Review: Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London review

Selected by the editors as one of the best hotels in London

First impression Flag-flying regal London stalwart.
Staff Meet you at the door in top hat and red tails.
Food and drink Posh burgers or Heston Blumenthal’s two-Michelin-star molecular gastronomy.
Bed and bath Significantly lighter and brighter than the old interiors, with views of Hyde Park if you’re lucky.
The crowd An international business crowd with a celebrity or two for good measure.
In a nutshell This London landmark hotel is back on the scene.

Set the scene
Sir Winston Churchill was a regular and apparently once offered a member of staff a cigar in return for an early breakfast. The Queen and Princess Margaret learned to dance in the hotel’s ballroom and, if you’re in a bedroom facing Hyde Park, you’re likely to wake to the sound of the Household Cavalry clip-clopping past in the morning. This has to be one of the best situated hotels in London and is a much anticipated reopening after a fire delayed its two-year renovations by another nine months.

What’s the story?
The project was first announced in 1887 as a brand new gentleman’s club set to be the tallest building in London, but residents originally opposed the design fearing it would cast a shadow over the Serpentine lake. No one has tried to mess with the turreted red-brick Edwardian exterior since it was constructed in 1889, nor the super-ornate dark lobby fitted with marble sourced from eight different countries. Everything else, however, has been given a hefty overhaul by designer Joyce Wang (also behind the interiors at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong). Taking inspiration from the park, she spritzed corridor walls with a puff of pastel peppermint and a bespoke wallpaper the texture of bark with flashes of copper. Crystal chandeliers have been replaced with lights designed to look like flowers and the lighting in the lobby has been cleverly adjusted to brighten any dark corners. Meanwhile, an eruption of fresh flowers designed by McQueens still greets you at the entrance but there are also giant terrariums filled with succulents on every floor, as well as modern powder-pink armchairs. Artist Leah Wood (daughter of Ronnie) has updated the park-facing Butterfly Terrace with hand-painted flora, and in the ballroom next door every millimetre of gold leaf has been restored.

What can we expect in our room?
Gone are the heavy floral curtains, lime-green throws and dark swirly carpets. Without exception, all the rooms are much lighter: pale grey with deep-green velvet sofas and gold Art Deco-style lampshades. The floral carpets have been replaced with pale wooden floors and little libraries have been curated by London bookseller Heywood Hill. Swan feathers have been etched onto mirrors and actual feathers are displayed in vases on bookshelves. The Hyde Park rooms are a little pricier, but worth it for the all-green view – the BT Tower the only giveaway that this is not some sort of country-house pile. There are two new penthouse suites; our favourite, the Mandarin, in the north-east corner of the hotel, has floor-to-ceiling views of the London Eye and the Shard from the master bedroom, and a panorama across Hyde Park from the terrace of the main living space. The bathrooms are covered in white marble, with heated Japanese loo seats and lots of buttons.

How about the food and drink?
Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner has been in residence at the Mandarin Oriental since 2011. On the menu is his famous dimpled mandarin-orange chicken-liver parfait and saffron risotto made with chicken stock and topped with calf tail. For more everyday dining, there’s Bar Boulud – designed as a neighbourhood bistro by French chef Daniel Boulud – which continues to please locals and hotel guests with its charcuterie boards and foie-gras burgers. Nothing much has changed here, but if it ain’t broke, why fix it? At breakfast there are cruffins (that’s a croissant crossed with a muffin) and cakes as well as detox juices and a gluten-free station.

Anything to say about the service?
It’s faultless. Staff you definitely haven’t introduced yourself to will know your name. While the hotel was closed, employees remained on full pay, either shipping off to Mandarin Orientals in Washington DC, Prague and Bangkok or, for those who needed to stay in London, undertaking charity work at The passage homeless centre in Pimlico (the latter continues, but at a reduced rate, now the hotel is open again).

What sort of person stays here?
Robbie Williams was one of the guests evacuated when the fire blazed through the building in June 2018. And you’d be unlucky not to spot a familiar face during a stay here – Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and Ronnie Wood have all reportedly stayed. Otherwise it’s an international business set, and those who like to shop.

What’s the neighbourhood scene like?
The entrance from the hotel straight out to Hyde Park is reserved for the Queen, which means it’s down the grand staircase, out the front door and round the corner for everyone else. Opposite is Harvey Nichols and down the road is Harrods. As well as being within walking distance to the smartest shops, you’re also in a prime position to get almost anywhere in London with the entrance to Knightsbridge tube metres from the front door. South Kensington, the V&A and Natural History Museum are a 15-minute stroll, as is Mayfair and the West End.

Anything else?
The underground spa has also had an extensive redesign by New Yorker Adam D Tihany. It’s dark and moody with a slick 17-metre heated pool. But the most exciting addition to the treatment menu is Bastien Gonzalez’s Pedi:Mani:Cure. Podiatrist Gonzalez is so sought after he travels every three days (he has studios in locations such as the Maldives, Barcelona and Taipei, as well as a string of private clients) but amazingly this is his first UK outpost, and there’s certainly no one doing anything quite like it. Various scalpels and blades are used to cut both nail and skin, while drills clean and buff. The equipment might look like something in a dentist’s surgery but it’s all completely pain-free. Toes are left twinkling afterwards, without so much as a layer of polish.

And anything you’d change?
The interiors at Bar Boulud, while fine, could do with an update to match the fresh makeover seen throughout the rest of the hotel.

Is it worth it – why?
Yes, the hotel has kept hold of its historic charm despite the modern makeover. A gracious and unstuffy grande dame.