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Old Jun 14, 2014 | 9:04 am
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Chiltern Firehouse - new Andre Balazs venture in London

I don't think the hotel is open yet but the restaurant appears to be the latest "in" place for celebrities - http://howtospendit.ft.com/destinati...rehouse-reborn
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Old Jun 16, 2014 | 10:27 am
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Originally Posted by quitecontrary
I don't think the hotel is open yet but the restaurant appears to be the latest "in" place for celebrities - http://howtospendit.ft.com/destinati...rehouse-reborn
Frightful website. Who knows what is open and when from this mess?! Designed for the baby B-listers - all hype no substance.
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Old Jun 16, 2014 | 10:42 am
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I like the opening lines by Maria Shollenbarger in this article of the Financial Times:

A great hotel is a performance in progress. More than merely a place to lay one’s head, it’s a stage on which endlessly intersecting narratives play out to a backdrop of meticulous set and sound design, expertly calibrated lighting and some careful casting in the form of beautifully turned out, genial staff. When whoever is overseeing the production gets it all ineffably, gloriously right, you perceive not the slightest hint of effort. Whether you’re a Hollywood auteur, an art-world iconoclast, a fashion creative or merely a sixtysomething Home Counties barrister who’s trundled into town for Sunday lunch at the restaurant, you just know it feels spot on. Comfortable. Chic.

The guests around you are aglow with the energy of knowing they’re at the centre of something special; ... Permeating this is, above all, a sense of place
She seems to understand what makes hotels worth a special mention.
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Old Jun 26, 2014 | 4:39 am
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Food is actually quite good, but it's all about the scene. It's the kind of place you get carried away and end up with a horrendous hangover....
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Old Jun 26, 2014 | 9:31 am
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Booking a room there, though, is another matter. Currently they have no images whatsoever, so if you do book, it is totally on trust. Soft-opening rates are more akin to George V Paris, so you have to be really, really trusting.
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Old Aug 27, 2014 | 4:50 am
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I tried booking for food at anytime this Saturday ( brunch /lunch / late lunch / early dinner etc ) and was told they are booked up till well into October!
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Old Aug 27, 2014 | 6:59 am
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Originally Posted by WEEBOBBY
I tried booking for food at anytime this Saturday ( brunch /lunch / late lunch / early dinner etc ) and was told they are booked up till well into October!
It appears to be on the celebrity "must be photographed" here list at the moment. Fortunately many (other) good places for brunch in London.
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Old Aug 27, 2014 | 9:04 pm
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I wanted to hate this place, but it's really rather fantastic. I live around the corner so have never stayed overnight, but the restaurant and the hotel social areas are lots of fun.
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Old Aug 27, 2014 | 9:53 pm
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I don't know that I much want to be around fellow guests who are "aglow."
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Old Jan 19, 2016 | 4:21 am
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A bit late to this thread but having stayed in the hotel I can vouch it is all that it is cracked up to be. My cousin came into London from NYC over New Years with his girlfriend and we all stayed together in a couple of hotels over his short break. One of the hotels we stayed in was The Chiltern Firehouse. The food in restaurant is to die for but in the hotel and bar areas in general the attention to detail is striking as mentioned in a post above.

This attitude to attention to detail is carried over to the rooms in the hotel. We stayed in room 11 if I remember correctly which looks out over the court yard.

The room has a roaring fireplace which failed to work at first but the engineer was up in jiffy once called and sorted it all out much to our relief as its nice to look at once it was going! We relaxed and soaked up the ambience to sounds from the iPod mini and old school radio style USB speaker set up they leave on in the room for you when you arrive. A Nice touch.

I'm sure most of you who have contributed to this thread has been there by now but it case you haven't you can see a small snippet of the room and bathroom here in this video diary:

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- https://www.facebook.com/mark.weathe...6470100185061/
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