Is this London's most luxurious eco hotel?

The backstory

When it comes to defining the hospitality zeitgeist, there are few better in the business than Barry Sternlicht. The billionaire real estate mogul, and founder of Starwood Hotels, effectively invented the lifestyle hotel back in 1998 when he launched W Hotels. Taking its cues from music, fashion, art and design, the W brand was tooled to attract a new type of high-end consumer – younger, sexier and more creative than your average guest. Then, in 2015, Sternlicht set out to create another new market category. 1 Hotels, he announced, was to be the world’s first mission-driven sustainable luxury hotel group, with a planet-positive ethos informing every part of its operation.

A decade on, 1 Hotels has ten properties around the globe, and that mission – to fight the climate crisis and help guests connect with nature – is taking shape. Once again, Sternlicht was ahead of the curve in identifying a new demographic, as a growing number of luxury travellers look to make more responsible choices. 1 Hotel Mayfair is the group’s first on UK soil, and this 181-room stay certainly lives up to its billing as a sustainable sanctuary, offering a very smart place to lay one’s head and enjoy a calming reset in the heart of one of the London’s busiest shopping districts.

Enjoy eco-friendly luxury in the heart of the capital (Mikkel Vang)

Look and feel

Mayfair boasts arguably the highest concentrations of high-end hotels in the capital – including some of London’s grandest dames, such as the Ritz, which is just across the street – but 1 Hotel proudly stands apart with its contemporary luxe aesthetic and biophilia-inspired design. That connection with the natural world begins with the living wall on the building’s exterior and continues with the impressive plant chandelier in the lobby. In fact, with some 1,300 individual plants, shrubs and trees littered throughout the eight-storey property, you’re never more than a few feet away from something green. When combined with the interiors, which lean heavily into neutral tones and natural materials – think wood, stone and natural fabrics – it creates an impressively calming ambience across both the public spaces and bedrooms.

I Hotel Mayfair stands apart with its biophilia-inspired design (Jon Day)

Sustainability credentials

Can a hotel ever be both luxurious and sustainable, offering uncompromising comfort and a clean eco-conscience? This is the question that the travel industry is still rightly wrestling with. And it’s one that the 1 Hotels group has presented a credible answer to. The approach? To make sustainable values core to its DNA. This begins with the building itself. Rather than construct a new hotel from scratch, 1 Hotels has renovated two existing structures, retaining around 80% of what was there previously to minimise the carbon footprint of the build. Sustainably sourced and recycled materials have been used throughout the interior, and there are various, impressive technologies at work to improve energy efficiency, including LED lighting, and smart heating and cooling systems that capture and re-use waste heat. The F&B offering, which includes the excellent flagship restaurant Dovetale, helmed by two-Michelin starred chef Tom Sellers, is targeting a Zero Waste certification, which means that the modern European menu leans heavily on locally sourced ingredients from suppliers that support regenerative practices.

Dovetale leans into sustainably sourced modern European cuisine (Jon Day)

Elsewhere, 1 Hotel’s commitment to an inclusive hiring policy, recruiting and training staff from many different backgrounds, has created a notably friendly and more unbuttoned environment. It’s something to be applauded – particularly in this part of town.

The Eco-USP

The hotel has made it its mission is gently remind guests that small, sustainable choices can make a lasting difference – and nowhere is this better evidenced than in the bedrooms. From the signature filtered water tap – with a living moss wall above it – to the use of chalkboards instead of notepads, the eco-friendly (and wonderfully comfy) bedding, and the fantastic toiletries from B-Corp certified Bamford, almost every detail in the impressively spacious rooms has been considered with the planet in mind.

we were particularly impressed with the subtle, playful prompts around the room encouraging guests to be better – ‘mindful moments’ as the hotel calls them. These included inspirational nuggets of sustainable living advice embossed on the clothes hangers and slippers, and a smart initiative called 1 Less Thing, where guests can leave behind a clothing item that will be donated to a local non-profit.

The filtered water tap is just one of many sustainable amenities to be found in the 181 bedrooms (Milo Brown)

Extracurricular

Once inside, it’s hard to believe that you’re in one of the capital’s busiest neighbourhoods, so cosseted and calming is the ambience of the hotel. While that means you may struggle to leave, should you choose to do so, 1 Hotel is supremely situated for Mayfair’s excellent shopping and dining options. Head up towards Berkeley Square and you’ll find one of our favourite Italian restaurants around in the form of Bocconcino (we highly recommend the Dover sole). Then, pop around the corner to Dover Street Market, for the coolest assemblage of fashion brands in the capital. Green space also abounds, with Green Park, Hyde Park and St James Park all within easy walking distance.

Rooms from £500 per night; 1hotels.com/mayfair