My preconception that The Newman would be just another of London’s beige, minimalist and, as a result, rather uninteresting new hotels was dispelled the moment I walked through its doors. The fact that its streetside terrace was abuzz with locals on a Monday night in March should have been a tip off. But it was actually the kaleidoscope of Art Deco influences dripping from the hotel’s walls that really showed me how wrong I was – and there’s nothing like being proven wrong. 

The Newman has been a long-time coming. Perks of being a journalist include hearing about hotels long before they come to fruition (and writing about them years before they open their doors). In this case, I started hearing murmurings about a new Fitzrovia property back in 2023; it was slated to open last summer but, like so many new builds, was plagued with delays and ever-changing timelines, before finally opening its doors on 1 February 2026. 

Making noise about a hotel years before it launches can do one of two things: dampen the excitement as other properties vie for attention, or build up a healthy dose of anticipation. For The Newman, it was the latter. Why? Because it had the perfect recipe of an experienced team and compelling design concepts to back it up. In fact, such was its pedigree that it simply had to be good. 

The Newman is the brainchild of a handful of like-minded hoteliers and restaurateurs who have spent decades working in the capital, drawing on experience from the likes of The Beaumont and The Goring – where general manager Oliver Milne-Watson spent a large portion of his career – and funnelling it into a new space spearheaded by Kinsfolk & Co founder Paul Brackley. 

The design, however, is where things get seriously interesting. So often hotel interiors offer up intangible connections as inspiration, but The Newman’s focus on Fitzrovia is anything but. Its sense of place and connection to the neighbourhood can be felt, seen and touched, from the bangle-style notches on my bed post, nodding to local character Nancy Cunard’s penchant for the accessory, to monochrome photographs depicting Fitzrovia businesses and residents adorning its walls. 

Even the basin in my en suite bathroom sink is a replica of a balcony at nearby Art Deco landmark, Shropshire House, while the geometric tiling resplendent across bathrooms nod to the Gem Langham Court Hotel – another local building whose architecture wouldn’t normally score a second glance, but acts as an anchor point here. This hotel’s early descriptor as Brackley’s love letter to Fitzrovia was not all talk. 

The 81 rooms range from the entry-level Classic to suites with balconies or whole rooftop terraces (more on that later). Inside my one-bedroom suite, which will set you back roughly £1,365 per night, generous spaces – a living room, bedroom, en suite complete with a tub and rainfall shower, and separate toilet – all play host to Art Deco-inflected interiors by London-based studio Lind + Almond. A moody palette of walnut hues, dusky pinks and peardrop greens combine with textural velvet, dark wood and crittall windows – which, in my room, overlook Newman Street below. It’s cosy and plush, further elevated by luxury amenities such as a veritable apothecary of London-based Anatomē products and GHD dryers, straighteners and curlers. No stone has been left unturned. 

The Newman’s crowning glory is its penthouse suite. Featuring an open-plan kitchen, dining space and lounge, as well as a bedroom fit for royalty, en suite rendered in real fossil marble and a serene dressing room, the real talking point here is the terrace. This rooftop space was initially intended to be open to all, until the idea of making it a private addition to the penthouse suite, removing the need for practical workarounds to getting guests to and fro, won the team over. And what a worthy addition it is. Boasting cushioned benches fringing manicured planters nestled among the lofty rooftops of Fitzrovia, the space is complete with a Brass Monkey cold plunge pool, a Finnish wooden sauna, and sweeping views of the BT Tower. 

Those not privy to the penthouse can, instead, enjoy The Newman’s Nordic wellbeing offering on the Wellness Floor. Inspired by the Swedish Grace movement – a style which emerged in the 1920s and mirrors Art Deco with a romantic lens – the space blends minimalism with functionality. Don’t miss the medical-grade halotherapy room, ice lounge, Finnish sauna and steam room for contrast therapy rituals, as well as multi-sensory experience showers, a hydrotherapy plunge pool and a 24-hour, state-of-the-art gym designed to get your endorphins pumping. 

The spa has also tapped Scandinavia for its treatment menu, featuring Copenhagen clean beauty brand Nuori (marking its first London hotel presence), as well as Moss of the Isles, which uses natural active ingredients from Ireland and the British Isles, and science-led CBD brand Kloris. Book the signature 75-minute Thermal Bliss facial to experience the Nordic technique of alternating hot and cold sensations to revitalise the skin. 

While The Newman, for the most part, is designed to make you feel like you’re a world away from London’s hustle and bustle, its signature restaurant, Brasserie Angelica, moves to the rhythm of Fitzrovia in all its glory. Boasting a streetside terrace and expansive dining room, this is The Newman’s only restaurant – a wise move  given its proximity to the great eateries of Soho and nearby Charlotte Street – and does enough to stand out from the crowd. The intentionally reasonable drinks menu sees cocktails listed from £14 (the same as you’d pay at any neighbouring bar) and pub favourites such as Guinness on tap (a rarity at a luxury hotel), bridging the gap between a locals’ hangout and a luxury getaway for out-of-towners. 

Brasserie Angelica

Food follows suit, with starters from £12 and mains from £19, featuring plates of refreshing Nordic-style herring with dill cream and curry sauce to richer goats cheese gougeres, and wood-fired steaks with all the trimmings to a perfectly formed pie filled with roast chicken, mushrooms and a tarragon and cep sauce. Pair with the brasserie’s carefully-curated selection of highballs – the Ulysses, featuring clarified brioche milk and strawberry mead with lime and agave, tastes like a smoky paloma – or London beers like Two Tribes from King’s Cross and Kernel from Bermondsey. 

Breakfast is also an all-out affair and, to my delight, is busy with business meetings and locals dropping by at 8am. The in-house viennoiserie is impressive – and its homemade croissants, pains au chocolat and goats cheese, onion and potato galettes are all the more tempting when paraded around in a glass bakery trolley. Brasserie Angelica kitchen also nails the classics without being excessive. I recommend a generous portion of cinnamon-spiked granola (you may have to ask for more yogurt, it’s that good), eggs any way you like and ricotta hotcakes with caramelised apple and honeycomb butter. 

Brasserie Angelica

Adding to The Newman’s destination-worthy status and mission to embed itself into the Fitzrovia community is Gambit Bar. Channeling the neighbourhood’s bohemian legacy, the bar’s design takes inspiration from artist, Fitzrovian and founder of the Vorticist art movement, Percy Wyndham Lewis, whose style is woven into the subterranean space, from the coffered ceiling to the abstract geometry of the bar. 

The Newman’s head of food and drink, Eder Nato, has shown his creative colours here, mixing up innovative serves including Excitement and Fate, with rum, pineapple, cherry, shiso and sesame; and a reimagined picante, True Gift, made with tequila, lime, birds eye chillies, blood orange and smoked salt. A succinct menu of bar snacks from executive chef Christian Turner features flatbreads, oysters and rullepølse (Danish cold cuts) and encourages guests to linger a little longer to indulge not only in the menu, but also Gambit’s dynamic events programme, which is jam-packed with everything from in-house DJs to regular chess tournaments. 

The Gambit Bar

It’s safe to say The Newman packs a punch. While its influences and inspirations may not be immediately obvious to the untrained eye, that’s part of the hotel’s beauty. Peel back the layers of its design and art, or treatment and food menus, to discover just how important local synergy is to The Newman’s raison d’être. Armed with a genuine passion for the local neighbourhood, and having executed it in such an interesting and enthralling way, I’m not afraid to admit just how wrong my preconceptions of this hotel were. Not only is it a welcome addition to Fitzrovia, it could, in my books, be its best hotel. 

From £695 per night. 

Read more: Hilton Yala – A luxury stay that takes the Sri Lankan safari experience seriously