The Wellesley Hotel, London, United Kingdom

New opening photography for The Wellesley Hotel, London

Suites Afternoon Tea & Dining The Cigar Lounge Interiors & Exteriors Hotel Essence Details

The Wellesley Hotel, Knightsbridge, London

This five-star boutique hotel, located in the smart London area of Knightsbridge, opened its doors in 2012 as a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts. The building itself is a masterpiece, an Art Deco gem once used as a luxurious townhouse, and as the former Hyde Park London Underground station – the façade still has the original tiles. 

Michelle Chaplow and her crew were delighted to capture the launch images of The Wellesley Hotel as new opening hotel photography. 

Suites

With only 36 rooms and suites, The Wellesley ensures an intimate and personal experience for its guests. Each accommodation is tastefully designed with opulent furnishings and modern amenities that will appeal to even the most discerning traveller. The entire hotel is suffused with an aura of cosmopolitan glamour, as seen in the vintage black and white photographic prints of movie stars and models around the hotel.

The suites offer butler service, a royal seal of approval on the Hypnos beds, and bathrooms with the finest black and white marble, fluffy towels, bathrobes, and premium amenities. Guests have the use of  the hotel’s own chauffeured Rolls-Royce.

Afternoon Tea & Dining

Culinary excellence is at the heart of The Wellesley. The Oval Restaurant, an award-winning Italian restaurant, is oval in shape with sparkling crystal chandeliers.  The Jazz Lounge (formerly Pizza on the Park) adds to the charm, offering an intimate setting for live music and bespoke cocktails. Afternoon tea is served against a backdrop of pink velvet and hanging strings of crystal beads, adding to the opulence of The Wellesley.

The Cigar Lounge

The Crystal Bar, with its opulent décor and impressive selection of premium spirits, some of which were purchased at auction decades ago, and cocktails, offers a sophisticated setting in which to relax and socialise. It is one of the few places in London where you can enjoy a cigar on the heated smoking terrace with leather chairs. Cigar aficionados will appreciate the Cigar Lounge’s climate-controlled humidor.

Interiors & Exteriors

The Wellesley’s façade

Located on busy Knightsbridge itself, opposite Hyde Park, the hotel was complicated to shoot. “Photographing the façade was a challenge and a miracle – we literally had to stop the traffic in front of the hotel, which included iconic red London buses, black taxi cabs, cars, and ‘Chelsea tractors’ (4x4s used by city-dwellers), so that the road was completely clear for the shot. The same façade hero shot has now been used in The Wellesley’s photographic portfolio for over a decade. As a photographer, it is very satisfying to see how successful the shot was,” says Michelle.

Essence Details

The Wellesley’s floral displays

How lucky the Wellesley Hotel is to be close to New Convent Garden Flower market in Nine Elms, which supplies three-quarters of London’s florists. The flowers selected for Wellesley Hotel photography were impeccable, from delicate paperweights and orchids in the bathroom, cala lilies, hydrangeas, good old British daffodils, and pussy willow, to antique roses in the jazz lounge. In hospitality photography, flowers play such an important role, adding an extra element of natural beauty. 

The Marriot Luxury Collection

In 2016, the hotel joined forces with the Marriot Luxury Collection, and the same new opening hotel photography that Michelle Chaplow had shot with her crew back in 2012 was still as up to date as it had been when the first hotel opened. Great quality hotel photography is always an excellent investment.

The Hotel Essence photographic team

Crew Photographer: Michelle Chaplow, Assistant: Joaquín Alarcon ,Lighting: Marcos Meider, Styling: Cheryl Gatward