"It’s a sign that a hotel opening is a real event when even the taxi driver excitedly explains the subtly marked genders of the lion statues outside (hint: look for the egg). The Peninsula London has been 30 years in the making, with the Hong Kong brand spending decades looking for a Goldilocks site before opting to knock down an office block that housed the headquarters of building company Sir Robert McAlpine, overlooking the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner. For all the staff buzz (just ask any of them about the feng shui), the sense inside the new eight-story edifice is of a frictionless bubble. The creamy seven-star cosseting feels distinctly Asian, despite the red buses and daily Household Cavalry horses outside. All the key brand markers are here: the Rolls-Royces in Peninsula green; the tinkly underwater pool music; the afternoon teas in the vast lobby; drawers with nail dryers; and Cantonese classics at Canton Blue and its adjoining Little Blue bar, with sultry interiors inspired by the 19th-century Keying trading junk. There’s also a nostalgic Britishness at play, from the de Gournay wallpaper depicting the Royal Parks to the Brooklands restaurant-bar inspired by the UK’s golden age of flying and motor racing. It’s already Michelin-starred for its modern British dishes by Bibendum’s Claude Bosi, and it has rare views across the parks to the London Eye. This is a hotel for a new London: global, solvent, and demanding only the best. From $1,650. —Toby Skinner" - CNT Editors
