Royalty, stars, goats and me

The Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge is the last word in luxury, finds Bernadette Fallon

London’s swish Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge has hosted the likes of Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and John Wayne over the years. Royalty has its own entrance on the Hyde Park side of the building, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret danced here as young girls.

It has also hosted goats. The Sultan of Zanzibar turned up with 12 of them on his visit in 1929, another goat was milked every day for Mahatma Gandhi when he stayed. Winston Churchill took refuge here during the Second World War, as did soldiers on leave from the trenches in the First World War who were invited to stay in the ballroom if they had nowhere else to go. Today a secret entrance preserves the anonymity of guests who wish to stay here discreetly and unobserved.

I’m not a celebrity, royalty or a goat, but I do have a history with this hotel. Several years ago, I had a six-week course of treatment in Chelsea’s Royal Marsden Hospital down the road. From Monday to Friday I went there every afternoon and met up with friends to do nice things afterwards, before the tiredness set in. One of those nice things was stylish cocktails in the Mandarin Oriental.

The glamorous Mandarin Bar is still there but the hotel has undergone a multi-million-pound makeover since my last visit. Now it has a double Michelin-starred restaurant, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, and the French-inspired bistro-style Bar Boulud for all day dining. It’s a buzzy spot, with a cool open kitchen that promises ‘the best burger in London’. (I ate one. It is.) Burgers cost from £14 and there’s a fixed price lunch menu served from 12 to 6:30pm that’s great value at £22 for 2 courses.

The Mandarin Oriental has come a long way since the days it was the Hyde Park Court and Club in the late 1800s, with 138 bachelor flats, drawing and dining rooms, billiard and smoking rooms, all for £100 a year. At 100 feet, it was one of the tallest buildings in London, and caused no end of a fuss among local residents worried it would cast a shadow on the Serpentine across the road.

In 1902 it opened as London’s grandest hotel, with 268 rooms and a restaurant with an orchestra gallery. Today it has 181 rooms and suites but what hasn’t changed is that feeling of luxurious indulgence as you swing off Knightsbridge and sweep up the steps past the top-hatted footman into an oasis of marble.

Upstairs my room is another oasis of luxury with Art-deco inspired furnishings and French windows overlooking Hyde Park, the traffic of Knightsbridge muted behind glazing and elegant drapes because luxury doesn’t do traffic noise. The TV turns on a welcome as I enter and offers me, as well as all the regular channels, a whole host of wellness programmes – from yoga to guided meditation – and radio stations from NY to NZ.

There’s a vast marble bathroom with a double-length shower, a marble-topped bar behind double doors in the entrance hallway, with kettle, Nespresso machine and a sliding cabinet of chilled drinks. ‘Drawers’ in mirrored bedside tables flip out to become plug sockets and mobile phone chargers, there’s a leather stand to hold your phone while below, motion sensor lights switch on when you get out of bed to light your way. It’s all thoughtfully considered for comfort.

There’s more wellness downstairs in the spa where treatments from around the world are on offer. Oriental Qi is a blend of personal assessment, Chinese re-balancing techniques and a full body massage

Clockwise from main: the exterior of the Mandarin Oriental; a Deluxe room; Bar Boulud

with Aromatherapy Associates essential oils. It not only releases knots from my shoulders, it sends me away a ‘wellness manifesto’ of tips for exercise, digestion, breathing and balancing, suited to my personal needs.

Should you require any other luxurious indulgences, Harvey Nichols is directly opposite and Harrods just down the road for highend shopping. The V&A is nearby for high-end culture or enjoy nature in beautiful Hyde Park.

Treat yourself to a high-end facial in Marylebone, across the park, at Epilium & Skin, the French medical beauty clinic from Paris. Here the Retouch by Intraceuticals express facial uses five high performance serums to tone and sculpt the face. It’s devised by Lord Gavin Mcleodvalentine, descended from one of the oldest families in Scotland, and celebrity facialist to the likes of Julianne Moore, Susan Sarandon and Helena Bonham-carter among other A-listers (Facial from £75, Epilium. co.uk). It’s a clientele the Mandarin Oriental would be proud of. ■

Rooms at the Mandarin Oriental

from £660 per night; call 020 7235 2000 or visit mandarinoriental.com/ london/hyde-park/luxury-hotel

It’ s a buzzy spot, with an open kitchen promising ‘the best burger in london’