Corbin & King to open Mayfair hotel
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, owners of The Wolseley, plan to develop a world-class 85-bedroom boutique hotel in Mayfair.
Corbin & King Hotels, part of Rex Restaurant Associates which owns The Wolseley, and Grosvenor West End Properties, have lodged a planning application with the City of Westminster Council for the hotel which will incorporate a 125-seat restaurant, 65-seat lobby bar, spa, gym and small rear outdoor garden terrace.
A key feature will be a habitable sculpture called The Crouching Man by Antony Gormley, the artist best known for his Angel of the North work in Gateshead.
Integrated into the architecture of the building, the sculpture will be coated in stainless steel sheet and will form a unique guestroom.
The restaurant will offer all-day dining and will be in the grand European style, similar to The Wolseley.
Situated on Balderton Street, between Oxford Street and Grosvenor Square, the hotel will be developed within a distinctive Art Deco building which was originally built in 1926 as a town garage. In recent years, it has been occupied by Avis-Rent-a-Car.
Two new storeys will be added to create a six storey property, along with two two- storey extensions to the building's existing bays.
General manager of the hotel will be Rémy Lysé, currently managing director of Rex Restaurant Associates. After working a general manager at Blue bird and Pont de la Tour, he was food and beverage manager at the Dorchester for seven years before developing the Hotel Sofitel in St James's.
Corbin and King have been in the restaurant industry for more than 30 years and have been looking for a site to develop a hotel for many years. At the new hotel they intend to create the same kind of memorable guest experience they have provided at their restaurants, most notably at The Ivy and Le Caprice, which they sold in 1998, and more recently at The Wolseley.
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By Janet Harmer
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