The Rainbow Room restaurant in Kensington, where Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Twiggy partied through the early Seventies, is to be reborn as an American health club.
The £180-a-month Equinox gym — the first outside North America — will bring a new generation of toned 21st-century stars of pop and screen to the former “sybaritic cafeteria” once renowned as the louche epicentre of glam London.
Equinox’s 55 US branches have a dazzling roster of fitness-obsessed A-listers, including Lady Gaga, Will Smith, Cameron Diaz and Natalie Portman, on their membership list. Harvey Spevak, chief executive of Equinox, said membership signings — a mix of London-based US expats and Kensington-based Londoners — were “exceeding early expectations”. A special rate of £160 a month and a waiver of the normal £500 signing-on fee will apply until the gym opens in the autumn.
The Rainbow Room occupies the fifth floor of what was the Biba boutique — known as “the sexiest shop in the world” — at 99 Kensington High Street beneath the Roof Gardens, famed for its flocks of flamingos. The Grade II* listed Art Deco restaurant and nightclub hosted early performances by David Bowie, the New York Dolls and Bryan Ferry’s Roxy Music. But in its new guise, rows of fitness machines have replaced the dining tables and cocktail bars of the past.
The single floor club will have four studios, for pilates, boxing, cycling and yoga, as well as the main gym.
The opulent 35,000 sq ft interiors have been designed by Keith Hobbs, responsible for the look of London restaurants Nobu and Galvin at Windows, who is now working on the Four Season apartments at the Heron Tower. Mr Spevak said: “Nobody else in our industry attracts that type of designer. We are excited to be creating a five-star experience rather than a traditional gym.”
Spa treatments will include a 24 carat gold collagen mask facial, which costs $165 (£105) in the US gyms, while the changing rooms are stocked with Kiehl’s skincare products.
Members can work out to “celebrity playlists” of music selected by famous members such as Katy Perry, Rihanna and Ellie Goulding.
If the Kensington club is successful, Mr Spevak, who is also one of Eqinox’s main shareholders, hopes to open more branches in central London. There are 19 in Manhattan and 14 in Los Angeles by the end of the year.
Mr Spevak said he had been searching for the right location in London since 2000 and was delighted with the “unique, dramatic, listed space” of the Rainbow Room.
