The Curtain Hotel & Club
Michael Achenbaum, president of the Gansevoort Hotel Group, made a name for himself in New York as one the most exciting hotelier entrepreneurs to watch. Now, Achenbaum’s resumé is stretching westward. Opening up The Curtain Hotel and Private Members’ Club with the help of his dad, William, Achenbaum, who’s 43, will endeavor into his first London venture riding the coattails of his (well-earned) East Coast success.
The Curtain, which will call London’s blossoming Shoreditch neighborhood home, boasts nine floors, 120 guestrooms, and will come with a fitting pricetag to match. According to the Evening Standard, The Curtain’s Private Members’ Club will cost an annual membership of £900 Euro (£600 for guests under the age of 27). Achenbaum’s new location will also feature a 1,600-square-foot rooftop pool area, LIDO, its upstairs café, and a bar with sprawling views of the city below. As it stands, Achenbaum and his father have also secured multi-Michelin star chef Marcus Samuelsson to host a London iteration of his New-York based Red Rooster, one of the most exciting debuts in the city, inside The Curtain. (Details on the head chef have yet to be released.) The Evening Standard also notes that The Curtain will be home to a state-of-the-art gym designed by The Vault’s Jon Squirrel and will also feature a luxury spa. Additionally, a nightclub, screening room, ballroom, and music venue will also be housed inside The Curtain. Mick Rock and Steve Lazarides (Banksy’s agent) are said to be curating the art inside the hotel and members’ club.
Of his decision to open a members’ club in a neighborhood flooded with members’-only establishments, Achenbaum told the Evening Standard, “Of course we are going to get comparisons with Soho House, and Shoreditch House in particular. I don’t think they should or would be worried. But I am sure there will be some friendly competition, I have no issues with that. Soho House focus[es] on appealing to creative members in the more traditional arts. But we are looking at what creative means and making it much broader. It’s what people in the capital city demand — that exclusive edge. But we are keen to do it differently to all other members’ clubs in London. We want to bring the best of what we do at our Gansevoort hotels and embrace London — it will be the Gansevoort with a London, eclectic mix.”
As the hotel readies for its May 2017 opening, the space, which is located on the corner of Curtain Road in the heart of Shoreditch, honors its neighborhood roots. Housed in a red-brick building that was formerly the site of a 1970s office block, The Curtain stuns with exposed brick interiors, gorgeous hardwood flooring, and entry-level courtyards.
The Curtain’s Private Members’ Club will not be open to hotel guests, but features a soundproofed music venue underground with chess flooring and a sparkling gold bar as well as a BOOMCYCLE studio for spinning classes. Bookings for guest stays at The Curtain ahead of the May grand opening can be made online, and details for the members’-only club experience can also be found on The Curtain’s website.
