London has more than 9,000 hair and beauty salons – more than any other UK region by a wide margin. With that much choice on a single tube line, why would you ever go back to the same chair twice?
If you’re used to having a blow-dry in some frenetic and rushed 10 minutes while your hairstylist is talking (loudly) with another client on the phone and chugging a green juice – it’s worth keeping your options open.
There’s no denying hair salons are expensive, but if there’s a high price to pay, you should get the treatment you deserve. SALON64 – a hair salon tucked away on Bateman Street in Soho – is one of those places where experience goes far beyond your average appointment (we know it because we’ve been there!).
The man behind it is Ricky Walters – once a 21-year-old with no formal training who talked his way into running a salon inside a five-star hotel using nothing but a handwritten note and a two-word pitch.
It may sound far-fetched but it’s exactly what happened, and it’s the reason a Soho salon that clients still can’t identify as a salon when they first walk in has become one of the more talked-about names in British hairdressing, with a second site now inside one of London’s most exclusive hotels.
So, how do you build one of the most unique hair salons in London?
An apprenticeship in hospitality, not just hair
Walters left school at 16 with no plan beyond needing a job, and landed an apprenticeship at his local high street salon expecting to hate it. He didn’t, and it was that accidental start that led him to John Frieda, then to Daniel Galvin’s salon at the Corinthia Hotel, where the real education happened.
When the salon manager role at the Corinthia came up, Walters didn’t wait to be asked. He wrote his own case for the job and handed it over with a post-it note attached, explaining in two words what his strategy would be: “By caring.” He got the role, spent several years growing the salon, and started to suspect the same instinct, hospitality first and hair second, could carry a business of his own.
Building a salon nobody recognises as one
Two loyal clients backed him, and in 2017 Walters opened SALON64 in Soho. The name nods to 1664, the year the word “salon” was first used in France, when Parisian women gathered in ornate rooms to talk. Walters built SALON64 as a modern version of that idea, with no rows of styling stations and no hidden VIP room, chairs arranged instead around a fire pit, with coffee and cocktails part of the offer. He’s described the result as “the best dining table in Soho,” the idea being that you never know who you’ll end up sitting next to.
“Luxury is about exceeding expectations. From the welcome at reception to the coffee, cocktails, environment and expertise, every touchpoint has been carefully considered through the lens of hospitality.”
That approach has built a client list spanning A-list names like Machine Gun Kelly, Rebel Wilson and Novak Djokovic, rising British talent including Lola Young and Eyal Booker, and regulars such as Laura Whitmore, Jodie Kidd, Gary Neville and Nick Grimshaw. But Walters is clear that the wider client base is the actual point, not the famous names attached to it.
“We are building a far-reaching community that trusts us to make them feel and look good. From celebrity and influencer clients, to relatable customers, our salon chairs are filled with a client base as rich and as diverse as our cultural heartland, London. You never know who you will be sitting next to.”
Confidence before cuts
The hospitality framing can make it easy to overlook the technical side, but that’s where Walters built his reputation before any of the rest existed. He’s particularly known for textured and curly hair, cutting it dry, without combs or clips, because “every curl pattern is different, so the objective is to work with the hair’s natural shape, not force it into something it isn’t.”
Still, for Walters, the technical result isn’t the endpoint. “The real service is confidence,” he says. “People often arrive carrying stress, worries or uncertainty. They leave feeling lighter, more confident and more themselves.” He credits the conversation as much as the cut: “You spend time listening to people. You hear their stories. The transformation can be external, but it can also be internal.”
So, what’s next?
In 2024, SALON64 opened a second site at Raffles London at the OWO. Nearly a decade after SALON64 first opened, Walters says the same curiosity that got him into hairdressing is still driving him, with new products already in development (more on that soon- hopefully!) and the plan to keep evolving the experience without losing the instinct that built it in the first place.
For now, we’d wholeheartedly recommend booking yourself a premium salon experience with a celebrity hairstylist and a team that knows exactly how to make you feel looked after. It will raise the bar for hair appointments in London (for better or for worse!).
Key details
Address: 14 Bateman St, Greater, London W1D 3AG
Website: www.salon64.co.uk
Socials: @salon64london
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