AN INSPECTOR CALLS
His mission: To test hotel hospitality to the limit
THE Franklin has slipped quietly into fashionable Knightsbridge, London, and even if you don’t stay the night, you should push open the heavy, black front door and take a snoop at Anouska Hempel’s latest creation.
It was she who designed Blakes in the late Seventies as the first so-called boutique hotel, setting the tone for myriad others.
This one is on behalf of the expanding Italian-owned Starhotels group — and it’s a beauty. Four Victorian townhouses have been knocked together as a canvas for Hempel’s moody greys and slinky blacks, offset by etched mirrors, flickering candle light and marble floors.
‘Sexy sophisticated’ is one way to describe it. Outlandishly expensive is another. This begs the question: is it aimed at the Arab market, which has colonised this part of town, or will the shires book here for a special treat and complete change of scene?
There are 35 rooms, many of which look out over gardens. Ours (£400 room only, but we are upgraded to a junior suite after asking politely) is delightfully decadent with plenty of symmetry in the form of matching Carrara marble-topped chests of drawers, mirrors and framed antique prints.
There is also a maddening, touchsensitive lighting panel that goes on and off by itself during the night and we could not work out how to turn off the bathroom lights.
At present, there is only an alcohol licence for resident guests, so there is not much of a buzz in the fabulous bar, where Isabel, from Milan, introduces us to an array of exotic gins.
We go for Death’s Door, which comes all the way from Wisconsin with a whopping £13 price tag for a double.
It’s early days for The Franklin. I make three trips to reception because our plastic key doesn’t work, the music is exactly the same at night as it is in the morning and a vacuum cleaner has been left on the stairwell. But the staff are desperately keen to please and the whole ensemble is immaculate.
There are two adjoining dining rooms, where the grey velvets and matt black theme continues.
The menu is modern Italian and disappointing. Our elaborate pasta starters (£15 to £18) have no texture and the slow-cooked beef (£25) somehow manages to be rich and bland at the same time, with a similar consistency to the first courses. The cheapest bottle of wine comes in at a hefty £40.
Breakfast costs £35 each if you opt for the full works. ‘Don’t go on about the prices,’ says my wife. ‘This hotel is for people who never have to worry about such trivialities.’ The Franklin 22-28 Egerton Gardens, London SW3 2DB Tel: 020 7584 5533, thefranklinlondon.com Doubles from £360, room only