"Opened in 1900 as the Hotel Russell, this landmark building in Bloomsbury remains beloved for its ornate architecture by Charles Fitzroy Doll, the man who designed the dining room on the Titanic. The property reopened in 2018 as the UK’s first Kimpton, but it retains many of the design elements that have made it a favorite over the past century: a thé-au-lait terracotta façade, statues of four British queens watching over the entrance, a zodiac mosaic on the lobby floor. The elegant guest rooms, all calming creams and beiges, feature subtly whimsical touches, such as colorful pillows by textile designer Kit Miles, depicting “Lucky George,” a bronze dragon found on the second-floor staircase—a second, less lucky cast of the same mold was on the Titanic. As enticing as the rooms are, you’ll want to spend all your time in the hotel’s common spaces, including the disco-ball-bedecked cocktail lounge Fitz’s and the glass-ceilinged Palm Court for afternoon tea (and bubbly)." - Nicholas DeRenzo, CNT Editors
