Hotels have long been associated with sex, whether it’s Johnny Depp and Kate Moss allegedly getting intimate in each of Chateau Marmont’s 63 chambres, or Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey’s extra-marital residence at The Beverly Hills Hotel. Yet few wear their sensuality so boldly as At Sloane, London’s answer to Paris’s Hotel Costes, with its dim lighting, mood music, heavy perfume and sumptuous interiors — it has more curtains than I’ve ever counted inside one hotel.
Even the location feels illicit: there’s only a doorman to signal that a hotel lies behind the doors of 1 Sloane Gardens, a residential enclave tucked behind Sloane Square tube, and according to staffers, several of its neighbours weren’t even aware that it was a hotel for some time.
Opened at the tail-end of 2023 after a six-year renovation project paid for by the Cadogan Estate and spearheaded by Jean-Louis Costes and interior designer Francois-Joseph Graf, the 1888 townhouse (built by Edwin Thomas Hall, the same architect behind Liberty) was gutted and turned into a 30-room hotel, with a subterranean bar and a rooftop restaurant complete with cupola private dining room.
Graf took his inspiration from the English arts and crafts movement, local to Chelsea, with vintage WAS Benson light-fittings, William Morris wallpapers and Chartres stained glass. The colour palette is largely monochrome, with pops of red in the downstairs bar and upstairs restaurant, which of course adds to the sexy appeal.
Upon arrival, for a brief moment, I worry that I’ve stumbled into a chic members’ club, with young and achingly cool staff sitting around a long table working on laptops. But my mind was immediately put at ease by the reception team, who stood up to greet me and welcomed me over with a freshly baked Madeleine (or two).
After a brief nosey at all the sumptuous coffee table books on display, I’m whisked to my room on the second floor — a beautiful suite with a separate salon (mais oui!), walk-in wardrobe, bathroom and two toilets. All the mod-cons you’d expect are in situ, from the Dyson hairdryer to the Nespresso machine and Smeg kettle, and there’s a fully stocked mini bar with trendy brands like The Lost Explorer Mezcal and Candy Kittens. Happily, the snacks are all included with the rate, something that my toddler appreciates when I return home bearing gifts.
Every detail in the boudoir seems to have been designed to seduce; from the ‘love’ button that controls the dimmed lighting, to the mood music you can pump into your room from the reception
Despite the relatively small square footage, Graf has made the most of what he’s working with, transforming jewelbox rooms with multiple trompe l’oeil effects to add a pleasing sense of symmetry (you’ll soon realise the hotel is full of these ‘trick’ doors, added to mirror each other, rather than having a function).
Every detail in the boudoir seems to have been designed to seduce; from the ‘love’ button that controls the dimmed lighting, to the mood music you can pump into your room from the reception, and the large, roll-top bath standing in the middle of the bathroom. There are Pillow Talk cards in the minibar to encourage intimacy (“nothing is sexier than conversation”), and black and white photographs of famous couples on the walls, plus curtains everywhere – made from Loro Piana wool, no less.
Then there’s the fact that the receptionist describes the loo as a “lipstick room”. There is an additional access door (ostensibly for guests who travel with butlers who don’t want to disturb their charges when tinkering in the walk-in wardrobe) dubbed a mistress door. And there’s an undeniable playfulness to other little flourishes, whether that’s the oui signs to put on the door for housekeeping, or the fact that a portrait of Coco Chanel sits above the 5 sign on the fifth floor.
It is the speakeasy style bar where a lot of the action happens, though I can’t confirm or deny if anything goes on in the guest-christened “naughty rooms” (curtained off snugs which are hidden at the back). Hotel Costes’s presence can be felt most keenly here, with a matching menu of signature bar snacks including their beloved nems (crispy chicken spring rolls) and salmon blinis (generous chunks of pink fish with creme fraiche and dill), as well as in its party atmosphere with guest DJs and a separate entrance and exit from the hotel.
My fellow revellers seemed largely to be regulars (many American), with bar staff knowing their drinks by heart. It’s easy to see what the appeal is, and no wonder that the hotel gets so many repeat — and long stay – bookings.
With all this licentiousness in the air, was I tempted into anything naughty? Well, I did eat the salted caramel chocolate bar left on my pillow at turndown…
The details
Rooms start at £600 a night. atsloane.com
