The Mandrake Hotel

Having opened in September 2017, the foliage-filled Fitzrovia hotspot has already earned a reputation as one of the most magical, hedonistic hideaways in the city.

In a stark contrast to the fantastical public spaces, many of the guest rooms are low-key, featuring a mix of white and dark tones offset by colourful avant-garde prints and gorgeous gray marble bathrooms. Others take the surrealist steampunk ambience a step further, with dark-velvet draperies, jewel-tone interiors, and claw-foot bathtubs.

In this age of ironic-minimal hipster home-away-from-home comfort hotels, Rami Fustok’s Mandrake takes hospitality in the opposite direction.

The Mandrake's public spaces have the intricacy of a souk, of courtyards and half-glimpsed spaces. Off the main bar is a tucked-away snug behind a chainmail of metallic links, and a small library, then a private dining room coated in red lacquer like a Chinese jewellery box.