With The Queen and Princess Margaret learning to dance in its ballroom as children, and a pedigree most luxury hotels would sell their souls to obtain, the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park has a better claim than most to the title of London’s most prestigious – and popular – luxury hotel.
With this in mind, there is really only one way to go about visiting such a magnificent cosmopolitan gem: Properly. Towering above the main hub of elegant and exclusive Knightsbridge, the majestic Edwardian façade (and Hyde Park adjacency) leaves new arrivals in no doubt of what to expect within – although they might be pleasantly surprised by the far-eastern influence gently woven throughout, and adding an extra hint of the otherworldly to the traditional flourishes and gilding.
The staff twinkle with a warmth and efficiency one rarely sees elsewhere, while the sumptuous rooms are all swathes of fabric and coronets, plush linens, marble fireplaces and mahogany fittings, complimented by all the very latest in-room technology so that, in true hyperluxe style, guests need hardly lift a finger.
However, in order to truly do this grande dame justice, you’ll need to dedicate a healthy amount of time to its gastronomic credentials (or an unhealthy amount of time, if you can spare it), amongst them Heston Blumethal’s London eatery Dinner, New York chef Daniel Boulud’s acclaimed Bar Boulud and, of course, the achingly chic Rosebery Lounge. The latter is an ideal place to seek refuge from the designer labyrinth of the Knightsbridge neighbourhood over afternoon tea and champagne cocktails, taking advantage of one of the capital’s most impressive tea menus and the gloriously opulent surroundings. Bar Boulud offers relaxed, bistro-style dining in the evening – although those in the know prefer Sunday brunch, repeatedly lured by the best oeufs Bénédicte and French onion soup this side of Paris.
But of course the jewel in the hotel’s culinary crown is the world-renowned Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, with its historically inspired dishes dating from as far back as the court of King Henry VIII, reworked for the modern palate by Blumenthal and his executive chef Ashley Palmer Watts. Much of the menu may prove linguistically challenging for the non-food historians amongst us, but we’d thoroughly recommend a bit of blind ordering – after all, when else are you likely to get the chance to discover what the delightfully cryptic meatfruit, umbles and frumenty are?
Glug & Chew 