With Knightsbridge on one side and overlooking London’s Hyde Park on another, the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park was originally built in 1889 as an exclusive ‘Gentleman’s Club.’ In 1902, the Edwardian-style building became the Hyde Park Hotel. In 1996, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group purchased the hotel and undertook a £57 million restoration. Upon reopening in 2000, it became the recipient of numerous awards for its service, restaurants, and management.
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London has completed the most extensive restoration in its 115-year history, designed to confirm this historic hotel’s position as one of the bests in the world.
The hotel has just undergone its second and most extensive redesign in its 115-year history to reaffirm its position as one of the bests in the world. It reopens its doors to welcome guests in June 2018.
In celebration of this landmark event, the hotel offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with their ‘Be the First to Stay’ room packages. The offer is valid until 31 July 2018 and is priced from £695 onwards. It includes a bottle of Champagne on arrival, daily breakfast, plus a credit (ranging from £75 to £350 depending on the room/suite category booked) that can be used within the new Spa, Mandarin Bar, The Rosebery Lounge or Bar Boulud.
Joyce Wang oversaw the redesign of all guest rooms, suites and public spaces. With offices in Hong Kong and London, Wang specialises in luxury hospitality and residential design. Her use of materials and cinematic inspirations give her award-winning projects a compelling sense of drama.
For the Hyde Park project, Wang took inspiration from the hotel’s royal heritage, the peaceful parkside location, and from the glamour of the Golden Age of travel with art deco-inspired features including carefully curated artworks, and custom-designed furniture.
The hotel’s 181 guest rooms and suites have become more luxurious and comfortable than ever before.
The rooms also come equipped with GHD hair straighteners, Nespresso coffee makers, his and her Miller Harris bathroom amenities and Jo Hansford hair products.
Each of the hotel’s 40 suites ranges in size from the smallest at 47 square metres, located within the turrets of the hotel, to the largest at 397 square metres. In every suite, guests are treated to reading libraries curated by the well-known London bookseller, Heywood Hill, record players with vintage vinyl collections, and yoga mats for private practice.
The largest suite is located on the top floor, the magnificent three-bedroom penthouse which comprises two spacious interconnecting suites – The Mandarin and The Oriental. It features a private terrace offering guests expansive views of the Hyde Park and the London skyline. It will open its doors to guests in July.
The building’s iconic façade has been revitalised but conservatively. Guests are greeted upon arrival, with a centrepiece glass chandelier in the shape of a closed flower bud. Over the lounge area is another complementary open flower blossom chandelier. The reception area and the Lobby Lounge have been transformed to maximise natural daylight, and to blend seamlessly with The Rosebery Lounge’s nature-inspired décor. The reception artwork by Fredrikson Stallard is an abstraction of the bark of the Plane Tree; the signature tree of Hyde Park.
The hotel has also commissioned Visto Images to compile a portfolio of artworks for the shared space of the hotel. A striking photograph by Mary McCartney is showcased at each of the hotel’s new floor landings. The corridor’s exhibit art pieces are inspired by the nature of Hyde Park and English technological innovations featured at the 1851 Great Exhibition. Other eclectic art pieces can be found throughout the hotel’s other public areas. The hotel has also installed a green living wall that surrounds the inner courtyard, providing calm interior views.
The task of redesigning the spa was given to New York designer Adam D. Tihany, widely recognised as one of the world’s best hospitality designers. An inductee into the Interior Design Hall of Fame, the holder of an honorary Doctorate from the New York School of Interior Design, and recognised with numerous other honours and awards, Tihany has created hotel and dining interiors at some of the most iconic and luxurious properties around the world.
It is not just the design that is fresh. The new spa features 13 individual treatments rooms, an Oriental Suite with two massage beds and a Rasul water temple, two additional beauty rooms providing a series of results-driven specific treatments, and a room designed for traditional [ASANTE] Chinese Medicine consultations and treatments. The extensive spa menu has been further enhanced to include exclusive partnerships with some of the most sought-after health and wellness experts in the world, including a Bastien Gonzalez Pedi:Mani:Cure Studio.
Tihany has also overseen a light refurbishment of the hotel’s popular restaurants: The Mandarin Bar; the Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, a two Michelin star restaurant featuring historical British dishes recreated through intense research; and the Bar Boulud a Michelin-starred bistro specialising in seasonal, rustic French cooking.
