Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Firmdale Hotels

Firmdale Hotels hotels

Bold cloth, original art and handmade objects give richly layered rooms the feel of English homes.

Firmdale makes hotel interiors that reward a closer look, with Kit Kemp’s bold color, original art, and handcrafted objects giving each address its personality. Founded by Tim and Kit Kemp in 1985, the collection grew from a Marylebone townhouse into individually designed hotels in London and New York.

12 Firmdale Hotels hotels in 2 countries on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.

• Owned by Tim and Kit Kemp
• Worldwide: 11 hotels across 2 countries (8 in London, 3 in New York City), with a combined pipeline of at least one further London property in Bloomsbury, as of 2025–2026
• On the atlas: 2 Apex Luxury, 2 Grand Luxury, 7 High Luxury, 1 Core Luxury

History

Kit and Tim Kemp developed Firmdale around the feeling of a richly furnished private home. Individual neighborhoods gave the hotels their subjects, from Bloomsbury references at Charlotte Street to cricket at Dorset Square and textiles in Tribeca. Layered patterns, commissioned sculpture, and British craft connect the houses without repeating their interiors.

Timeline

• 1985 — Tim and Kit Kemp open Dorset Square Hotel in Marylebone, a Regency townhouse on the original site of Thomas Lord's first cricket ground, as Firmdale's founding property
• 1990 — Number Sixteen opens in South Kensington: four Victorian townhouses on Sumner Place combined into 42 rooms, with Kit Kemp's private garden as a signature feature.
• 1996 — Covent Garden Hotel opens in a former 19th-century French hospital on Monmouth Street, a conversion that preserves the unusually generous ceiling heights of the original structure
• 2000 — Charlotte Street Hotel opens in Fitzrovia with original Bloomsbury Group artworks by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant in the public rooms.
• 2000 — Number Sixteen receives its present form; the South Kensington property is confirmed in Firmdale's estate as a townhouse hotel.
• 2002 — Knightsbridge Hotel opens at 10 Beaufort Gardens, a Victorian townhouse within the Cadogan Estate, steps from Harrods.
• 2004 — The Soho Hotel opens on Richmond Mews, built from scratch on a former NCP car park, Firmdale's first purpose-built ground-up London project, guarded at the entrance by Fernando Botero's two-tonne bronze Cat
• 2006 — Firmdale wins its first Queen's Award for Enterprise (subsequently awarded again in 2009, 2018).
• 2007 — Haymarket Hotel opens at 1 Suffolk Place, inside John Nash's 1820s Regency terrace, Firmdale's most architecturally significant London shell, with a 60-foot indoor pool installed in the basement
• 2009 — Crosby Street Hotel opens in SoHo, New York, Firmdale's first property outside the UK, built ground-up by architects Stonehill & Taylor on a parking lot between Prince and Spring Streets; achieves LEED Gold certification in 2011, the first hotel in New York State to do so
• 2012 — Tim and Kit Kemp jointly awarded an MBE for services to the hotel industry and charity
• 2014 — Ham Yard Hotel opens in a reclaimed Soho courtyard with 91 rooms, 13 independent shops, a bowling alley, a 176-seat cinema, and a bronze sculpture by Sir Tony Cragg, Firmdale's most ambitious mixed-use development. One Denman Place, the 24-apartment residential annex to Ham Yard, opens simultaneously
• 2015 — Ham Yard Hotel wins Condé Nast Traveller Best Hotel in the World for Design
• 2017 — The Whitby Hotel opens at 18 West 56th Street, Midtown Manhattan, Firmdale's second New York property, built ground-up by Stonehill & Taylor over 16 stories with more than 20,000 sq ft of below-grade programming
• 2018 — Queen's Award for Enterprise awarded for the third time.
• 2021 — Kit Kemp awarded SBID Master of Design. Lennart Perlhagen's son Richard joins Firmdale's board.
• 2022 — Firmdale acquires long leasehold on three linked properties in Bloomsbury, London, for conversion to a first-class hotel
• 2024 — Warren Street Hotel opens in February in TriBeCa, New York, the group's third New York property, designed by Stonehill Taylor and Kit Kemp Design Studio, on a parking lot between Greenwich Street and West Broadway
• 2024 — Firmdale wins The King's Award for Enterprise. Group records its highest-ever revenue: £198m, with London hotels posting £120.4m on 75% occupancy
• 2025 — Crosby Street and Whitby awarded Three MICHELIN Keys (highest tier); Covent Garden, Ham Yard, Haymarket, and Warren Street awarded Two MICHELIN Keys; Charlotte Street, Knightsbridge, Number Sixteen, and The Soho Hotel awarded One MICHELIN Key
• 2025 — Lennart Perlhagen acquires a minority stake in February, bringing outside investment into Firmdale for the first time in its 40-year history.
• 2025 — Firmdale celebrates its 40th anniversary. Kit Kemp named in House & Garden Top 100 Interior Designers and Architects

The houses to know

1. Crosby Street Hotel, New York City, United States — Firmdale’s first New York hotel expresses Kit Kemp’s layered design style and holds LEED Gold and Three Michelin Keys.
2. The Whitby Hotel, New York City, United States — Kit Kemp's 16-story Midtown townhouse, two blocks from MoMA, sets the bar for high-color boutique luxury in Manhattan's core.
3. Warren Street Hotel, New York City, United States — Firmdale's 2024 TriBeCa newcomer: 69 rooms, a powder-blue glass façade, and landscaped terrace suites that bring the Kit Kemp countryside aesthetic to Lower Manhattan.
4. One Denman Place, London, United Kingdom — The hotel is in London, United Kingdom.
5. Covent Garden Hotel, London, United Kingdom — A 58-room conversion of a 19th-century French hospital on Monmouth Street, a film-industry favorite with a private screening room and Two MICHELIN Keys.
6. Haymarket Hotel, London, United Kingdom — A 50-room hotel inside John Nash's 1820s Regency terrace, with a 60-foot indoor pool and the Theatre Royal Haymarket directly adjacent.
7. Ham Yard Hotel, London, United Kingdom — The 91-room Soho hotel includes a cinema, bowling alley, and public art within a reclaimed courtyard.
8. Knightsbridge Hotel, London, United Kingdom — The 44-room Victorian townhouse stands on a quiet cul-de-sac within the Cadogan Estate, near Harrods and Hyde Park.
9. Charlotte Street Hotel, London, United Kingdom — The 52-room Fitzrovia hotel includes original Bloomsbury Group paintings.
10. The Soho Hotel, London, United Kingdom — 98-room Soho flagship, the largest in London, built on a former car park in Richmond Mews and guarded by Fernando Botero's two-tonne bronze Cat.

Opening next

• Bloomsbury Hotel — London, United Kingdom — expected opening not yet announced — Firmdale acquired long leasehold interests in three linked properties in Bloomsbury in April 2022 with stated intent to convert them to a first-class hotel as part of its Townhouse collection. No opening date has been publicly promised; the project was actively in development as of early 2025

Every Firmdale Hotels hotel on the atlas

United Kingdom

• One Denman Place — London · Grand Luxury
• Charlotte Street Hotel — London · High Luxury
• Covent Garden Hotel — London · High Luxury
• Ham Yard Hotel — London · High Luxury
• Haymarket Hotel — London · High Luxury
• Knightsbridge Hotel — London · High Luxury
• Number Sixteen — London · High Luxury
• The Soho Hotel — London · High Luxury
• Dorset Square Hotel — London · Core Luxury

United States

• Crosby Street Hotel — New York City · Apex Luxury
• The Whitby Hotel — New York City · Apex Luxury
• Warren Street Hotel — New York City · Grand Luxury

Open The Maison in the atlas for Firmdale Hotels's full dossier, with prices and maps.

Every house in The Maison

How the six LHA Tiers work