The Red Room

The Red Room The Connaught

LONDON

Words: Jenna Campbell Photography: © James McDonald

IN A BITE Operator: Maybourne Hotel Group Interior Design: Bryan O’Sullivan Bar Manager Oscar Angeloni Director of Mixology: Agostino Perrone Director of Wine: Daniel Manetti www.the-connaught.co.uk

Asecluded hideaway accessed through a velvet-curtained doorway, The Red Room is The Connaught’s first new bar concept in over decade, with its moniker aptly describing what lies within.

Designed by Bryan O’Sullivan – who was also behind the recent refurbishment of The Berkeley Bar & Terrace and The Painter’s Room at Claridge’s – the interiors evoke the feel of a collector’s living room with an eclectic mix of furniture, antique pendant lighting and a collection of small ceramics and objects d’art that will continuously evolve.

A palette of soft creams, blush pinks and pearl blues sets the scene, while focal points include a fireplace in red-veined Italian marble and a dazzling pink onyx bar complete with jewel-like moulded lamps. There’s also a cocooning snug in ombré scarlet affording a sense of privacy.

Taking centre stage however is the collection of red-hued works by four female visionaries. Curated by Paddy McKillen, coowner of Maybourne Hotel Group, the pieces include Composition #8 by California-based photographer Trina McKillen, and Jenny Holzer’s Benghazi, a graphite and watercolour modification of previously-censored US government documents in a brilliant shade of red. Dominating one wall, Scarlet Mist is an oil painting by Ti-a Thuy Nguyen, which was purchased at the Red Auction in Miami, all proceeds of which go to fighting AIDS in Africa. And hanging over the fireplace is I Am Rouge, a chance-find in watercolour, gouache and pencil by celebrated French-American artist Louise Bourgeois.

At the heart of the beverage programme is an impressive wine list curated by Director of Wine Daniel Manetti from the hotel’s legendary cellar, which features over 3,000 different labels and 30,000 bottles. Rare vintages and first growths are served by the glass from a custom-made marble trolley, plus there’s a capsule collection of cocktails devised by Director of Mixology Agostino Perrone, each inspired by the bar’s red and white wine selection.