Smoking Hot

There’s a lot of chatter in London these days about the eagerly awaited Chiltern Firehouse Hotel which is slated to open next month. This is the first international property of Andre Balazs, whose collection of bespoke luxury hotels include the uber cool and celebrity filled Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, The Mercer in New York, and the Standard Hotels in both cities. Housed in an old fire station that Balazs discovered five years ago in London’s burgeoning Marylebone section, he kept the original features from the firehouse- with large doors and high ceilings- and retained and reinstated many of the building’s original architectural features. With 26 suites that include working fireplaces; a bar and restaurant with an open kitchen; and a courtyard and garden, the clean, elegant and classic decor is something you would expect to find in a courtly manor.

Designed by the highly sought after Paris-based design firm Studio KO, highlights include filament lights, brick tiles on the walls, woven chair webbing on the ceilings to absorb noise, green velvet benches and ultra sleek tiles lying adjacent to plush carpets. As London is in the thrall of a love affair with American food- specifically fast food and Southern BBQ- Balazs installed Michelin starred chef Nuno Mendes to serve up all that’s good about current American food and international dining- that being seasonal, simple and inventive. Mendes worked with both Wolfgang Puck and Jean-Georges Vongerichten in the States which could be why the restaurant- which opened in February- is already the hottest table in town. Prince Harry, Kate Moss and Harry Styles have all been spotted there and with investors such as Google’s Eric Schmidt and Diesel’s Renzo Rosso, it’s a sure thing that Andre Balazs will now have a temple of beyond across the pond.  www.chilternfirehouse.com