At Chiltern Firehouse, You Never Know Who You’ll See
Ed. Note: Chiltern Firehouse is currently closed due to a fire that took place on February 14. This collaboration was already produced before that tragedy occurred. Highsnobiety and Chiltern have decided together to proceed with the release as planned in order to support the hotel and its staff during this challenging time.
Chiltern Firehouse is the coolest hotel in London, which is no small feat in a city full of them. Squarely in the middle of Marylebone, it’s where celebrities host their birthdays, fashion houses throw their parties, and magazine editors conduct their interviews. Visitors line up out front for the chance to have a drink, and paparazzi hang out back for the chance to capture gold. The Chiltern has established itself as an institution, but it hasn’t been around for a very long time — just over 10 years. It’s a young hotel in a very old city, which makes its rapid rise to the height of the scene all the more impressive.
Stars, aspirants, and vultures alike flock to the Chiltern for its unique cocktail of elegance, privacy, and decadence (with the faintest hint of grime). Its distinct aura is on full display on the smoking terrace, where everyone is cooler than you, probably more famous, and almost certainly richer. But at the Chiltern, you may spot a Gallagher, a Gerber, or even a royal.
Still, the best way to understand the Chiltern is by understanding what it’s not. It is not Claridge’s, the iconic hotel that’s a 15-minute walk south of the Chiltern, though they may seem to have much in common on the surface. The Chiltern was built in 1889 and Claridge’s was updated in the 1890s; both feature the classic red brick facade characteristic of their posh neighborhood, and both buildings are listed as Grade II, recognized by the UK government to be of special historical interest. Rooms come at similarly eye-watering price points (around £800 a night at the Chiltern, £900 at Claridge’s). But Claridge’s has eight times the rooms and trades on its Englishness, catering to hedge fund managers at high tea, in a way the Chiltern does not.
More importantly, it is not the Chateau Marmont, the Chiltern’s older sister in Los Angeles. Opened in 1929, the Chateau is home to decades of Hollywood history. By contrast, Chiltern Firehouse was technically still a fire station as late as 2005
The Chiltern as we know it now, opened in 2014. Designed by Studio KO, a fashion industry favorite who did the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech, the former municipal building was turned into a luxurious labyrinth. The 26 rooms and suites are done up with a cozy mix of leather and velvet, and if you’re lucky come complete with a working fireplace — or two. Much like the Chateau, there are nooks and crannies throughout that feel out of sight, adding to the hotel’s intimate feel. There’s a back exit so famous folks can slip out quickly and discreetly. There’s also an invite-only cocktail lounge, the Ladder Shed, open only to guests, VIPs, and a few lucky people each night who receive special playing cards that grant access.
You can’t just walk into the hotel without a reason to be there. Staff monitor the door closely, so you can’t gatecrash to shoot your shot with your celebrity crush. Celebrity doesn’t guarantee admission either — Ncuti Gawande and Asa Butterfield, the stars of Sex Education, were turned away at the door after showing up a bit too drunk after GQ’s Man of the Year party.
However, you probably can get into the restaurant. Anyone can hop online and book a spot at its eponymous restaurant via SevenRooms. Act fast and a table is yours. Sure, you may settle for a seat at the bar at a late hour, but you want to be there late anyway.
Any spot as hyped as the Chiltern is bound to have detractors but despite the occasional outcry from haters (who might just be salty that they couldn't get a table), the food is good — very good, even. Chef Luke Hunns cooks simply with excellent ingredients. Wine is poured generously. The staff will recommend the raw bar, and they should. Get the trout crudo, trust me.
The cuisine is technically “American,” but the atmosphere at the Chiltern is a particular type of international. The guests and the people who eat here are passing through on their way between tour stops, fashion weeks, and press junkets, subsisting on a steady diet of green juice and salad — something that, bafflingly, is incredibly difficult to find in London. (English food gets a lot of hate, but its dearth of good salads is even worse.) As it happens, the Chiltern does a magnificent chopped salad — Sweetgreen à la Proust.
But let’s be honest. Most of the guests at the Chiltern aren’t there to eat. They’re there to soak up the vibe, and hopefully see a celebrity. Beautiful people in tailored suits or tracksuits abound at the Chiltern. On any given night you’re likely to hear three different languages and see more than your fair share of models, footballers, and power brokers. I saw a Spiderman during my visit on a random Monday.
All this amounts to a unique intersection. London is a city of cultural bubbles — the uber-posh tend to stick to their members’ clubs, the hipsters don’t wander this far west, and celebrities don't rear their heads in many places at all. But something about the Chiltern is different. Whatever it is, the cooler-than you aura or the Proustian salad, it’s definitely special.
