Inhabit Hotels has opened its second hotel in West London, located in Bayswater.
Inhabit Queen’s Gardens is located within a series of mid-19th century townhouses on a tree-lined square near Lancaster Gate, a five minute walk from Paddington Station.
The property comprises 158 rooms, a meat-free restaurant and bar, lounge areas for socialising and working, a quiet library and a subterranean wellness area with treatment rooms, a fitness suite and yoga studio.
Interiors by Holland Harvey Architects and Caitlin Henderson Design will fuse “contemporary Scandi inspiration and Eastern philosophical awareness with quintessentially British design”.
Designers have worked with over 30 craftspeople and artists for the hotel’s interiors, which include bespoke joinery by Goldfinger, furnishings by Kalinko Homewares in Myanmar, and cushions from Aerende which have been made by people recovering from and living with mental health illnesses.
Meanwhile art curators Culture A have worked with Somerset House Studios and Makerversity to source artworks by emerging and established artists which reflect the “meditative mood of the hotel”.
Works include a multi-textural art installation along the reception wall by AnneMette Beck, dynamic light drawings by Hugo Dalton, botanical drawings by Carlos Penalver and black-and-white botanical shots from Kew Gardens by Harry Adams in the corridors.
Rooms feature a ‘phone lock-box’ in the bedside tables, designed to encourage screen-free time, and TVs equipped with meditation channels are hidden behind sliding wooden cabinets. Contemporary-style bathrooms feature custom coloured concrete basins by Kelham Island Concrete, refillable amenities by Skandinavisk, and vanities finished in cork, sustainable Mosa wall tiles and critall-style shower glazing.
Inhabit has collaborated with Devon health retreat Yeotown for its 70-cover all-day restaurant Yeotown Queen’s Gardens, which offers a Californian-inspired menu free from meat, dairy and refined sugars alongside ‘conscious cocktails’ and ‘mindful mocktails’. Dishes include blue spirulina pancakes, BBQ cauliflower wings and eggs Benedict on a home-made chia and oat muffin with vegan hollandaise.
The wellness area will host a series of regular workshops, lectures and events, and daily activities such as vinyasa flow, yin yoga, Pilates and complimentary morning meditation classes. The gym will also feature a Peloton Bike, allowing guests to stream live classes from Peloton’s studio in New York, and a library of studio workouts.
The hotel has also used sustainable materials in the building such as custom-made terrazzo Granby Rock, while 100 per cent of the waste from the hotel’s construction was diverted from landfill via reuse or recycling initiatives.
The hotel has pledged to work with 100 social enterprises and small, socially conscious businesses, and is working towards B Corps certification – an accreditation which verifies that businesses balance profit and purpose.
The brand opened its first hotel in Paddington’s Southwick Street in 2019.
