Hotels with character

Through all of our design work we place high importance on our clients’ personality and creating engaging stories for them and their users. Within the hotel industry two of the newest hotels near to our London office have taken this storytelling to another level.

Enter Jimmy Beaumont’s eponymous hotel, the latest 5* hotel in London which opened in 2014. With an original 1927 facade at ground level the design naturally references 1920s Art Deco details throughout with Anglo-American objects to suit Jimmy’s home on this side of the Atlantic.

But who is Jimmy? You won’t find his portrait amongst the 17,000 pieces of art throughout the building, as Jimmy Beaumont is a fictional character created to embody the personality of the hotel. The Beaumont being the first hotel by Corbin & King following on from their restauranteur success of The Wolseley and Delauney.

You will find Jimmy’s Bar, though officially titled The American Bar, and The Colony Grill restaurant all featuring artwork from his pastimes and social circles which are were all sourced by Jeremy King and his wife. Off track is an inhabitable sculpture Room by Antony Gormley, where you can sleep for the night at a price. This is the perfect way to include public art as part of any new building works in Mayfair.

Next door in Marylebone, Wicked Uncle Seymour displays his rather weird and wacky collection from his grand tour at his townhouse in Portman Village. As an explorer, there is a huge amount of artefacts crammed in throughout the hotel and in particular Seymour’s Parlour, which you step into from the hubbub of nearby Oxford Street.

This drawing room featuring a higher level of branding and detail includes collecting your receipt from the inner pages of a book selected from Seymour’s library under the bar. All of which adds to the cleverly choreographed experience. Uncle Seymour is also a fictional character following on from Zetters Townhouse in Clerkenwell being the residence of Great Aunt Wilhelmina setting a strong trend for ‘doing things a little differently’.

It is places like these where we as designers, feel the originality behind the design and are intrigued to find out more, which fuels our passion for creating memorable experiences in all of our sectors.

So next time you’re visiting us drop in on Jimmy or Seymour as well.

For more information: www.thebeaumont.com