Bloomsbury to welcome its first rooftop bar and restaurant as The Imperial reopens with Arcus and Bancone this summer

Bloomsbury is to receive its first rooftop bar and restaurant this summer, when Arcus opens atop The Imperial hotel on Russell Square in central London. The venue forms part of a wider refurbishment of the century-old hotel, which is due to reopen in early August, and is intended to give the neighbourhood a new elevated dining and drinking space overlooking the surrounding park and skyline.

Arcus will seat 330 guests across a 327-square-metre space, making it one of central London’s larger rooftops. The venue offers near-360-degree views taking in the City of London and St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye and the colonnaded facade of the British Museum, with Russell Square below. Designed around the path of the sun, the space extends from indoors to outdoors and is arranged into zones ranging from high tables to lounge seating. Canopied areas are intended to provide cover in varied weather, and the venue will be open to both hotel guests and members of the public.

The interiors combine mid-century textures with modernist design, and feature original artwork by Adam Ellis throughout. Alongside cocktails and a seasonal menu of small plates, Arcus will host a programme of activities across the day, including sunrise sound baths, live performances and sun salutations, as well as evening DJ sets.

The Imperial will also house a new branch of the pasta restaurant Bancone, marking the group’s first opening within a London hotel. Bancone Bloomsbury will open in mid-August with 140 covers, a bar area and a 60-seat terrace for outdoor dining. Its menu will include the restaurant’s signature Silk Handkerchiefs With Walnut Butter And Confit Egg Yolk, of which the group says it has served more than one million bowls since 2018, alongside dishes such as spicy pork and nduja ragù with tagliatelle, bucatini cacio e pepe, and Herdwick hogget with pappardelle, soy, Thai basil and chilli. Bancone opened its first site on William IV Street in Covent Garden in 2018, and has since added restaurants in Golden Square, Borough Yards, Kensington and the City. It has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand for seven consecutive years.

The Imperial first opened in 1905 in a building designed by Charles Fitzroy Doll, which featured turrets, tiles and gargoyles in addition to ballrooms, winter gardens and Turkish baths. That structure was demolished in the late 1960s and replaced by a modernist building completed in 1970. The reimagined hotel has 357 rooms and suites, most with geometric windows, while Hideaway rooms include private gardens with outdoor bathtubs. Details include in-room GPO Audrey telephones, complimentary Chopper bike hire and more than 500 original prints by Adam Ellis displayed across guest rooms and public areas.

In addition to Arcus, the hotel houses the Bell Room and Terrace, overlooking features from the original Victorian building, and The Edit, an all-day dining space. The Imperial is operated by Imperial London Hotels, a family-run company that has operated in London since 1837 and runs eight hotels in Bloomsbury. 

Food Desk

Arcus is set to open in early August atop The Imperial hotel on Russell Square, with Bancone Bloomsbury opening in mid-August within the same venue. For further information, visit Arcus’ website here.