New 82-room Shepherd Mayfair hotel and restaurant Fayre open on site of the district’s oldest house

New 82-room boutique hotel, The Shepherd Mayfair, has opened this autumn in Shepherd Market, the small historic quarter of Mayfair in central London. The hotel, at 2 Stanhope Row, near Green Park and Bond Street, has also just launched the restaurant Fayre, with a late-night cocktail bar due to open later in the season.

The hotel stands on the site of The Cottage, which dates to 1618, as Mayfair’s oldest house. It was once home to a shepherd tending his flock. The surrounding fields later hosted the annual May Fair, before the architect and developer Edward Shepherd built the quarter that still bears his name. The hotel is also named after him. A joint venture between Bain Capital and Orka Investments, the building spans six floors. Its interiors reference local figures including Desmond Sautter, Lord Sandwich and Tiddy Doll. Braille and Morse details recall the area’s wartime intelligence history and the nearby disused Down Street station.

There are 70 rooms and 12 suites, laid out according to the proportions of the original mansion floor plans. Categories range from Standard and Superior Rooms to Shepherd Suites and Mayfair Suites, and many rooms have window seats overlooking Shepherd Market. The furniture is designed to be adaptable: desks convert into dressing tables, and console tables double as chessboards. Bathrooms are marble, and some rooms have bathtubs and separate seating areas.

On the ground floor, Fayre is a 62-cover restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its opening menu mixes British and European dishes, including Twice-baked Cheddar Cheese Soufflé, Roast Halibut, Beef Fillet Pithivier and Beer-battered Haddock with prawn mousse. Among some of the other menu highlights, there are Citrus-Cured Trout, Herdwick Shepherd’s Pie and Lobster and Salmon Ravioli. A weekly-changing dessert special, Puddings by the Glass, begins with a strawberry and Champagne trifle. Later recipes will draw on the era of the historic fair. The walls feature scenes of the May Fair’s traders and performers by the British artist Adam Ellis. A three-metre chandelier made with Somerset-based Cantelo Lighting holds more than 500 amber glass pendants.

Teddy’s, a 72-cover cocktail bar on the lower ground floor, is scheduled to open later in the month of November. It will be reached from Market Mews or through the hotel, and will present a menu focusing on lesser-known 1930s cocktails. Five signature drinks will be named after phrases coined by the Victorian writer and Mayfair resident Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

At ground level, a public walkway modelled on London’s historic arcades runs through the building into Shepherd Market. It features window displays from brands including MacKenzie-Childs, Aspinal of London, Axel Arigato and Champagne Devaux.

Food Desk

For further information and reservations, visit The Shepherd Mayfair’s website here.