Flexible living operator Urban Rest has signed for its first hotel in the UK, taking on the operation of 1 Dorset Square, a 14-key boutique hotel in Marylebone.
1 Dorset Square, a 14-key boutique hotel in Marylebone.
The property marks Urban Rest’s first hotel asset in the UK – it already has several serviced apartments – and its first hotel operated under the hotel management agreement model, opening in late November 2026.
Urban Rest operates a portfolio of more than 80 properties across Australia, New Zealand and the UK and Ireland.
The signing marks a significant step in Urban Rest’s growth strategy, extending the brand beyond serviced apartments into hotel operation under an asset-light model. The group said it was poised for further UK hotel expansion with opportunities under active discussion across the London market.
Izabela Szumierz, Urban Rest’s managing director EMEA and co-founder, said: “1 Dorset Square is a landmark moment for Urban Rest in the UK. It is our first hotel asset in the market and a building with genuine history and character.
“Marylebone is exactly the kind of address our corporate guests look for, and this signing shows the strength of our operational model as we scale across London.”
Nicknamed ‘Spy Corner,’ 1 Dorset Square served between 1941 and 1944 as the headquarters of the French section of Winston Churchill’s Special Operations Executive (SOE), where secret agents were trained before deployment in support of the French Resistance.
