T
wo years ago, the UK
hospitality industry
braced itself for the
launch of a new hotel in
Shoreditch at the height of the East
London members’ club boom. This was
no rookie opening however, with the
new project spearheaded by Michael
Achenbaum, one of the most prolific
and successful hotel developers in the
U.S, who was fully prepared to muscle in
amongst the competition in the capital.
with his debut UK venture.
The Curtain is a six-storey hotel and
members club on Curtain road which
opened its doors in 2017 following a
£70m, four-year construction project.
It features 120 bedrooms for guests,
a rooftop pool and restaurant Lido,
spa, screening room, plus drinking
den Billy’s Bar and open music space,
proving its credentials as much more
than 'just another hotel' in the heart of
Shoreditch. The Curtain is also home
to the first London outpost of Red
Rooster, a restaurant from Michelin-
star chef Marcus Samuelson, who
served as guest chef for Barack Obama’s
first state dinner as president.
Upon launch, The Curtain was
amongst good company, with The Ned
opening in the same year and other
high profile members clubs plotting
their next expansion moves. Soho
House stalwart, Shoreditch House is a
mere 500 metres away.
Achenbaum wasn’t the slightestbit fazed however and from the get-
go wanted to offer more than what is
expected of a typical trendy London
members’ club.
“A lot of the other membership
clubs," he says, "it feels to me - you're
paying to come and drink,” he says. “I
did not want that to be our culture - I
wanted it to be a great place to come
and eat and drink but also experience
something.
“We brought people in from some
amazing places - our head of food and
beverage was from Chiltern Firehouse,
our head chef from Soho House, so I feel
we are delivering something social here.
A lot of other clubs, 1: they don't focuson the service and we think that's really
important, but 2: at the same time, the
overall experience will be driven by
the fact that you get tremendous value
from being a member, being able to see
other things you may not otherwise be
able to see.”
He was confident he had all the right
ingredients to set The Curtain apart
from its closest neighbours and was
aiming to recreate the success he had
already found with the Gansevoort
Hotel Group. across the pond.
In 2004, he dared to build on
untrodden land in New York, when he
took the plunge to develop a hotel in
the Meatpacking District, which at the
time, was very much pre-regeneration.
Leading the charge, he created an ‘oasis
in a desert’ and Hotel Gansevoort quickly
became one of New York’s hottest hotels.
In 2010, he opened the brand’s second
spot on Park Avenue NYC.
He says London was a ‘natural fit’ and
he was pursuing a site in the city for five toThe Curtain is home to
120 bedrooms.Michael is founder of
the Gansevoort Hotel
Group in the U.S.The Green Room.August 2019 | BOUTIQUE HOTELIER 15MICHAEL ACHENBAUM TALK