Soho got boring. There, we said it. Once the playground of punks, late-night licenses and bohemian rakishness, it’s the elephant in the room to Londoners that the West End has all but lost its edge. Though there’s nothing wrong with the unsigned, moodily lit wine bars and the many (oh so many) small-plate restaurants contained within the boundaries of Wardour Street, Charing Cross Road, Oxford Street and Shaftesbury Avenue, sometimes you just want Soho to give you something a bit more, well, debaucherous. 

Enter an unlikely hero: Stormzy, who has just opened a new immersive bar, House Party, with events collective Cream Group. The clue is in the name; a seven-floor concept townhouse on Poland Street, where each room recreates that of a typical suburban family home. 

Inviting the unabashed chaos of youth, it offers a wild yet comfortingly nostalgic experience in the midst of an area doing its utmost to be modern. The basement sees the rapper’s first BMW parked up next to a beer pong table and the kitchen is awash with red cups, while a flight of gaudily carpeted stairs leads to karaoke in a granny’s perfectly pink-wallpapered bedroom. A floor above, retro Nintendo 64 consoles and boxy dial-up computers hide in bunk-bed dens, while the rooftop terrace hosts an entire shed – its green glow and distinct scent alluding to “homegrown produce”.  

The party that everyone wants to go to, but no one wants to host, House Party is the new location for unforgettable nights (as opposed to the real teenage gatherings we’d quite happily forget). Naturally, in true contemporary Soho style, this is ultimately quite a sophisticated affair; those (non-plastic) red cups hold very grownup Dark & Stormzy cocktails, QR codes can be scanned for pizza (served by a uniformed delivery driver, no less) and guests can connect their phone to play their own music in any room. That might be a tough gig though, with world-renowned DJs from Stormzy’s phonebook set to play the kitchen-worktop decks. 

The Vossi Bop rapper says, ‘We wanted to create a nostalgic experience where everyone is welcome, and no two nights are the same’. That’s guaranteed, with a final flourish of drama. Those in the know should seek out Mum’s diary and follow its clues on a Side Mission to win free drinks, or listen to a confession and leave one of their own on the Mystery Message hotline. Far from being just a bar, this could be a sign of Soho finally reclaiming its cool. 

61 Poland Street W1F 7NU; thehouse.party