‘Luxury is all about time’ – CODE Meets Darius Namdar, MD of The Twenty Two

“Sorry gents, just squeezing through”

Darius Namdar, the managing director of The Twenty Two, a new hotel, restaurant and members’ club opening in Grosvenor Square next month, walks me down the corridors of the hotel as workmen paint the walls. “We’ve changed the colour of these walls three times”, he says. After much ado, he’s confident white is the best option. I find it fascinating, and a privilege, to see a project of this scale in its very early stages. The club is 42,500 sq ft and has 31 bedrooms across five floors. We sit in what will be the members’ bar for a chat.

How are you doing? How are preparations going for The Twenty Two?

Wow, we’ve been really busy. We’ve been kind of lucky that we’ve been flat out all the way through. I joined the project at the end of 2019. And obviously at that point, the world was in a very different place. The plan had been set, and we were ready to go, and then obviously the world got turned on its head. We’ve just been working and working all the way through since the end of 2019 to do as much of the groundwork as we could.

Can you put into words the sheer scale of this project?

It’s big, for sure. I and most of the team here have all worked on really amazing projects over the last 10 years. Whether it’s launching Chiltern Firehouse, relaunching Annabel’s, working at the Ritz or The Ned. There’s a huge amount of really good experience in the team.

This has differed as it’s been a ground up, complete redevelopment and redesign project. Most of the team have been working on this for over a year, and where we are today, from where we were a year ago, is a very different place. This means that the vast majority of the team has had experiences unparalleled to anything they’ve done before. They’ve watched things evolve, change, grow – the realisation of the discussions we’ve been having, whether it’s been over a Zoom call from your bedroom, or a site office at the building site. This helps because everyone’s really invested in it.

But scale-wise, we’re talking about 42,500 square feet here, so it’s a big building. But it’s not just the size, the location, the design, the materials all make the scale of this project huge. It feels like a very grand dam of Mayfair is being given a new lease of life. Something we’re hyper-conscious of is that we want to maintain this style, but with more personality. It’s quite a youthful team actually. The vast majority of us are under 40. It’s a very young management team, but with tons of experience. So we know that we can still deliver that five-star expectation of Mayfair, but with a more youthful approach.

I suppose you’re right, a lot of these kinds of projects, especially in Mayfair, have been managed by an older generation, right?

Yes, for sure. We take guidance from others. We’ve all taken bits and pieces from our experiences elsewhere, which has been immensely helpful and immensely inspiring in some cases. Having such a young management team and young ownership is unique, I think.

Can you tell us about how you were introduced to the project, and the journey up until now?

Yeah, of course. So, I was just on the cusp of taking a very nice four-month holiday, just in-between jobs thinking to myself, “I’ve got nothing to think about for a while.” But then I bumped into Navid Mirtorabi and Jamie Reuben, who I’ve known for years – enough to strike up a conversation when we see each other. It was actually at a club, and this project came up in conversation – a new hotel and private members’ club.

In terms of the development, we spent most of that summer talking about plans, timing, the future, expansion projects etc. These was really early days – no chef at this point and plans changed numerous times. The development then happened very quickly. They were looking for someone to come in and really look over the operation, guide it quickly to where it needed to go. I was kind of mandated to go out and get the best team that I could, and I did. The bunch of people in our office right now are the most talented people I’ve ever worked with in the industry, and I really mean that.

Do you enjoy working on openings? Do you get a kick out of it?

Yeah, I really do actually. I think it’s funny because people in the industry often talk about openings with caution. Because you know, you’ve either experienced an opening, or you haven’t quite had your initiation or your (hospitality) baptism. I think if you do an opening, you then get labelled as someone who likes to do openings, and therefore you get asked to do more and more and more. I’ve never met anybody that’s done an opening and said it was easy, they’re all incredibly challenging in their own way. But a lot of us get driven by the difficulty in it, and the challenge of it. There’s an immediate satisfaction that you get from seeing things develop in real-time, and then from inception to actual delivery is a very unique experience.

Have you had any issues along the way?

I’d be lying if I said no! Every project in the world has its own problems. Ours haven’t been too cataclysmic, and have thankfully been quite controlled. There was nothing that really shocked us or made us nervous or put a massive spanner in the works, you know. We planned it so that everyone sort of knew what to expect based on our previous experiences, and anything that did arise got dealt with very quickly. 

Can you tell us about the space? Have you got a favourite room yet?

I mean, I’ve been living and breathing this project for so long now that there are, of course, some corners of the building that are my favourite – bits I find really attractive. I think what we’ve done with the site holistically is impressive in the sense that this was once a family home. This was one dwelling at one point, which is insane to think about. We wanted to bring this forward in that it would feel like a meeting point, or London’s living room as such, for people to come and network, bump into friends or not be worried about what they’re dressed in. That was really important to us.

The comfort level of the guests in each room has been really thought through. The touch, the smells, the temperatures, lighting – all of these sensory experiences add to the overall experience.

But if I had to say which my favourite part of the building was, it is a particular bedroom that has a very special balcony looking out onto Grosvenor Square. It’s not the biggest room on the property, but it’s gorgeous.

And I suppose the rooms will all kind of grow their own personalities over time?

The design is quite individual. There’s an 18^th-century French Parisian inspiration across the property. Each room has an individual shape and layout due to the building, so they all take on their own personality. It’s been a really interesting process picking out the furniture or bespoke pieces. We’re only 31 bedrooms so we can have lots of fun with it. If we were a 100+ bedroom property, it would be a lot harder to give that individualism.

As someone with so much experience in the luxury sector, how would you define luxury?

I’ve been really lucky to have worked at some of the places I have. I got to carve out my career in Mayfair. I’ve been exposed to people who have really been able to design, craft and build these luxury establishments.

For me, luxury is all about time. Anything that gives you time back is the ultimate luxury in the world that we’re living in today, where everybody is just flat out non-stop all day long. If we can create an atmosphere which is comfortable, allows people to come in and feel at ease, be recognised by familiar staff, have your favourite table ready. It allows us to take away from them something else to think about, and gives them back some time. And I find that the ultimate luxury.

Are you optimistic about the luxury sector and hospitality in general? There are lots of people forecasting this kind of ‘roaring 2020s’. Can you envisage that?

I can definitely envisage it. It’s fun to think about it. I think there’s a distinction though between hospitality as a whole and the very small bubble that we work in, which is in Mayfair. I’m cautiously optimistic – I mean, how can we not be? But I have to recognise that I work in a very small sphere within hospitality, where the energy is palpable and you can feel it everywhere. All the restaurants are full, everybody’s going out to clubs, and there’s already a sense of roaring 2020s. I’m very optimistic about what we’re doing and this area and am very hopeful the rest of the country will feel the same way.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Every day is different. You meet wonderful people in this business, whether it’s people that you work with, members or guests. That makes every day quite enjoyable. When you’re working in a hotel or a restaurant, you don’t know who’s going to walk through the front door. I love the fact that every day is unscripted. I find that constant ability every day, to be able to have another chance of delivering top quality hospitality interesting, and almost like a challenge. If it were the same thing every day, I don’t think it would be as exciting.

We recently announced our 2022 ’30 Under 30′ list – you were in the very first one! What advice would you give to rising talent in the industry? What do you think the industry can do to attract more young people?

Firstly, I wear that badge with honour! It’s honestly flattering to be asked a question like that because I’m still carving out my career. I still feel like I’ve got a long way to go, a lot still to learn. But my advice to anybody coming up the ranks in the industry is to be patient. It’s a hard graft, for sure, but it’s an incredibly rewarding business. Also, be true to yourself about what you want and think hard about that. Don’t only treat the job as a stepping stone for something else. 

Hospitality can be so rewarding if you really know what you want. If you’re very clear on where you want to end up, there can be quite a simple progression of how to get there, which is a really positive thing about the industry.

Also, find a mentor, and really lean on them. Mentorship can be paramount to development. If I could have had a mentor earlier, I would have done it. This should be taught in schools to be honest.

Where can we find you eating on your day off?

BiBi next door! I absolutely love it. What they’re doing there is really special. I think the food is fantastic, the team is great and it’s a lovely looking restaurant.

Bonus: A quick note on the food at The Twenty Two from executive chef Alan Christie:

“Expect the menus to offer clean, seasonal and well-executed dishes taking inspiration from modern British and classic southern European cuisines. We are working closely with local suppliers and producers and are making a conscious effort to be mindful of biodynamic farming and soil health for the sustainability of British produce. We want to let the ingredients speak for themselves.”

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