combined to form the Berners Hotel in 1908, at the height the Edwardian Era. Decorated with marble and carved ceilings, the interiors are Grade II-listed examples of Belle Époque extravagance.
The hotel lobby is adorned with marble walls and floors all original to the hotel and newly restored. Ingo Mauer’s spaceship-like polished silver sphere light bedecks the entrance, along with black metal furniture, Salvador Dali-inspired floor lamps, and chandeliers enthused by New York’s Grand Central Station. To the right is Berner’s Tavern, which is furnished with chestnut mohair and taupe leather banquettes and rift cut bleached oak tables. The color palette takes inspiration from the works of Johannes Vermeer and American artist Donald Judd with dusty rose upholstery against burnt ochre walls, along with touches of khaki, pale green leather, and mustard velvets.
At the back of the hotel is the Punch Room-a fumed-oak paneled den that takes a cue from English country manor house libraries and nineteenth-century London’s private clubs. This modern version includes custom tufted banquettes in teal velvet, overstuffed mint green leather tub chairs, and dark brown leather club chairs.
The hotel’s rooms are paneled in either dark walnut or light oak and furnished with traditional tufted slipper-chairs, a neutral color palette, and gilt-framed Dutch Masters.
