A Victorian department store on Queensway, closed for years, reopens as London's first Six Senses hotel. Foster + Partners rebuilt the bones. AvroKO dressed the rooms. The result is a wellness hotel that never once says the word wellness.
The Whiteley opened in 1911 as one of London's great department stores. William Whiteley, who founded the original shop on Westbourne Grove in 1863, called himself the Universal Provider. He sold everything. The building on Queensway, designed by John Belcher and J.J. Joass, had a glass rotunda, a grand staircase, and the confidence of Edwardian commerce at full tilt. It closed in 2018. For four years, nobody could agree on what to do with it.
Foster + Partners took the commission. The rotunda was restored, the facade preserved, and behind it, 110 hotel rooms, 14 serviced apartments, and 139 residences were slotted into the old footprint. The building reopened on 1 March 2026 as Six Senses London, the brand's first property in the city.
The rooms
A guest room at Six Senses London, The Whiteley
AvroKO handled the interiors. The palette runs to warm oak, soft grey, white linen. Ceilings reach six metres in places. The headboards are wood-framed, the throws are muted, the side tables uncluttered. Nothing competes for attention. The bathrooms have marble double vanities, illuminated mirror panels, and deep soaking tubs. The overall effect is calm without being clinical.
There are 110 rooms and 14 serviced apartments. The best rooms face Porchester Gardens and catch the morning light through tall sash windows. Standard rooms start around £550 a night. The serviced apartments, for those staying a week or longer, come with their own kitchens and separate living areas.
The building on Queensway had a glass rotunda, a grand staircase, and the confidence of Edwardian commerce at full tilt. Now it has a magnesium pool.
Léa FontaineThe spa
The spa occupies an entire floor. There is London's first magnesium pool, a biohacking recovery lounge, a floatation room, and an indoor swimming pool large enough to swim actual laps. The treatment list leans toward longevity science, sleep optimisation, and the kind of targeted bodywork that leaves you feeling reassembled. A padel court and tennis court sit on the upper levels, which is unusual for a central London hotel.
Six Senses has always been a wellness brand. The difference here is in the delivery. There are no motivational slogans on the walls. No one hands you a green juice at check-in. The facilities are serious, well designed, and left to speak for themselves.
The indoor pool at Six Senses London
The table
Whiteley's Kitchen, Bar and Café serves under executive chef Eliano Crespi. The menu is vegetable-forward British cooking: seasonal produce, clear flavours, portions that leave you comfortable for the rest of the afternoon. Breakfast is where the kitchen earns its keep. Bayswater has never been a dining destination. This helps.
The bar is planted in the old rotunda, beneath Belcher's restored glass dome. Late afternoon light fills the space in winter. In summer, it will be warm by four o'clock. The cocktail list is short and well judged.
The location
Bayswater is a ten-minute walk from Notting Hill, fifteen from Paddington, and a straight Central Line ride to Oxford Circus. It is not Mayfair. It is not trying to be. The neighbourhood has good Middle Eastern restaurants, a Sunday antiques market on Portobello Road, and Hyde Park at the end of the street. During London Fashion Week, the main venues at the BFC Showspace on the Strand are twenty minutes by taxi. Burlington House, for the off-schedule shows, is closer.
The Connaught and Claridge's will always own Mayfair. The Savoy holds the Strand. Six Senses has chosen a different postcode and a different proposition: a hotel where the point is how you feel when you leave, not where you are seen while you stay.
The verdict
London has no shortage of grand hotels. The city does not need another lobby to pose in. What Six Senses brings to Bayswater is a building with genuine history, rooms designed for rest, and a spa that could change your week. The Whiteley spent a century selling everything. Now it sells one thing well: the feeling of waking up slowly, with nowhere particular to be.
The Splendid Edit reports on Six Senses London at The Whiteley, which opened 1 March 2026. Standard rooms from approximately £550 per night. Book through sixsenses.com.
Photography courtesy of Wallpaper* / Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas