There is something deliciously secretive about arriving at The Emory.
Slip away from the bright lights of Knightsbridge, where inky black taxis glide past supercars painted in the colours of rare gemstones, and into the hotel’s discreet entrance courtyard. Within seconds, the city feels strangely far away. The mood changes. Everything becomes quieter, more intimate.
The Emory is a discreet, seductive billionaires’ playground and The Emory Rooftop Bar is my new favourite spot.
Before ascending in the lift to the heavens, make one essential detour: the ground-floor bathrooms. Futuristic, gleaming and spaceship-like, they are worth visiting for the now-iconic flush alone. Trust us.
Back at the lift, the Audemars Piguet clock strikes 9pm. Perfect timing. The night is still young, there is that intriguing sense that anything could happen.
Ten Floors Above Belgravia
The doors open and London suddenly appears in widescreen.
From the emerald treetops of Hyde Park, the view sweeps dramatically across the capital towards The London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard, the Cheesegrater and the Walkie-Talkie. Modern glass and steel rise amongst historic domes and spires, creating one of the most fascinating perspectives of London you could ever see.
Most rooftop bars give you a view of a particular corner of the city. The Emory gives you the city itself on a silver platter.
There is something cocooning about it. High above the traffic, beneath a black velvet sky smattered with stars, visible through the glass ceiling, you feel as though you are floating inside a private bubble while London twinkles beneath you.
The rooftop occupies the tenth floor of The Emory, where two glass pavilions run parallel to the building’s striking steel sails. One houses The Emory Rooftop Bar, the other The Emory Cigar Merchants, creating a rarefied little world above Belgravia that feels deliberately removed from everything happening at street level.
The View, Poured Into a Glass
At The Emory, even the cocktail menu looks beyond the bar itself. The View presents 12 signature drinks inspired by shifting perspectives across the skyline, with each cocktail carefully considered in flavour, composition and presentation.
The Alignment takes the bones of a French 75 and sends it somewhere more tropical: Renais Gin, passion berries and Champagne meet a cordial of guava, mango and maracujá.
The Layer plays with the Paloma, pairing Mijenta Reposado Tequila with pimentón de cachi, corn and zesty grapefruit before finishing with an unexpectedly refreshing purple carrot soda.
Then the mood darkens. The Shadows is an Old Fashioned built around Glenturret Triple Wood Whisky, peat, carob, black sesame, pearl barley, Pedro Ximénez sherry and black cardamom. Smoky, deep and quietly dramatic, it feels particularly suited to the room once the sky turns inky, the windows have become mirrors and the skyline begins to glitter.
The Reflection is richer still: Michter’s US*1 Rye Whiskey and Eminente Reserva 7 Year Old with cacao nibs, alcohol-free galactic milk stout, coconut water, nutmeg and dulce de leche foam. It reads almost like dessert, but arrives with considerably more sophistication.
For the curious, The Focus takes The Macallan Double Cask 12-Year-Old into milk-punch territory with coffee spirit, pear Williams juice, maté cocido, milk and Malbec.
This is not a menu designed around safe crowd-pleasers. The combinations are clever, surprising and just playful enough to make ordering the next round irresistible.
Jean-Georges, Caviar and a Midnight Cheeseburger
The food follows the same philosophy, everything on the menu is divine.
Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s signature Mood Board is made for grazing. There is 36-month-aged Parmigiano Reggiano, 24-month Comté, winter tomatoes with Maldon sea salt, green chickpea hummus with crudités, marinated olives, buttered breakfast radishes and salted Marcona almonds, accompanied by either Cobble Lane beef bresaola or soy and whisky-cured salmon.
Should the evening require escalation, and at The Emory, it usually does, there is caviar. Oscietra arrives with warm blinis, while Beluga takes proceedings firmly into celebratory territory.
Elsewhere, bluefin tuna tartare comes with avocado, ginger and white soy dressing; crispy Dover sole tacos are layered with aioli, cabbage and apple slaw; and English pea guacamole arrives with sunflower seeds, tomatillo salsa and warm crunchy tortillas.
A cheddar cheeseburger with herbed mayonnaise, pickled jalapeño and French fries provides the necessary decadence, while black truffle pizza with three cheeses and crowned with a farm egg is almost impossible not to order once it passes your table.
It is luxury without preciousness, caviar if you want it, cheeseburger if you need it.
The Architectural Jewel of The Emory
Opened in 2024, The Emory became London’s first all-suite hotel and the latest addition to Maybourne’s formidable collection, joining Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley.
The building itself is unlike almost anything else in this corner of London. Designed by the late Richard Rogers and Ivan Harbour of RSHP, its external steel structure gives it a technical, almost futuristic presence among Belgravia’s more traditional architecture.
Inside, Rémi Tessier softened that engineering precision with beautifully controlled interiors, masterminding the public spaces from abc kitchens and The Emory Bar on the ground floor to the tenth-floor rooftop and cigar bar.
And yet, for all the architectural pedigree and Maybourne magic, the real seduction of The Emory is in the perfect little moments.
It is the moment the Audemars Piguet clock strikes nine. The elevator rises elegantly into the sky. The lights of St Paul’s and The Shard appearing miles apart yet somehow framed within the same pane of glass. A perfect cocktail arriving just when you need it first. For a few hours, you feel like the beloved angel on top of the Christmas tree. London feels both impossibly vast and completely yours.
Discreet, decadent and floating somewhere between Knightsbridge and the clouds, The Emory Rooftop Bar is my new favourite spot in town — and one of the sexiest places to spend a night in London.
@theemorylondon | maybourne.com
Old Barrack Yard, London SW1X 7NP
