How to find any city’s cool crowd quick? Find the Soho House. The hip hotel group’s outposts are still the hangouts of choice for those in the know. Each of the zeitgeist-tapping global spaces crackles with creative energy; fuelled further by immaculately styled surroundings, meaningful artworks and if-you-know-you-know talks, takeovers, live bands and parties till late — all exclusive to members and guests — plus a few picantes, of course.
If you’re not yet a card-carrier (or a Soho friend with benefits), or still have a few Houses to tick off your list, let us give you the lowdown on some of the group’s hottest city stays to find your summertime base. Take a look further behind the scenes…
SOHO HOUSE ROME
The scene There are none of Rome’s cult classicism in the graffiti-scrawled San Lorenzo quarter, a gritty factory district turned student hub, once on the wrong side of Termini station’s tracks. Soho House can be credited for smoothing some of the rougher edges that drew it to build there in the first place, but there’s still a cool aloofness to the city’s grandeur here, attracting a modern-minded artistic crowd, who themselves are dressed with the polish of the Pope’s marble flooring.
Follow suit, but not literally: the look here is quiet luxury, niche labels and vintage, pristinely styled from your hairdo to Golden Goose sneaker tip. Seek out collaborators in the co-working space, then sheath your laptop in high-end leather before hitting the Cowshed Spa’s cryotherapy chamber, lapping the rooftop pool and taking Paloma aperitivi; then concede to some trad Roman romance, dining under lemon trees on Cecconi’s terrace.
The look The hotel’s cladding has the peachy hue of Rome’s vintage façades, but its layered balconies and deco geometry speak more to 1930s modernism. Senior Interior Designer, Alicia Meireles, explained the rationale behind this rare new-build for the group: ‘Rome was the perfect place to break the mould, because this city has all the history that members could want already.’ Within, the retro look is bolstered by terrazzo flooring, a warm Seventies palette and an olive hue inspired by a car founder Nick Jones saw parked outside on a site visit.
Art direction Don’t expect cherubs or Caravaggios — there is a fresco by Gio Pistoni on the rooftop, but it uses simple shapes and bold primaries. The rest of the works by modern Roman talents (Silvia Giambrone, Marta Mancini, Gabriele de Santis) follow the theme of ‘Saints and Sinners’, interpreted as sexual and mystical or even curiously mundane. These sit alongside works by a supporting global cast, including Luke Edward Hall, Thomas Heatherwick and Quayola.
SOHO HOUSE AMSTERDAM
The scene Soho House hit a serendipitous streak in Amsterdam. Not only did it secure The Bungehuis — a 1930s behemoth of a building, more glamorous than any former trading hub (and one-time university) has a right to be — for its club and hotel, but it nabbed a prime spot on Spuistraat, a super-convenient location within steps of Centraal Station, the vibrant De Negen Straatjes (or Nine Streets) quarter and the Singel Canal if you want to ride the city’s waterworks.
It might be the sultrier, art deco look here — with its stained glasses, marble hallways and Vermeer lighting — but the crowd feels more grown-up, with a mix of jet-set members and well-shod locals. Here, type decorously away in a soft-lit corner, then retire to your room to decant your minibar’s pre-mixed Old Fashioned into a cut-crystal glass (or wait for the daily cocktail trolley to trundle by), then join the cool kids on the DJ-soundtracked rooftop pool deck or take cichetti in Cecconi’s bursting-with-bloemen dining room.
The look The JB Ingwersen-designed building’s original features, such as birch panelling and blue ceramic tiling, offered an elegant canvas to paint on, with a palette inspired by Rembrandt and latter-day Van Gogh (seafoam, burgundy, taupe). Patterns were drawn from original fabrics found within and from the decor of nearby hidden-secret church, Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic). Add antique furnishings, lamps and objets, a spectacularly stylish gym and the odd copper bath tub in rooms and you’ve got a masterpiece of a hideaway.
Art direction Dutch masters get their due yet again, with many homages in the House’s art collection. A rogue’s gallery of self-portraits by Billy Childish, Catherine Opie, Lisa Brice and more hang in the club lounge; surrealists Rui Matsunaga and Natasha Kissell rep the Flemish landscape tradition; and for Cecconi’s, talents such as Mat Collishaw, Jasper Joffe and Zoë Buckman have crafted still-lifes and vanitas paintings.
SOHO HOUSE NEW YORK
The scene Soho House may have built its brand in Britain, but it feels as natural to New York as pizza by the slice and yellow taxicabs, matching the city’s creative energy kilowatt for kilowatt. The House here has a quintessential Big Apple coolness: it sprawls over six storeys of an early 19th-century warehouse, it’s slap-bang in the middle of the Meatpacking District (close to The High Line and Chelsea Market), and this was the first house to have a rooftop pool (that even starred in Sex and the City) — you can order cocktails to your lounger as you admire the Manhattan panorama.
Bedrooms are dressed in hipster best, but this is where New York never sleeps (or at least stays up till the small hours); you’ll want to make the most of mingling with a crowd that might include A-listers, socialites, budding entrepreneurs and creative-industry big-wigs. There are work spaces, but fun is the focus, with a help-yourself candy bar, cinema with velvet seating, on-point playlists, games room and buzzy brunching on the weekend (where they nail a full English).
The look Classic Soho House: wood flooring that’s lived some lives, exposed brickwork, Crittall glass, leather and velvet statement seating — it’s all present and correct. Stand-out touches include a hammered-tin ceiling and spray of vintage chandeliers, and stealth thrifting makes spaces feel comfortably lived-in.
Art direction The collection here has big bold works by even bigger names: Ryan McGinley, Jenny Holzer, Richard Prince, Tracey Emin… But it doesn’t just fawn over stars of the industry; Soho House Global Director of Art, Kate Bryan, has selected works by artists that truly reflect New York’s diversity, with talents from different diasporas, gender identities and socio-economic backgrounds, plus exciting up-and-comers. Seek out paintings by queer Iranian painter Nasim Hantehzadeh and eye-catching, mixed-media canvases by African-American artist Tschabalala Self, among other probing works.
SOHO WAREHOUSE LA
The scene There was a time when DTLA was downright dangerous to set foot in; now it’s a most-wanted LA ’hood. It was in the process of being defanged when Soho House moved in, but the dilapidated, 1916, Arts District warehouse it moved into bears the brunt of a sketchier — yet storied — past in the many graffiti tags sprayed throughout. Soho Warehouse has kept them (and the fresh tags that appeared during renovation) for posterity, and a bit of hip urban scuzz.
In the 1960s, the building enjoyed a stint as a recording studio, later where seminal Cali band The Red Hot Chili Peppers laid down tracks; and then became an artists’ squat. Music is still its lifeblood, and LA’s tatted trendsters rock up for live gigs and DJ sets, and to take to the turntable in the Music Room or to unleash their inner podcaster on the house’s ‘content booth’.
The look Industrial with a rock ’n’ roll beat. The pipes, brickwork and flooring are exposed for effect; and the colours and furnishings throw back to the Sixties and Seventies, pulling in splashes of terracotta and some of Cali’s Spanish influence. The citrusy hues on the rooftop — where, yes, there is a pool — echo the sunset.
Art direction The artworks on display build on the former residents’ efforts, taking on the themes of body and language. Shepard Fairey’s mural by the entrance is a stand-out, as are a piece of video art by Brian Bress (the first of its kind in the Soho House collection), and a feminist wallpaper installation by Genevieve Gaignard. But be sure to also seek out work by ‘pop art nun’ Corita Kent, Amalia Ulman’s sensual photography and CK Reed’s tropical mural in the gym.
SHOREDITCH HOUSE
The scene Fun, decadent, discreet: Shoreditch House is a place where memories from the night before are read in photobooth strips, no-one will complain if you kick your shoes off to get comfy and entertainment is easily found, whether its DJ sets, live music till late or just an impromptu party. The rooftop pool and its signature stripy loungers become the most covetable spots when summer arrives, but check out what’s showing in the cosy screening room and maybe challenge the East London hipsters milling about to ping-pong or table football.
In quieter moments, see what’s fresh off the robata grill at izakaya joint Pen Yen or see which noted chef has taken residence at On the Back Deck; and there’s a petite Cowshed spa for post-co-working sprees.
The look The hotel is set in a former tea warehouse and behind the original façade of the White Swan Pub, and much of its sturdy industrial features remain. But for all its exposed brick and steelwork, it’s human in scale too, with many cosy Chesterfields and cocktail chairs to curl up in, plus rattan accents, soft lighting and plants to soften its rougher edges.
Art direction The YBAs (Young British Artists) prominent on Shoreditch’s art scene back in the day are well represented here, with pieces by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Rachel Whiteread and Gilbert & George. But, there are also pieces by Yinka Shonibare, whose studio is close by, a suite of etchings by young Welsh artist Billy Bagilhole, and works on paper by radical feminist artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman.
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