The Peninsula London has opened its doors to the public after being announced more than six years ago.
Steps from Knightsbridge and Buckingham Palace, the regal Belgravia property sports just 190 rooms and suites in addition to 25 high-end residences, elegant public spaces and the world-famous Peninsula Spa brand.
And while London already has its fair share of some of the world’s most impressive hotels, it’s looking like The Peninsula’s arrival marks a major step for the city’s iron-clad grip on luxury experiences.
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Not only is there an entire fleet of luxury vehicles available for guests’ various whims, including an electrified 1960 vintage Austin taxi, four bespoke hybrid Bentley Bantayaga and a restored 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom, but check-in will open doors to a great variety of bars, retail spaces and restaurants.
Having stayed at The Peninsula New York recently, I’m familiar with the brand’s love of classic, courteous aesthetics.
Guest rooms sound enticing with bespoke furnishings and mahogany-panelled dressings rooms, as well as textured bathrooms built with Honey Onyx stone. The grand lobby looks epic with a grand piano overlooking the hotel’s signature afternoon tea offering.
But it’s the signature Peninsula Suite that’s got us excited. The hotel’s most exclusive offering is home to a private screening room and its own fitness centre. Guests staying here also have the option of adding an additional Terrace Suite just for entertainment purposes, taking up the entire sixth floor with a total of seven bedrooms. That’s 1,490 square metres of apartment-like living, making it one of London’s biggest suites.
And the rooftop restaurant, Brooklands is Peninsula at its thematic best. The entire space is an extension of an overarching motorsports and airfield theme hinged on the iconic Brooklands racing circuit that once existed out in Weybridge.
Before guests head on up to Brooklands, they enter another lobby with an actual Concorde nose hanging above a rotating vintage race car exhibit on loan from the Brooklands Museum. From there, two elevators designed to look like hot air balloon baskets speed guests up to the eighth floor where they’d find rare motoring memorabilia and an actual wing from a noble British Vickers aeroplane. The restaurant’s furniture is modelled after Bentley and Rolls Royce seats.
On the ground floor, Chef Dicky To helms the Canton Blue Chinese restaurant, themed on the spice-trade union of Asian and British cultures, best expressed in an artisanal tea room called Little Blue. It’s a step away from the dramatic motorsports design of Brookfields but falls in line with The Peninsula’s East-West elegance.
