HotelChatter

From the Times' description:

The desk clerk will be dressed in black, the mini-bars will be hidden inside giant loud-speaker stacks and the cinema in the basement will screen films such as Notorious, about the life and death of Biggie Smalls, the American rapper.

The bar will serve cocktails 24 hours a day and the open-air hot tub on the rooftop terrace should give London’s skyline some of its biggest thrills since the Beatles played Get Back live above their Apple headquarters 40 years ago.

The logic behind some of those inspired choices: the all-black uniforms are a nod to Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel, and the 24-hour bar is there to ensure that no band ever has to get offstage late at night only to come back to their hotel to find a closed bar (excuse us, but it's not just big-name musicians who have that problem — that happens to us after karaoke and stuff).

Sanctum is going to be a part of Design Hotels, and the property looks like it's got the goods to keep up. The design concept features four distinct "mood schemes" throughout the hotel: "sleek Silver Bullet, warm Espresso Deco, ornate Naked Baroque and rock-'n'-roll Purple Haze."

Room rates are hovering around £150 ($210-ish) for a “crash room” to £260 ($360-ish) for rooms like the "Purple Haze" and "Naked Baroque" — all the way up to £500 (around $700) for "Naked Luxe" suites.

There are no opening dates listed anywhere, but we gave Design Hotels a call this morning to check on it. They told us there's no opening date confirmed yet, but they're aiming to start accepting guests sometime in March. We'll keep you posted.