Rainforest in London? Of course!

We’ve done rooftops, we’ve done treehouses, now its Rainforest Time.

I’ve been so excited to visit this hotel and it didn’t let me down.? As spectacular as the images on its website but even better in the flesh.

The Mandrake is labelled as a boutique, 5star lifestyle property, an immersive experience.

This hotel, opened in 2017, sits behind a discreet door on Newman Street.? On sunny days, which it was when I visited, you’ll find yourself opening the door and plunging into darkness.

You literally open the door to a darkened corridor with a silver love heart on the wall in front of you.? Quite a welcome and almost as if you are moving into another world away from the streets behind you.

Left into the hotel’s main reception which gives more hints of what’s to come and from where you can see the corners of the restaurant, the courtyard and the hotel’s main bar.

Obviously if you’re here to stay then this is the point at which you check into one of the hotel’s 33 rooms, of which 10 are terrace bedrooms (just as it says on the tin, with direct access to the terrace), 3 are suites and one, a penthouse.

Sticking with the ground floor for now, passing through reception is the hotel’s restaurant bar and restaurant, Yopo Bar and Yopo Restaurant.? Two very different spaces with the bar area being bright, glitzy and golden while the restaurant is flamboyant, cosy and dramatic, with Show Girl taking centre stage.

The food offering in Yopo is South American.? Pure vegan catering can be accommodated as can a total of 130 guests for a standing reception or 60 guests seated.

The restaurant connects to the courtyard as does the hotel’s main bar directly opposite.? The courtyard cannot be booked for private events given that it is so centrally positioned within the hotel, encased in glass and open to the elements above.? But on that basis it does lend itself to an extension of the bar and restaurant when the weather permits and an area for smokers to slink off to in between dinner courses.

To the rear of the restaurant sits the hotels private dining room which can hold 20 for a seated dinner but also has its own plasma screen and can be used for meetings and presentations.

If you book a private dinner in the private dining room and need a private area for pre-dinner drinks, then the Library is ideal.? It’s a beautiful room, holding 30 maximum or potentially somewhere to have a refreshment break during a meeting in the private dining room.? (Just as an aside Yopo Bar can accommodate x 30 too).

So, from reception through to the Yopo Bar and Yopo Restaurant, then through to the private dining room, next to the Library, you then lead into the hotels main bar and you’ve done a full circle of the courtyard and of the hotels ground floor.

You can actually hire the whole of the ground floor, honestly this would be party central!!!? The maximum capacity would be x 300 guests for a standing reception but would only be considered on a Monday or Tuesday.

Similarly, the main bar is also available for private hire, again on a Monday or Tuesday only.

Up a level now to the space I’ve been dying to see the Jurema Terrace.? It’s a hidden rainforest style venue in the centre of the hotel in Central London, how decadent, how amazing!!

The terrace as a whole can accommodate up to 120 for a reception style event but can also be hired half and half, the South Terrace (max x 35) and the North Terrace (max x 75).

Just to note the Jurema Terrace is only available to hire for events during June and July only.? On Wednesday and Thursday evenings the Terrace can only be booked for a single event.? On Mondays and Tuesdays, it’s possible to hire half the Terrace if you have a smaller group.

You can play your own music if you have the whole Terrace for an event, but it can only be background music at a maximum of 70dbs given that the bedrooms surround the Terrace.? The bar closes at 10.30pm in the Terrace but the party can continue until 1am indoors.

The North Terrace has a retractable awning that covers 80% of the floor space, the South Terrace will have some covering, but this is work in progress currently so don’t depend on that being in place this year.

For a seated dinner the North Terrace can accommodate 70 guests for a seated dinner, the South Terrace can accommodate 20 seated but please note that the hotel would need to hire in furniture for a formal dinner.

There are two further areas, perhaps the next isn’t so suited to a corporate event, more to private smaller groups and this is the Greenhouse which, literally is a green house, with a smaller area just to the front of the space, ideal for pre-dinner drinks and then private (as much as one can be private in a greenhouse) dining for a maximum of 8 guests.

And then we head downstairs to the Masha Hari Theatre.? This room feels very decadent.? With a maximum of 70 standing or 3 for dinner, this room could equally be used for a meeting, a dinner, a cinema viewing or an elaborate party.? With its own bar and licensed to 2am.

I really don’t know which is my favourite part of this hotel.? It really does feel immersive, you really do forget you’re in Central London.? I think I’d feel comfortable in Yopo, but I’d love to hold an event on the Jurema Terrace, it’s amazing.

For more information, availability and rates contact us.