Rosewood London, the luxury hotel that occupies the former Pearl Assurance building on High Holborn and has been one of London's most acclaimed five-star properties since its 2013 opening, has begun a three-year refurbishment programme that will touch every room and suite in the building. The £45 million investment represents the first comprehensive overhaul of the hotel's bedroom inventory since opening and is being managed in a phased rotation that will allow the hotel to remain fully operational throughout.
The phased approach — working through the 306-room inventory in blocks of approximately 30–40 rooms at a time, with completed rooms returning to service before the next block closes — is the standard model for major hotel refurbishments in the luxury sector, where the commercial cost of closing an entire hotel for a renovation period is prohibitive and where maintaining the quality of the guest experience in the open rooms while works proceed nearby requires careful management of noise, access routes and service continuity.
The design direction for the refurbishment, developed with interior design firm Nicola Harding — who also led the reimagining of Claridge's Bar — takes Rosewood London's existing visual language of British craftsmanship and historical reference and brings it into the current decade. Materials are predominantly British where available: wools and tweeds from Scottish mills, leatherwork from English tanneries, joinery in English oak. The colour palette moves from the warmer, darker tones of the 2013 original toward a lighter, more spring-influenced register while retaining the weight and gravity that distinguishes Rosewood from more fashion-forward luxury hotel interiors.
The Suites Programme
The suite refurbishment is the most significant component of the programme by investment value and will include a newly designed Holborn House suite — the hotel's flagship accommodation at approximately 230 square metres — that has been conceived as a self-contained private apartment within the hotel rather than a traditional luxury suite format. A private dining room, kitchen and butler's pantry are included in the new design, responding to the growing preference among high-net-worth guests for private entertaining options within hotel accommodation rather than exclusively in restaurant spaces.
Three further signature suites are being redesigned in the programme, each drawing on a different aspect of the hotel's Edwardian architecture and the area's literary and legal history. Details of the suite programme are expected to be shared publicly when the first completed rooms open, targeted for early summer 2026.
F&B Unaffected
The hotel's food and beverage operations — Holborn Dining Room, Mirror Room and the Scarfes Bar, which has become one of London's most distinctive hotel bars in its own right — are not part of the current programme and will continue to operate without disruption. The bar, designed by illustrator Gerald Scarfe and animated by his original artwork, has been a consistently strong performer and is not considered in need of investment at this stage.
Rosewood London's general manager confirmed this morning that the first refurbished rooms would be available to guests by June 2026 and that the programme was on track for completion by the end of 2028. Guests affected by proximity to active works areas are being proactively offered alternative rooms during the booking process.