Nail Salon Near Me in Knightsbridge: Townhouse on Harrods' Fifth Floor

Townhouse Knightsbridge does its manicures on the 5th floor of Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, London SW1X 7XL, inside the store's Hair and Beauty Salon. The quickest booking is a £44 Colour Refresh, 25 minutes of shaping, buffing and varnish. Doors run Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 21:00 and Sunday 11:30 to 18:00. For anyone typing nail salon near me between Knightsbridge station and the museums of South Kensington, this is the polished option with a department store wrapped around it.

Juanita Huber-Millet founded Townhouse in 2018, saying she could never find a nail salon that sat between cheap and luxe: premium quality in beautiful surroundings at a sensible price. The flagship opened in Fitzrovia that year and the brand later picked up a Scratch Stars award. On 9 December 2020 Townhouse Knightsbridge opened on the fifth floor of Harrods, offering the full signature menu plus a set of treatments sold only in this branch.

The setting has its own long history. Harrods opened its first hairdressing and manicure department in 1894, and in July 2021 it unveiled a reimagined Hair and Beauty Salon designed by Sparcstudio. The designers paid homage to the salon's 1982 look, with glossy peach marble, cream stone counters and powder-pink walls finished in gold. Townhouse works inside that room, so the manicure tables sit within one of the most photographed beauty floors in London.

The Harrods menu runs from fast and simple to very expensive, so it helps to decide what you need first. The Harrods Naked Manicure, a natural finish with no colour, costs £50 for 30 minutes. The Harrods Manicure adds cuticle care, an optional soak, massage and varnish for £62 in 45 minutes, and the Harrods Gel Manicure is £70 for 50 minutes. If you arrive wearing old gel, book the version with removal at £86, because the Colour Refresh does not include gel removal.

The middle tier is where Townhouse feels like a treat without the Harrods premium. The Indulgent Gel Manicure, £86 for an hour, adds a longer massage and a masque under heated mitts. The Townhouse x FOREO Red Light Therapy Gel Manicure, £106, adds 15 minutes of red LED light per hand. For feet, the Harrods Gel Pedicure covers soak, scrub, hard skin filing and massage, finished in gel, for £82 over 60 minutes.

Add-ons are priced individually. A BIAB or Super Gel Overlay to strengthen thin nails costs £26 for 15 minutes, and a chrome finish for the glazed doughnut look is £16. Bespoke Gel Nail Art with a design consultation is £60 for 45 minutes, while the brand's SS26 limited art collection, Postcards From Paradise, was listed at £34. Full Set Gel Extensions cost £138 for two hours, but extensions and bespoke art are marked call to enquire rather than bookable online.

The headline items are The Manicure and The Pedicure, both exclusive to Harrods. The Manicure takes 90 minutes and costs £210: an Omorovicza Gold Sugar Scrub, hydrating therapy with Chantecaille Retinol Cream under heated mitts and a 20-minute massage. The Pedicure is £220 for 100 minutes and adds a callus treatment and heated boots. Woman and Home called the manicure eye-watering back when it cost £185, and the price has only risen since.

Our take: skip the exclusives unless it is a gift or a celebration. The Indulgent Gel Manicure delivers the heated mitts, masque and gel finish for £86, less than half the price, and the result on your nails is the same gel. Spend the difference on a long lunch downstairs. Also note that the gel guarantee covers gel services and BIAB, not polish or express treatments, so choose gel if your nails need to last a holiday.

Townhouse asks guests to arrive five minutes early. Anyone more than 10 minutes late may have the appointment cancelled and be charged the full cost, and a smaller delay can mean a shortened treatment. Changes or cancellations inside 12 hours, and no-shows, are charged in full. The brand does not take bookings by phone; online booking for this branch redirects to Harrods' own beauty booking system.

The salons are cashless and accept cards only, though cash tips are welcome, and the brand says 100 percent of tips go to the artist you saw, even on card. Walk-ins are accepted, but more than 95 percent of Townhouse appointments are booked ahead, so walking in on a Saturday is a gamble. Outside polish is not allowed. Children under 8 cannot be treated, and ages 8 to 13 need a parent present for a polish-only express manicure.

Gels and polishes are Townhouse's own Flawless range, which the brand describes as 100 percent vegan, cruelty-free and made in Europe. The Harrods exclusives switch to Chantecaille and Omorovicza skincare. Tools are either single-use and recycled or sterilised in a hospital-grade autoclave between clients. One small detail for Muslim clients: the polishes are Halal certified but not water-permeable. You may bring non-alcoholic drinks, and drinks are on sale in the salon.

Press coverage calls Townhouse the number one choice for beauty editors and influencers, thanks to clean manicures and minimalist nail art, and the brand has been linked with names such as Emilia Clarke and Kim Cattrall. The Harrods menu also includes a men's manicure. Local reviewers single out individual artists, with one praising Billy's bespoke Halloween and celestial designs.

Leave Harrods by the Brompton Road doors and walk west. Within a few minutes you reach Brompton Oratory on Brompton Road, the grand Italianate Catholic church that anchors this end of Knightsbridge. Carry on a little further and the Victoria and Albert Museum on Cromwell Road offers free entry to its permanent galleries, a good place to admire centuries of decorative design while your gel settles.

If you would rather be outside, Hyde Park lies just north of Knightsbridge station, a short stroll from the store. A lap of the nearest lawns makes an easy half hour before heading home. If the fifth floor is fully booked, Townhouse runs other London branches, including its original Fitzrovia salon, and they share the same booking rules.

Address: Townhouse Knightsbridge, 5th Floor, Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road, London SW1X 7XL. Nearest tube: Knightsbridge. Hours: Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 21:00, Sunday 11:30 to 18:00. Card only, cancellation window 12 hours, lateness limit 10 minutes. Cheapest option: Colour Refresh at £44. Ask Karpo in the Karpo APP to pair your slot with a museum visit nearby.