In this age of ironic-minimal hipster home-away-from-home comfort hotels, Rami Fustok’s Mandrake takes hospitality in the opposite direction.
Dark, moody and draped in sumptuous fabrics, with art-filled walls and eclectic (even eccentric) design pieces, it practically swings from the chandeliers. But then The Mandrake is designed as a sensual overload, cocooning guests in fragrance and sound (the former by Azzi Glasser, the latter by Pierre-Arnaud Alunni) and feeding them treats by Frédéric Peneau, who brings his Wan Chai-based ‘democratic French gourmet’ experience, Serge et Le Phoque, to town.
Wrapped around a verdant atrium, with a greenhouse for medicinal plants on the first floor, the hotel takes its botanical inspiration seriously, even serving plant-based cocktails in the bar. Bold and opulent in a wear-your-jewels-in-the-bathtub way, the 30 bedrooms, three suites and lavish penthouse on offer at this hallucinatory homage to hedonism would look quite at home hosting one of Nero’s orgies.
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20-21 Newman Street
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This new Bali house is both a refuge and a celebration of creativityRumah Harumi is a Balinese home designed by Earth Lines Architects, a local studio with an emphasis on craft and creative collaboration
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Brunello Cucinelli’s festive takeover of Harrods turns the department store into a cashmere wonderlandUnveiled this morning, the Umbrian fashion house has taken over the store’s iconic Brompton Road windows, celebrating the spirit of its home town of Solomeo in fantastical fashion
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Each mundane object tells a story at Pace’s tribute to the everydayIn a group exhibition, ‘Monument to the Unimportant’, artists give the seemingly insignificant – from discarded clothes to weeds in cracks – a longer look
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Poon’s returns in majestic form at Somerset HouseHome-style Chinese cooking refined through generations of the Poon family craft
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One of London’s favourite coffee shops just opened in Harvey NicholsKuro Coffee’s latest outpost brings its Japanese-inspired design to the London department store
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Enjoy a Kyoto-inspired menu with London attitude at this new restaurantAki London offers a serene counterpoint to Oxford Circus, where stately interiors and elevated Japanese cooking cross paths
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At this charming bolthole in The Cotswolds, doing nothing is an art formLeave your mobile on ‘do not disturb’, switch off and slow down at this 16th-century manor-turned-hotel
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Lee Broom reimagines the Christmas tree at Mandarin Oriental MayfairThe London hotel unveils an inventive take on the festive tradition – with absolutely no needles
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Cinema’s tastiest moments to be celebrated by Mubi in an all-day festival‘Let’s Eat! A Film Feast’ spotlights the sensory power of food on film with a day of screenings, talks and culinary delights in London
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An around-the-world art tour with RosewoodFrom London to New York, Amsterdam and São Paulo, the hotel group showcases curated art that reflects the unique local context
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Chef Matt Abé steps out solo with Bonheur in MayfairA former fine-dining institution is transformed through a study of light, tone and materiality, courtesy of Russell Sage Studio
