NOBU HOTEL
SHOREDITCH LONDON
Why it’s got the Insta-factor…
It’s easier to tell you what’s not cool: nothing. Co-owned by renowned chef Nobu Matsuhisa, his eponymous London restaurant has hosted supermodels and the men that flock to them since the ’90s. Imagine the best bits of the coolest hotels in New York, London and Tokyo all brought together in one spangly package: concrete walls, gold and rattan screens, brass fittings, globe lights, ottomans, lashings of lacquer and a lot of saké. Oh and a Nobu restaurant with an open kitchen, reached via a sweeping gold staircase (where you’ll descend past a human wall of selfie takers).
How do I blend in?
Actually, the lighting’s so sexy (read: dim) most guests will barely be able to see you, so you could pad down to reception in your PJs without causing a fuss (just pair them with fluffy slippers and pretend they’re £500 Fendi faux-fur sliders).
Any celebrity guests?
Oh yes. For starters Robert De Niro flew in for the opening party (to be fair he’s a co-owner so it wasn’t just for the free canapés). It’s not unusual for a paparazzo to be hanging around to snap the likes of Abbey Clancy, Lara Stone or Cosmopolitan
cover star Tess Holliday…
Don’t go home without...
…eating the black cod miso, because it’s Nobu’s signature dish, even more famous than most of the guests, and if you didn’t get a picture of yourself eating it, were you really even there at all?