CD Traveller unleashes their inner rock star at The Sanctum Soho

Billed as “London’s first rock ‘n’ roll hotel”, the £10 million Sanctum Soho is the brainchild of larger than life Mark Fuller – founder of Embassy and The Sugar Reef, two of London’s best known celebrity haunts.
Nonetheless despite targeting touring bands and a tag line that reads “submit to pleasure”, the Sanctum’s exterior doesn’t scream excess: the Soho pleasure den is made up of two tasteful Grade-II listed Edwardian townhouses that were once occupied by MI5.

But don’t be fooled by the Sanctum’s discreet exterior: inside it’s an entirely different story. Push through the revolving doors and this boutique bolthole’s rock credentials are clear for all to see. There’s the diamante door handles, glittering mirrors and plush private 45 seat cinema (which can be hired out for private screenings) but the icing on the cake is the 24 hour rooftop bar where you can sip champagne while – weather permitting – submerged in a hydro spa that comes complete with multi-coloured underwater lights! Rock ‘n’ roll indeed.

Bedrooms too, allow you to play rock star for the night. There are 30 in total ranging from “funky crash pads” (the cheapest and tiniest option which, according to the hotel’s unconventional owner, are for “the mate who’s got a bit drunk and rings up and needs a place to crash”) to two bedroom apartments. Accessed by diamante studded key handles, all are flamboyantly furnished – think rainforest showers, freestanding baths, ceilings adorned with stars, glitzy mirrors and (for those with fat wallets) huge circular beds – and kitted out with IPods, internet, entertainment systems (each room has more than 400 channels) and the obligatory Egyptian cotton bed linen.

The hedonistic outlook extends right down to the mini bar. Forget miniatures as mundane as peanuts and Pringles, at the Sanctum Soho each mini bar boasts a “box of tricks” which includes racy treats such as a pair of Myla knickers, a Miller Harris candle, oils and even a sex kit. The room service menu, meanwhile, promises to cater for all your guitar and amp needs.

With so much on offer it would be easy to hole up in your hotel room but don’t. Instead venture to the downstairs restaurant No 20 with its bronze banquettes and chairs upholstered in red crocodile skin. Open to the public as well as hotel residents, No 20 offers a glamorous take on those guilty pleasures we secretly crave –crab and sweet corn chowder with brown crab toast or a Burford Brown omelette with garden herbs anyone?

Essentially The Sanctum Soho would suit anyone up for a bit of rock ‘n’ roll. Sure it’s a warren for bona fide rock stars – Pussycat Doll Kimberley Wyatt and Tom Clarke from The Enemy are regular guests – but the not extortionate prices also allow us mere mortals to splash out and feel like a star for a night.

Need to know
Sanctum Soho Hotel
20 Warwick Street
Soho
London
W1B 5NF

Doubles from £175. To make a reservation call the hotel on 0207 292 6100 or email reservations@sanctumsoho.com.