The Lions have had their blindfolds removed!!!

Site visit date 4th January 2024

There are six lions guarding the Peninsula London.? Two outside the restaurant, two outside in the courtyard and two outside the restaurant.? Each wore blindfolds until the hotel opened.

They now stand proud protecting the hotel.

Sat just alongside Hyde Park and the Wellington Arch, the Peninsula is everything I was expecting and more.? It seriously has a few surprises around quite a few corners.

From the minute you pull into the hotel’s courtyard entrance it all feels a bit special.? When I arrived, it felt like a very calm, well ordered, and attentive welcome.

Positioned in the courtyard are 120-year-old Maple trees which were planted in Hyde Park on arrival to acclimatise before being moved to their permanent setting now.? There are also a number of Peninsula vehicles lined up ready for their passengers (the hotel has a total of 15 Peninsula vehicles available for weddings as well as general chauffeur bookings).

The hotels main entrance is directly in front of you, you’re greeted by a mix of concierge and Peninsula Page’s, there are walkways immediately to the left and right (I’ll come back to those in a minute) and the hotels “all day dining” lobby just beyond.

When I arrived Afternoon Tea was in full swing and, when I left, the lobby was starting to move towards its evening service with live music playing from the balcony.

Accommodation

If you’re staying over then check-in is in the lounge to the left of the main entrance and lobby area.? You’ll not find a queue and, to be honest, the hotel check-in staff can come to you rather than have you standing in front of them with your luggage.

The hotel has a total of 190 rooms.? There are 20 different categories of rooms which includes 60 suites, of which 6 suites can interconnect providing the largest private residence in a London hotel.

And then there’s the Grand Terrace Suite opening this March (2024) and available for private events too … see further down!

And to top that the hotel has the largest entry level hotel bedroom as standard in London, and, and, and I’m pleased to say, decent sized lifts … you’ll not be squished in a corner.? Floor buttons are on all sides too, so you’ll not be reaching passed your fellow lift guests or calling out to someone to press for your floor.

I know all that sounds petty, it’s the attention to detail, it’s not what the hotel has but it’s how the hotel makes you feel.

A little list of facts:

• Grand Premier Park Suite overlooks Wellington Arch.

• There is a printer in every room (saves a bit of luggage space)

• Every room has a dressing room, Dyson hairdryer and …. a nail dryer (apparently the owner was late to a function one night as his wife’s nails were drying so he thought he’d knock that problem out of the park).

• The marble in the bathrooms is all Turkish marble.

In the rooms I viewed the bathrooms turned into a spa at the touch of a button … quite literally, with one touch of a button the bathroom lights dim, relaxing spa music started gently playing and the Do Not Disturb light automatically turned on in the corridor.

And, if you really do want to shut the world out then room service can come via the Valet Box, available to all rooms (a hotel-only access point from the corridor where in-room dining can be magically placed for you, you then open your access point in your room and retrieve your supper and/or your bottle of champagne).

Dining options

But if you wanted to be sociable, dine outside of your bedroom but still stay in the hotel then there are some amazing and surprising options.

There’s the “all day dining” in the main lobby but, take a wander to the far-left corner of the lobby and that’s where one of the surprises can be found.

Currently the Rapier Nailton is sitting on display in a smaller lobby, on loan from the Brooklands Museum.? This 1933 race car still holds the lap record at Brooklands after which this space is named.

Look above you and you’ll see the nose cone of a Concorde airplane, jump in one of the two dedicated lifts to reach the rooftop restaurant, bar, tasting room and humidor, and you’re getting into a hot air balloon (the inside of the lift resembles a hot air balloon basket with orange flicking lights in the centre of each to replicate a balloon taking off).

It really is something you’re not expecting.

On the top floor you’ll find Brooklands Restaurant, with two private dining rooms, Mach 2 and the Napier Railton.? (The main restaurant has 60 covers and is open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner service, the two private dining rooms can accommodate 20 in each.)

A scale model of Concorde is suspended from the ceiling and with floor to ceiling windows and a terrace with views as far as Wembley the whole experience comes together to give a real sense of being in the clouds.

Also on this floor is the Brooklands Bar with nods to aviation and “time gone by” motorsport; giant Bentley B’s embossed on the bar to resemble a car grill, headlights for lamps, the smell of leather; it’s all very evocative.

The hotel has its own humidor, complete with vintage binoculars so you can take in the views a little further and the adjacent Tasting Room cigar lounge where you can relax with a cigar, and sip on some rare whiskies all in the surrounds inspired by The Delage 155B, the 1926 winner of the first Grand Prix to be held at Brooklands.

Brooklands Restaurant can be taken for exclusive use, Brooklands Bar cannot.

Back down to earth without a bump.? Let me take you to the right-hand side of the main hotel lobby now and onto a bit of silk, porcelain, and tea trading.

A bit of history …

Keying was a three-masted, 800-ton Fuzhou Chinese trading junk which sailed from China around the Cape of Good Hope to the United States and Britain between 1846 and 1848. Her voyage was significant as it was one of the earliest instances of a Chinese sailing vessel making a transoceanic journey to the West.

Canton Blue takes inspiration and theming from this era with hand painted porcelain displays, backlit ceiling panels depicting a celestial navigation map.? Low-lit tables, private booths centred around a dual aspect fireplace, shared with an adjacent tea lounge.

There are also two private dining rooms, The Silk Room, and The Music Room.

The service is amazing with many dishes finished table side to create a sense of theatre.

Function Space

Opened in December 2023, the hotel has dedicated event space with its own separate entrance and foyer area.

When taken for exclusive use the hotel will include your own dedicated Peninsula Page’s to help direct your guests.

The meeting space is all on the lower floors, there are 5 dedicated lifts, each holding a maximum of 21 people in each giving the hotel the ability to move 1200 in 20 minutes from the entrance foyer to the lowest event space.

There are five boardrooms and a cinema.

The Belgrave, Chester, Sloane, and Eaton Suite can be four separate same sized meeting rooms each holding a maximum of 14 boardroom style or two rooms with the air walls in place with integrated AV.

The Wilton is slightly smaller with a maximum capacity of 12 boardroom

The Cinema is completely private with 15 seats, the bonus being that the hotel are working on being licensed to show films as they are premiered in London, starting 20minutes after the actual premier itself has started.

Summary:

Cinema???????????????????? 15 theatre style

Belgrave?????????????????? 14 boardroom

Chester???????????????????? 14 boardroom

Sloane?????????????????????? 14 boardroom

Eaton??????????????????????? 14 boardroom

Wilton?????????????????????? 12 boardroom

Lower Level 4 has dedicated cloakrooms and bathrooms, and this is where the large event spaces are to be found.

The Wellington is a junior ballroom with inbuilt AV and speakers.? Maximum capacity is 60 seated and 180 standing for cocktails.

And the largest event space in the hotel is the St George Ballroom.? A beautiful, neutral ballroom with maximum capacity of 450 seated and 1200 standing (see lift facts at the beginning of this section, 20 minutes to move all 1200 guests from the entrance lobby to the pre-function area).

The pre-function area has an open fireplace to add a bit of drama and atmosphere and can be used to display cars for launches.? The car lift brings cars into the main ballroom, and these can be moved into the pre-function area or kept in the main ballroom depending on the event requirements.

The ballroom has seen a maximum of 13 cars in the space.

Air walls can divide the main ballroom into three separate rooms.? There is ceiling rigging and no noise restrictions in the space.

If you think this venue could work for your next event or you would like more information …

Drop me a message whether you’d like an idea of costs, for events and for exclusive restaurant use or send me over your complete brief and I’ll just get going on some lovely venue options to suit.

For more information, availability and rates contact us.