Last year, Estelle Manor — the members’ club and hotel in Oxfordshire — announced it would be throwing open the doors to a new hotspot in Notting Hill at the former site of Beach Blanket Babylon (once the weekend hangout).
It’s further proof that Notting Hill is firmly back on the London map with ‘it’ restaurants like Dove, The Barbary, Gold and Dorian launching to complement long-established destinations The Ledbury (refurbished in 2022) and Core by Clare Smyth — where David Beckham hosted his star-studded 50th birthday with guests including Tom Cruise — and brands such as Daylesford, Soho Home, Sandro and Aesop all moving into the area in recent years.
Opening late 2025, it’s now been revealed that the members’ club will be called Celeste and will comprise an al fresco terrace, a wrap-around bar counter and an all-day Italian-American restaurant serving handmade pastas, crudos and thin-crust pizzas on the ground-floor.
Upstairs, the cocktail den will be inspired by the listening bars of Tokyo with wood panelling, plush seating, dim lighting and shelves positively groaning under the weight of covetable vinyl.
On the second floor, west Londoners will be able to enjoy an open kitchen-style pantry that takes its inspiration from Japanese izakayas — grills from the robata and sushi made infront of you — while the third floor will house a private space for dinner parties or work dos.
Tough day at work? The wine collection will feature no fewer than 1,000 bottles from 1939 to the present day with over 200 by the glass.
There’s a catch, of course: you’ll need to be a member of Estelle Manor, which will set you back £3,750 per year with a £1,000 joining fee (or £1,900 per year with a £500 joining fee if you’re under 33), but you get full access to the Estelle Manor estate and its amenities.
The postcode’s agents are understandably excited by a slice of the Cotswolds in the capital. There were 21 transactions totalling £288m that exchanged in Notting Hill in the past couple of weeks, according to recent stats from LonRes, the residential property data company.
“We can imagine properties within walking distance easily seeing a 10 per cent value increase just as we’ve seen with homes close to members’ club Annabel’s,” explains Becky Fatemi, executive partner at Sotheby’s International Realty, which has just opened an outpost in Notting Hill.
“The top Notting Hill streets close by include Dawson Place, Pembridge Crescent and, of course, Ledbury Road itself.
“I’ve sold several houses in Mayfair, two in excess of £50 million, to clients willing to pay substantially more especially to be close to Annabel’s, and it’s inevitable an outpost of Estelle in this location will have a similar effect.”
Will Watson, head of The Buying Solution, the London-based property-buying agency, concurs. “The arrival of Celeste on Ledbury Road later this year is an exciting development for Notting Hill that reinforces the area’s prestige and aligns perfectly with the strong and growing demand for properties in this highly sought-after neighbourhood.”
“We’ve seen firsthand that our clients searching for large family homes at the super-prime level — above £10 million — consistently prioritise Notting Hill. Many are also drawn to the edges of Holland Park and the northern pockets of Kensington with top-tier addresses such as Pembridge Villas and Chepstow Villas — where homes range from £10 million to £40 million — being just a stone’s throw from Ledbury Road.
“Additionally, we’re seeing increased interest in emerging streets offering greater value, such as Bassett Road and Oxford Gardens in close-by W10, where double-fronted houses can be acquired for sub-£10 million,” adds Watson.
Jonathan Brandling-Harris, co-founder of House Collective, a boutique estate agency that also recently opened a Notting Hill office to cater to revived interest in the neighbourhood, says: “Another smart move from Estelle. It reminds me of the ‘Waitrose effect’ — where house prices have been proven to rise when a store opened nearby.
“While that doesn’t hold much weight in London, what we’re seeing is a growing call for high-calibre amenities and members’ club as they’ve become the new must-haves alongside traditional draws.”
Branding-Harris adds: “When we create brochures for Cotswolds properties, buyers want precise travel times to Soho Farmhouse and Estelle Manor down to the minute. This trend is only going to strengthen.”
Interested? Listed with Sotheby’s International Realty on Ledbury Road for £7.5m is a recently-renovated five bedroom townhouse that will enable you to go from the bar at Celeste to your bed within minutes.
On the market with House Collective on nearby Portland Road for £3.5m is a four-bedroom townhouse that’s close enough to the members’ club to enjoy its cachet without being right on the doorstep.
You heard them — go west and join the club.
