great Art Deco hotel in London: Beaumont

Front entrance of The Beaumont

Left and below: Antony Gormley sculpture.    

The greater number of cars in the early C20th were requiring a quick exp­an­s­ion of services like petrol stat­ions & garages. The car-related needs of classy May­fair res­idents, plus guests of new stores like Selfridges, had to be accommod­ated for free. So The Beaumont was designed by Fortnum & Mason architects Wimperis and Simpson on behalf of Macy's, as a four-storey parking gar­age near Oxford St! The 4-storey, neo-classical, column-lined, Portland-stone-like const­ruct­­­ion, erected in 1925–6 was very elaborate. It featured a properly styled facade in the popular Art Deco style!

The side wings of the building apparently contained facilities for customers and their chauffeurs. The garage ch­anged hands several times, the longest occupant being Dagenham Motors Ltd from c1932 to the 1980s.

Car companies occupied the site until 2009 when it was given Grade II listed status. This was be­cause of its special archit­ect­ural interest as a distinctive C20th building type, especially the façade. And note another utilitarian structure in this prestigious area as well i.e the listed electricity gen­erating station opposite in Brown Hart Gard­ens.

The car park lease was sold in 2009 to Grosvenor Estate and in 2014 it opened as The Beaumont, the first hotel by Corbin & King (Ivy, Le Caprice, Delaunay, Wolseley etc). Then the hotel’s freeholder sold its lease to the Barclay brothers (Ritz, Daily Telegraph, Spect­ator etc), with a for-sale price of between £125-£140 m.

To match the building’s Art-Deco exterior, Jeremy King created a theme that linked all aspects of the hotel’s interior. Grand in style yet wel­com­ing, its design would be inspired by the great Art Deco hotels of the 1920s-30s.

The result is warm-lit public areas of polished walnuts, bronze panth­ers and black-and-white photographs from the Roaring Twenties. This 5 star hot­el has 50 rooms and 23 suites that feature timber headboards, bronze mirroring, mohair-velvet chairs, large desks, silk curtains, geometric carpets and monochrome marble bathrooms. The hotel's website adds the Beaumont is superbly located on a quiet garden square, close to the lux­ury shops, galleries and museums of Mayfair, St James' and West End.

 American Bar

The walls of the timber-panelled American Bar, an important public area of the hotel, are entirely covered by 1930s photos. Behind the bar is the refreshed Colony Grill Room, a masculine Amer­ic­an diner. There’s still a retro supper-club vibe, except for the bright new murals and freshly reupholstered blood-red leather banquettes.

Dining room

When listed, the building was described as having an Open-fronted ground floor carried on two columns with stylised capit­als; over-sized egg-and-dart frieze above. Above this, the 3 central bays are separated by broad pilasters into 3 single-window bays divided by pilasters with styl­­ised capitals. End bays slightly set-forward, flanked by plain pil­asters; each has projecting 2-storey pavilion: that to N has paired round-arched entrances; that to S has single with small window to ei­th­er side; both have 1st-floor window set in round-headed recessed arch, and ornament to either side. The forecourt between the pavilions always accommodated a filling station.

One of the unique features of the new hotel is the creature that sits squatting on a wing. This is a public architectural sculpture designed in 2014 by Antony Gormley, crea­t­or of the Angel of the North. From the outs­ide, it’s a giant crouching cuboid fig­ure on the left of the hotel’s façade (see photos above). Inside, it’s a secl­uded bedroom with no furniture apart from the linen bed.

Since opening in 2014, the independently owned Beaumont has always rel­ied on the 1920s as a primary source of inspiration. Housed in a smart, pearl-white building from 1926, this sharply dressed, thanks to a rec­ent refurbishment by star architect and designer Thierry Despont, a brand new high-gloss shine, just in time to launch a modern edition of the Roaring Twenties. Known for his impressive portfolio of high-stakes renovation projects like the Ritz Paris, Despont undertook the project alongside London-based archit­ects ReardonSmith, who also count top Lon­don prop­erties like The Savoy as clients.

After 17-month closed, in Aug 2021 Beaumont re-opened with a glossy look: a new bar and new lounge that oozed with Roaring 20s decadence. Th­ierry Despont refreshed the Art Deco lobby of the Beaumont with jazz-age Pierre Frey curtains. The exquisite lobby is the hotel’s heart, with black-and-white granite chessboard floor of black and gold.

 Lobby 

With handsome European fidd­leback cherrywood panelling and a leat­h­er topped ebony bar, Le Magritte bar was named after René Magritte’s Le Maitre d’Ecole, which hangs at the back of the bar. The col­l­ection of signat­ure, character portraiture along the walls is impressive, and there’s a new outdoor patio as well. The glamorous Gatsby’s Room/cafe, with chandeliers and a baby grand piano, is a pleasure.

Guest rooms retain an European Art Deco air of manly sophistication with soft leathers, bronze accents; creams and browns: interesting por­traits; and book­shelves laden with flapper and bootlegger books. The new Thierry Despont-designed Mayfair Suite on the first floor has the best view, over­looking the quiet Mayfair’s Brown Hart Gardens. But prepare to work a second job to pay the costs.

Bedroom

Photo credits: The Beaumont