Caught between Soho, Bloomsbury and Marylebone, Fitzrovia often gets overlooked – perhaps as it has never been quite as louche, learned or lacquered as its neighbours.
In the first half of the last century, it drew a looser, more combustible crowd: the likes of Dylan Thomas and George Orwell regularly drank at the Fitzroy Tavern.
After the Second World War, the bohemian vibe became edgier and the streets grew shabbier – though places such as Bradley’s Spanish Bar held on to a certain stubborn character (and it still does).
This period was to be followed by the more practical than the poetic: functional office buildings and even private clinics in the orbit of nearby Harley Street.
Thankfully, the community never entirely surrendered its less-polished corners.
If Soho, to the south across Oxford Street, has lost its edge, Fitzrovia feels poised to position itself as something of a successor.
And if talk of a ‘new Soho’ is being whispered by some, that slow, slightly tentative reinvention is personified by The Newman.
This 81-room hotel opened in February, from London-based Kinsfolk & Co.
Members of this cohort cut their teeth at some of the capital’s most established addresses, including The Goring and The Beaumont.
Inside, it’s an ode to the locality. Rory Langdon-Down was commissioned to produce black-and-white photographs of the neighbourhood’s past and present characters.
The 81-room hotel opened in earlier this year – those behind it cut their teeth at some of the capital’s most established addresses, including The Goring and The Beaumont
An unobtrusive entrance on the hotel’s namesake street leads to a reception where design firm Lind + Almond’s use of gentle lighting softens the wood textures
Often, it’s more subtle, like the nods to the polka dots and bangles worn by Nancy Cunard, an heiress, writer and muse to artists such as Man Ray and Ernest Hemingway – with her once seen as Fitzrovia’s ‘bohemian queen’.
An unobtrusive entrance on the hotel’s namesake street leads to a reception where design firm Lind + Almond’s use of gentle lighting softens the wood textures.
Rooms are understated without being boring, with muted tones of burnt red and green – yet still have the curves, timber and polished steel of Art Deco.
Meanwhile, the ground-floor Brasserie Angelica is glamorous, with leather banquettes and Fitzrovia motifs woven into the patterned floor.
The Newman’s ground-floor Brasserie Angelica is a ‘glamorous’ joint, according to Ben, with ‘leather banquettes’ and Fitzrovia motifs woven into the patterned floor
Caught between Soho, Bloomsbury and Marylebone, Fitzrovia often gets overlooked – perhaps as it has never been quite as louche, learned or lacquered as its neighbours.
The all-day menu is good – hake tail (cooked in a wood-fired Josper oven) and goat cheese gougeres are highlights – but at the moment it lacks the serious flair to turn it into a go-to spot.
It does, however, serve a mean martini (gin, dry, stirred, with olives), and there’s the subterranean Gambit Bar: a sleek and spacious haunt but with corners to hide away in.
There is also a ‘wellness’ spa. Innovative treatments include a medical grade ‘halotherapy’ (essentially inhaling pharmaceutical-grade salt in a controlled environment).
More recognisable are an ice lounge, sauna, massage rooms, steam room and hydrotherapy pool.
The Newman alone isn’t going to reinvent Fitzrovia, nor does it intend to. Yet it slots into the neighbourhood’s rhythm with quiet confidence – a new reason to slip away from Soho, just like Mr Thomas, Mr Hemingway and Ms Cunard all those years ago.
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