An elegant homage to Basil Fawlty
IN FEBRUARY 1979, instead of attending a recording at BBC Television Centre, I travelled by Laker Skytrain to Los Angeles. I had to give the BBC tickets to my next-door neighbour Gerry, who gratefully seized the chance to watch the recording of Fawlty Towers’ The Psychiatrist.
Every time I see this episode, arguably the best of the lot (‘I’m a pediatrician.’ ‘Feet?’ ‘Children.’ ‘Oh. Basil!’ ‘Children have feet, don’t they? That’s how they move around, my dear’), I hear Gerry’s Welsh seal bark of a laugh – a painful reminder of one of the great missed events of my life. It’s hard to see TV Centre without a pang of regret – even harder now that this magnificent building has been sold off for redevelopment.
TV Centre has become – what else in London? – luxury flats. The twist is that part of the building also contains a Wood Lane outpost of the Soho House empire (complete with cool club, smart hotel and rooftop pool). This hotel, it could be said, literally stands on the remains of Basil Fawlty – and so offers a sitting target to any unhappy guest with a point to make.
When Soho House was launched 23 years ago, it ushered in a new era of affordable style and elegance, setting a trend that has been copied everywhere from airlines to cruise ships.
Which isn’t to say, however, that everything is perfect. We were shown to a room cold enough to satisfy a polar bear. We were quickly provided with another that may have been warmer (never more than lukewarm, despite the fact that our cupboard had some heating appliance that roared like the reverse thrust of a Boeing 747), but this one had an erratic supply of hot water. Staff in the club were occasionally uncertain. But it was the first week of business.
Of course, perhaps the slight gaffes were a sly homage to Britain’s most famous hotelier. I found it all very satisfactory. ‘A satisfied customer,’ Basil once remarked. ‘We should have him stuffed…’
The place: What do you expect to see from a White City hotel – the Hanging Gardens of Babylon?
The accommodation: There are 45 bedrooms ranging from ‘Tiny’ to ‘Big’ (from £230 per night).
The food: Next to the ninth-floor games room (energetic bearded men) is an ‘East-meets-West’ restaurant offering ‘plant-based’ dishes such as cauliflower rice with cashew houmous (£10).