Chateau Denmark Opens its Doors in the Middle of Music History, in London’s Soho Neighborhood
There aren’t many places David Bowie would have lived in a camper van. In fact there’s only one. It’s Denmark Street, found on the very fringes of London’s Soho. Barely 100 yards long and nicknamed “Tin Pan Alley”, it has housed guitar shops (including Sixty Sixty Sounds covered in MARVIN Issue 1), recording studios, scruffy music venues and writing rooms since the early 1950s. It’s a place of mythical status in music because it’s more than a street. Not only was Bowie’s van parked outside the infamous musician cafe, La Gioconda at 9 Denmark Street, but storied history includes The Rolling Stones recording their debut album at Regent Sounds at 4 Denmark, the British music magazines, NME and Melody Maker also had early offices there. Elton John and Bernie Taupin had a writing room on the street and, perhaps most famously, the Sex Pistols rehearsed in a squat little building (sharing a tiny outside toilet) tucked behind 6 Denmark Street. You can still find Johnny Rotten’s scrawled and unflattering caricatures of his bandmates, manager and Nancy Spungen on the walls. The concentration of hyper-musical people and facilities here has kept this crackling rock n roll community thriving for over 50 years. And it’s about to have a new lease of life.
It’s this musical hustle and rich punk legacy that the capital city’s newest and coolest hotel will be channeling as they open their doors this April. Chateau Denmark will be the place to be in London. Here’s where you can soon expect every major touring band to hold press conferences and after-parties. In fact make sure you’re invited. MARVIN staff got a very exclusive personal tour late last year (and personally saw the Johnny Rotten graffiti) and we can attest that it is an incredible space. They’ve got a state-of-the- art sound system in each room and, well, look at the pictures. Later this year will see the arrival of Chateau Denmark’s lounge bar and basement club as well as a recording studio. Stretching across 16 buildings down the south side of Denmark Street, Chateau Denmark is made up of 55 rooms and apartments that reflect each building’s history while nodding heavily to the rebellious rock n roll spirit of the area.
With interiors created by the award-winning, international luxury design studio Taylor Howes, the hotel imagines a time when punk rock and vintage gothic meet modern psychedelia with a timeless grandeur. It’s everything you want a rock n roll hotel to be. Chateau Denmark will capture an old world aesthetic that’s bound with modern times.
Chateau Denmark’s guests will also have access to the insanely advanced The Now Building (right across the road) and its north-facing public atrium featuring the largest LED screens anywhere in the world; and three live spaces with a 360 to 2,000-person capacity. It seems like a new era of rock n roll has arrived at this historical outpost in London and we can’t wait.
@chateaudenmark