What's the draw?
We’ve all done it before. Whether it’s ripping out power chords on an air guitar in front of the mirror, singing in the shower, or ruining your office rep at karaoke, everybody’s pretended that they were a rock star once or twice. Chateau Denmark elevates the make-believe to the next level. If you want to cosplay rock ‘n’ roll royalty in the United Kingdom, there’s simply only one place to reserve a room.
New York has the Village. San Fran has Haight-Ashbury. London? For British musicians, it’s always been Soho. And one street in particular resonates in the pantheon of guitar deities.
Bedroom at Chateau Denmark
Music publishers started setting up offices on Denmark Street as early as 1911, when it became the epicentre of the UK’s sheet music industry. In the 1950s, musicians like Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck laid the tracks for what was to happen in the 1960s, when Denmark Street underwent a veritable explosion of creative output. The Rolling Stones recorded their
first album at Regent Sound Studios in 1964, and The Kinks, David Bowie and The Who crafted some of their most iconic songs in studios on Denmark Street.
Chateau Denmark feels more like an homage to Denmark Street’s euphonic history than it does a hotel. Its 44 unique and, well, enormous suites are spread throughout 16 structures on the street: Grade II-listed townhouses, a mews house, a maisonette and a mansion building where Lou Reed used to hang with Bowie. Each room leans hard into debauchery and excess with an outstretched tongue and sign-of-the-horns fingers. All of the rooms come equipped with Void sound systems with nightclub nous and three lighting presets: Day, Night, and Party.
Bathroom at Chateau Denmark
In one suite, you could find snakeskin floors and a fully stocked bar next to a standalone bathtub. In another, it might be a graffitied four-poster bed and psychedelic wallpaper. Remember that Stones album? It was recorded in the Lofthouse Apartment.
I stayed in the I Am Anarchy duplex apartment, where the Sex Pistols once lived and recorded Never Mind The Bollocks. With plexiglass screens displaying hand-drawn caricatures scribbled by Vivienne Westwood and Sid Vicious, accents in tartan blinds, graffitied chairs, an expansive bar and a bed that disappears into the wall – you can be sure that the Party preset gets some stubborn use. This is a suite that you’d want to show off to your friends, and then struggle to usher them out of the room in the early hours of the morning.
The food and drink
Let’s discuss drinks first. The bars are absurdly well-provisioned for a hotel room, with everything from Volcan to Bruichladdich to Ruinart and Dom P ready to rinse your wallet (the only thing that you might lack is a price list). However, if you’re not a pro with a Boston Shaker, there’s an answer for that: a quick walk down the street to Thirteen. Located on 1-3 Denmark Street, it echoes the gothic and baroque interior of the hotels, with cocktails named after famous radio hits like ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Lady Stardust’, complemented by a menu of Japanese picky bits to give the booze a soft landing.
Bar at Chateau Denmark
For those looking for something more substantial, pop across the street to Tattu, perched on the rooftop of the Outernet above the nerve ganglion of Tottenham Court Road, which has been designed to resemble a traditional Chinese courtyard house by the award-winning Joyce Wang Studio, and serves modern Chinese cuisine with a focus on sharing plates. Even rock stars need to eat!
Rooms start from £400 per night; chateaudenmark.com
