A Royal Match: London’s The Lanesborough Hotel Is An Ultra-Luxe Stalwart For A London Escape
Live your best Regency era life at The Lanesborough, a London stalwart that balances quintessential British grandeur with the ultimate in creature comforts
Picture this: a grand Regency country home, perched on London’s Hyde Park Corner. If this immediately conjures up images of Jane Austen-era high society, you won’t be far off. As staying at The Lanesborough – still one of the grandest properties in London, filled with ornate neo-classical, gilded decorative touches – is the closest you’ll come to that experience in modern times. After all, Buckingham Palace is just a minute’s stroll away, and where else would you find a wood panelled ‘Withdrawing Room’ to gather your thoughts during afternoon tea?
Trappings of yesteryear glamour are maintained; doormen in tails greet guests by name, tipping their hats, while ironed newspapers are brought along with coffee in silver pots to your room by formal butlers – ready to help 24/7 – for the gentlest wake-up call you could imagine. But mod cons are maintained; you might not spot the flat-screen TV, but an oil painting discretely slides back to reveal it when you turn on the remote, while you lounge on your brocade-draped bed. An iPad control adjusts your creature comforts. A top tip? Book the Aspley Suite, named after the first Duke of Wellington’s London dwelling.
Other touches that mark The Lanesborough apart? They note everything from your preferred beverage to your favourite flower hue, your sweet or savoury cravings, and the time you’d like your turn-down done, in advance – so you feel truly at home once checked-in. They even press your outfits – necessary, as you really want to dress the part and feel like the Lady of the manor.
Breakfast at the pale blue and mustard-hued The Lanesborough Grill – also home to Chef Shay Cooper’s decadent Beef Wellington at lunch – is a treat in itself. Take your seat in the light-filled glass conservatory, enhanced by a multitude of chandeliers and the reassuring sight of Gueridon trolleys, and enjoy Isle of Man kippers or truffle-topped scrambled eggs. Else ask the hotel to arrange a decadent picnic in the park – a wicker hamper will be filled with delicious scones, finger sandwiches and even smoked salmon and caviar.
The hotel’s eponymous Club & Spa is another draw. The subterranean swimming pool is a rarity in this upmarket postcode, but the addition of wellness and hydrotherapy treatments – both traditional and more cutting-edge, sets it apart.
This London stalwart had a major rejuvenation when it was taken over by the Oetker Collection in 2015 – Le Bristol Paris and Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc are other prizes in their prestigious portfolio – but although every little space in the 93-room and suite property was refreshed, its aura was if anything, restored to its former gilded, fresco and cornice-bedecked glory. A sense of majesty and history permeates every corner of this storied hotel. And given that’s what draws so many to the British capital, surely this must be the ultimate place to call home in London?
Getting there: You’ll be landing in London in just seven hours and 35 minutes thanks to Qatar Airways’ direct daily flights to both Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
Food and drink : Make sure you catch The Harry Brunt Trio as they make regular Friday evening appearances at the hotel’s Jazz Nights.
For more information and booking, visit oetkercollection.com.
Images: supplied
From the Harper’s Bazaar Qatar Autumn 2025 Issue.