Originally opened in 1960, the former American Embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square was designed by Finnish-American Eero Saarinen. With its façade of Portland stone and gold-anodized aluminum and its massive gilt eagle on the roof surveying the square, it stood as one of the British capital’s most recognizable landmarks for nearly 60 years.
To appreciate the significance of the Grosvenor Square – pronounced GROVE-nuh – location, you have to know something of its American history. The first United States minister to the Court of St. James (and the second president of the United States,) John Adams, lived in the square from 1785 to ’88, and four subsequent ministers occupied the same house on the square, which still stands today.
In Grosvenor Square, too, you’ll find a statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, who set up his military headquarters there during World War II. The square also boasts statues of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. The United Kingdom’s 9/11 Memorial is situated within the small garden on the east side of the square. London doesn’t get more American.
But increasing security concerns following 9/11 spelled the beginning of the end for the embassy as it was and, in 2009, it was announced that it would close and move to a site in the Nine Elms district across the River Thames in South London, where security could be more effectively handled.
All of which posed the question – what to do with Saarinen’s original building? Enter real estate developer Qatari Diar Europe with around $1 billion in its deep pockets; commission the British architect, Sir David Chipperfield, and designer Joseph Dirand to get to work; add hotel know-how and proven class from Rosewood Hotels & Resorts (which counts The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel in New York, in its portfolio); stir in eight years of blood, sweat, tears and total transformation and hey presto, welcome to The Chancery Rosewood , London’s newest, starriest, grandest “grand hotel.”
It’s an all-suites hotel property, 144 of them in fact, with some so large they are referred to as “houses.”
When I recently stayed as a guest of The Chancery Rosewood, I was lucky enough to be allocated the John Adams House – a massive swath of sixth-floor real estate on the premium southeast corner of the hotel, opened with a wooden key card on which my initials had been thoughtfully embossed. As the front desk agent opened the door and I was greeted in the vestibule by my butler, Alex, my jaw dropped lower than it’s dropped in 35 years of stepping into wonderful hotel rooms, suites or even houses – dropped so low indeed that I almost needed the ever-obliging Alex to help me scoop it up off the floor.
Where to start? I guess at the beginning, beyond the entry hall and powder room, where the vast – and I use the word advisedly – living room measures almost 1,000 square feet. So if size matters, this one’s definitely for you. The ceiling is double height, with six floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the square in all its glory, with views of the city’s landmark Post Office Tower, the London Eye and Canary Wharf in the distance. If Uncle Sam himself came to London, I promise you he could not be offered a better view.
How do I love this “house”? Pace the Bard, but let me count the ways. First, of course, were the big things. The bedroom, big certainly, but tastefully restrained. Then the bathroom, a symphony of veined cream and gray marble with a bathtub the size of a swimming pool, all flooded with natural light. The dressing room, roughly the size of a decent one-bed apartment in SoHo, with all the things you could ever possibly want in a dressing room plus not one, not two, not three, but four pairs of heavy wooden shoe trees, his and hers. Insane, but nicely so.
Oops, and I nearly forgot the study / den off the living room, with its leather-topped desk overlooking the square and deep sofa and armchairs for watching a TV the size of Central Park.
But the small touches impressed, too, seemingly simple but sophisticated details like the switch-operated blinds and drapes; easy to operate lighting; a leather wash bag in the bathroom, filled with really useful items, yours to take home. And at turndown, a pair of soft, green velvet slippers arranged at the bedside, camomile tea in a china teapot and a flask of water placed on a small tray on the dining table, awaiting my return.
Should I go on? I loved those leather-faced heavy pocket doors and noted that leather is a much-used natural product at the green-minded Chancery. Daily housekeeping bound my unsightly electronics cables in a neat leather strap each day, and, heavens, even the Nespresso machine, surely the most “top of the line” model Nespresso has ever made, was faced in tan leather.
And let’s not forget the terrific bar, with all nonalcoholic beverages and excellent snacks included in the room rate, plus – naturally – a separate bar cart for mixing cocktails.
And then the books – shelves of them. I dipped into Michael Burlingame’s substantial biography, “Abraham Lincoln: A Life” but confess I spent longer with Kingsley Amis’s “Everyday Drinking” – a concept so appallingly out of fashion it appealed to the gin-loving contrarian in me.
Go downstairs, though, and the fun really starts. Tobi Masa, from Masayoshi Takayama (owner of three Michelin-starred Masa in New York), is The Chancery’s pared-down but peerless Japanese restaurant, while the Mediterranean-leaning Serra is one of its all-day dining options. Another is the beautiful GSQ café, spilling outside onto the square, perfect for an aperitivo, a sandwich and, if you’re so inclined, a smoke, while the tea lounge, Jacqueline, named for one of that elite band of Americans who needs no last name, has already become one of London’s fanciest spots for an afternoon cuppa, or indeed the whole afternoon tea shebang.
Fancy Italian? Then head for the London offshoot of New York celebrity-riddled restaurant Carbone, which although not one of The Chancery’s own-managed restaurants, nevertheless sits on its property, entered via Upper Brook Street, just around the corner from the main hotel entrance.
Below ground level, the Asaya Spa offers, as you might expect, top of the line treatments, combining what it calls “science-led skincare” with holistic treatments. The fitness center features Artis Luxury equipment and I’ve no hesitation in citing Asaya’s 82-foot pool as one the top three hotel pools in London.
From the subterranean to the dizzy heights, last but so absolutely not least, is The Chancery’s rooftop Eagle Bar, accessed by a dedicated elevator, where reservations are required for the hoi poloi but priority is always given to hotel guests.
With its live DJs and rather fabulous outdoor terrace, which is surely going to be London’s most sought-after drinking space in the summer months, up there is where you’ll find the eagle himself, looking as if he’s about to swoop on what is arguably London’s grandest square.
Presidents come and go, embassies open and close, and even old soldiers fade away, but high above this great, green prized acreage of Central London once known as “Little America,” the magnificent American eagle lives on, thanks to Rosewood and all who come to pose beneath him, for their supreme Instagram moment.
