DATA SHEET

Owner: Nick Jones
Hotel operator: Soho House & Co.
Interior design: Linda Boronkay, Nick Jones
Furnishings: mix of antique furniture with pieces by Soho House Design
Lighting: Created from antique sari fabrics
Bathrooms: Indian cement tiles, vintage mirrors and marble fittings
Gym: Technogym
Photo credits: Simon Brown

“In you I found my home from home… Fresh air, open ways, mild nights, wild days…” Maybe Nick Jones, founder and CEO of the Soho House & Co. members’ club, was inspired by the song by Roo Panes ‘Home from Home’ for his chain of exclusive clubs, which has gradually grown from the first one in 1995 for a community of creative clients, and is now a reference point in 23 locations around the world. The first to blend traditional hotels with a strict membership structure, giving rise to a new hospitality approach. When you are traveling it is difficult to really feel at ease, protected and comfortable, the way you do at home. So Jones has made this the main objective of his hotels.

For the Mumbai club, the latest in chronological order, he has done the interior design together with Soho House Design director Linda Boronkay, absorbing influences from Indian culture, from the colors that forcefully enliven the city, from Rajasthan textiles to local antiques. The terrace, in particular, features the hues glowing in the powerful sunlight on traditional Indian cement tiles, the walls clad in recycled wood, the sun awnings, the marble of the bar counter, the local furnishings in bamboo, the blue reflections of the swimming pool on the rooftop. An aesthetic that is every bit as satisfying as the services offered.

One entire floor, of the 11 in the Soho House Mumbai building, is set aside for recreation, with a fitness facility (complete with trainers and a sauna), a swimming pool, a screening room with 34 seats equipped with tabletops and film menus, and a library. On the ground level, two restaurants – Cecconi’s Mumbai and The Allis – operate at the service of the city, as well as for guests. The refined setting of the Eva Room is also open to non-members, and offers a multifunctional space for events, workshops and encounters, with the possibility of welcoming from 20 to 70 people at a time.

In the spaces set aside for club members the decor is honed down to the smallest details to wrap clients in a warm, reassuring atmosphere: glass chandeliers and teak floors, antique mirrors and leather for the seating, are perfectly combined to convey a sense of familiarity. These effect is boosted further in the guestrooms, places of maximum privacy, 38 in all, including two Playroom suites. Every space has been individually designed. Here the mats in agave fiber, antique furniture in wood and bone inlays, encounter lampshades made with old sari fabrics found at nearby markets. The bathrooms ‘narrate’ stories of the territory through local materials and colors.

Soho House Mumbai also presents an art collection curated by Kate Bryan, containing over 200 works, of which 80% are by artists from Southeast Asia, including an impressive installation by Subodh Gupta and key works by Bharti Kher, Thukral and Tagra, together with some of the most outstanding representatives of the Indian contemporary art scene. All to be enjoyed inside the club, even in the bedrooms.