29/11/2018
Here’s to reinvention, to transformations and new beginnings.
Like so many Cambridge alumni, who come up and learn and change the world, so has this dazzler. It’s not new – there’s been a hotel on this corner of Parker’s Piece since 1834 – but it’s learned plenty. The building will stop you in your tracks: restored, remastered, with a new classical frontage courtesy of architect John Simpson. But it’s inside that the really clever stuff happens. The design, by the faultless Martin Brudnizki, is effortlessly stylish but unpretentious: sage walls, burnt- orange leather, moss-green velvet, pictures that look straight out of The Ivy.
Rooms are calm and cossetting and filled with books carefully curated by Mayfair bookshop Heywood Hill. Top marks for Parker’s Tavern, where Tristan Welch’s seasonal food includes the best potted shrimp, truffle risotto and posh spaghetti bolognese we’ve ever eaten. And the place is packed – with visitors, but also well-heeled locals, just as a town hotel should be.
Here’s to revamps, with brains.