Pleasure palace

THE MANDRAKE, LONDON

In this age of ironic-minimal, hipster homeaway-from-home hotels, Rami Fustok’s Mandrake takes hostelry in the opposite direction. Dark, moody and draped in sumptuous fabrics, with art-filled walls and eclectic (even eccentric) design pieces, it practically swings from the chandeliers. The Mandrake is designed as a sensual overload, cocooning guests in fragrance and sound (the former by Azzi Glasser, the latter by Pierre-arnaud Alunni) and feeding them treats by Frédéric Peneau, who brings his ‘democratic French gourmet’ experience, Serge et le Phoque, to town. Wrapped around a verdant atrium, with a greenhouse for medicinal plants on the first floor, the hotel takes its botanical inspiration seriously, even serving plant-based cocktails in the bar. Bold and opulent in a wear-yourjewels-in-the-bathtub way, the 30 bedrooms, three suites and lavish penthouse make for quite the hallucinatory homage to hedonism. Warren Singh-bartlett 20-21 Newman Street, W1, tel: 44.20 3314 7770, themandrake.com. Rates: from £300