Lilibet’s is on the site of HM Queen Elizabeth II’s birthplace in Mayfair

Claire Menary
Mayfair’s Newest Luxury Hotel

Created from a B-52 bomber, the eagle statue soaring above The Chancery Rosewood is a sign that Mayfair’s newest hotel has a significant history. Until seven years ago, it was the main outpost of the US Embassy in London. Now, for anyone (including me) who had to spend hours waiting to be interviewed for a visa, it’s infinitely more fun.

Rosewood Chancery opened in the former US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair

Ben Anders

Eero Saarinen’s 1960 Brutalist masterpiece is now a 142-suite homage to European-American heritage, with restoration and design by Sir David Chipperfield and French interiors architect Joseph Dirand. There are eight new restaurants, including Carbone – the first European outpost of the Manhattan cult favourite. Serra brings the Southern Mediterranean to Mayfair while the Eagle bar will see guests and locals head to its roof with a wrap-around terrace, cocktails and a vinyl-centric East London collective.

The V&A’s Big Autumn Exhibition

The Marie Antoinette Style is the V&A’s main autumn exhibition

Victoria and Albert Museum

Nowhere does fashion exhibitions quite like the Victoria & Albert museum and this exhibition in South Kensington Marie Antoinette Style examines the ill-fated French queen’s enduring impact on fashion, design and culture. Sponsored by Manolo Blahnik (who created the footwear for Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film), the exhibition includes Marie Antoinette’s own shoes, portraits and fashion from Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Moschino and Dior. To accompany the exhibition, which runs until 22nd March 2026, The Berkeley hotel has an appropriately regal stay, from £1,020 per night, including two tickets to the flagship exhibition Marie Antoinette Style, a copy of the specially commissioned book, a chilled bottle of Billecart-Salmon champagne on arrival and English breakfast the following morning.

Acclaimed NY-LON Culinary Cooperation

Linden Pride, owner of Dante in New York outside Claridge’s Hotel in London

Maybourne

Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson, the husband-and-wife duo behind Greenwich Village bar Dante have extended its residency at Claridge’s Restaurant on Brook Street. Now set to be in place until January 1, cocktails include the Dante Martini, Negroni Bianco, and the Chocolate Negroni ‘fountain’, created with crème de cacao and chocolate bitters. (And surely, as Christmas approaches, eggnog, one hopes.) And it’s an all-American menu too, with Dante’s signature burger with smoked bacon, pickled beets,spicy mayo, and lettuce, and served in a brioche bun, sliders, seafood towers and – at the weekend – brunch with buttermilk pancakes, corn tortilla and a whole heap of fun.

1980s Club Kids Get The Museum Treatment

Blitz, the pivotal London club in the early 1980s, is showcased at the Design Museum this autumn

Luke Hayes

Over in Kensington at the Design Museum, Blitz: the club that shaped the eighties is an exhibition that explores the birth of the New Romantic movement. Housed in a basement in Covent Garden, the Blitz club ran between March 1979 and October 1980. Founded by Steve Strange and Rusty Egan; Spandau Ballet, Strange’s own band Visage and Boy George all emerged from this creative crucible. Beyond music, the club nurtured couture milliner Stephen Jones as Michele Clapton (renowned for her Game of Thrones costume design), as well as DJ and fashion writer Princess Julia. Forty years after its closure, the Blitz Club has been recreated, complete with original artefacts and footage. The exhibition runs until March 25.

East London Gains A Design-Minded New Hotel

Sir Devonshire is opening in Devonshire Square, near the City and Spitalfields

Sir Grup

Housed within a meticulously restored 17th-century textile warehouse, the just-opened Sir Devonshire draws inspiration from Bauhaus, especially textile designer Anni Albers with 14 luxurious suites, created by interior design studio Maison 191 and a relaxed feel that anticipates guests will want to bed in for a while. It’ll be strong on art, have relaxed all-day dining and its location – between the City and Spitalfields – is a winner.

And So Does Fitzrovia

The Newman will open in Fitzrovia later this year.

Kinfolk & Co

The Newman opens later this autumn. Powered by the new Kinfolk & Co group, which contains plenty of alumni from both Firmdale Hotels and the Wolseley group, this hotel – largely newbuild – has ground-up appeal, starting with a wellness floor that takes inspiration from Swedish Grace Movement with hot and cold experience cabins, an active salt therapy room and a hydrotherapy pool, as well as treatments by Scandinavian clean beauty brand Nuori – marking their first London hotel presence. Upper levels will have 81 bedrooms, including a penthouse with a sauna and private plunge pool on its terrace and a neighbourhood-style restaurant and bar.

A Northern Culinary Powerhouse Comes South

Lisa Goodwin-Allen outside the Beaumont Hotel in London. The acclaimed chef will open Rosi here this autumn.

Beaumont

Lisa Goodwin-Allen, long the driver of Northcote’s exceedingly strong culinary reputation – including a Michelin star – comes to the capital for the first time with Rosi, the new restaurant at the Beaumont Hotel, also in Mayfair (yes, it’s hard to escape the feeling that Mayfair is having a very good 2025). When it opens on October 1, Rosi will move the culinary dial towards classic British food, including pork pies and steamed lamb suet pudding and fish fingers, but the latter will be made from John Dory. The Beaumont’s famous DIY sundaes will also remain intact, which makes my inner child very happy

A Suitably Regal New Restaurant

Lilibet’s will specialise in classic European cuisine.

Lateef Photography

Queen Elizabeth II was born at 17 Bruton Street in 1926. Now Lilibet’s is opening on the site as restaurateur Ross Shonhan’s latest venture. Just off Berkeley Square (yes, we’re back in Mayfair), it’s seafood-centric, with a 1920s-2020s approach to the menu; expect oysters, plus ‘unsung heroes’ from the seas, including squat lobsters and halibut, plus sides that sing of the Cote d’Azur. The decor, from Russell Sage, also comes from the same Twenties hymn sheet, with specially commissioned handmade wallpaper featuring a floral pattern of the era.