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Health & Fitness

London's No. 1 Luxury Hotel: The Lanesborough

Here's my take on the Lanesborough hotel: The utmost in luxury, all with a butler and computer. As proprietor of All Horizons Travel who evaluates hotels, I call it an outstanding experience.

In 1719 Viscount Lanesborough built his mansion at Hyde Park corner in prestigious Knightsbridge. It then became a St. George’s Hospital in l733, since the Viscount had no heirs.  Legendary nurse Florence Nightingale was on its board.

Nearly 150 years later, the hospital closed its doors and the building was derelict.  What followed was ten years of intense planning, with the most prestigious team of architects and designers. 

What was conceived was a hotel in the style and manner of a grand nineteenth century town house, a private residence, but infused with all the amenities and innovative spirit the modern age has to offer. 

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Lucky for those of us who have the chance to experience that.

This was a designers dream. Because of the unusual layout, no two guest rooms would be the same and many could be fitted with fireplaces to enhance the feeling of a home.  All furniture, carpets, art, are done in the Regency Period. There is lovely English china and crystal is in every room. Magnificent floral arrangements, and a feeling you are definitely in a luxurious surrounding. All 50 rooms and 45 suites are unique and different.

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It is my job to write about hotels from all over the world, and it was an overwhelming, outstanding, unique experience to stay here. You don’t feel like you are a hotel.

There was private check-in, and within a minute of arriving in my suite, three people appeared. Did I want my case unpacked, clothes pressed? My very own butler asked if I wanted tea, and being British, of course I said yes. 

I was given an expensive green leather business card case, with cards made out for me, giving the hotel as my residence while in London, with a private telephone number. That number is reserved for your next visit. I also got personal stationery.

Each suite has its own computer and fax machine, every attention to detail has been thought of: Occupancy sensors and touch controls controlling lights, temperature and televisions.

Every day twelve uniformed men on horseback from the Household Cavalry ride past the hotel where a man in a grey coat and bowler hat smiles at them. And it's a great location, opposite the park.

Because the Lanesborough was designed to be experienced as a private address, it was inevitable that the butler should prove the core of the guest experience.   What does a butler do? Everything from running the bath, fetching your champagne, bringing in trays of tea and coffee, shining shoes and pack and unpacking. The butler also does shopping, arrange picnics and plan dinner parties.

Its restaurant was awarded a Michelin star. Guests get a complimentary breakfast, which is worth 50 pounds. One three-bedroom suite has its own kitchen and dining room, living room, study, drawing room, 24-hour butler service and a Rolls Royce  that is booked 90% of the time.  

Weddings are held there, and if you want the utmost privacy, as many guest do, then meals are served in your suite. Families are welcomed and no request is too difficult for this well-trained staff.

I had the honor of being in Las Vegas to see its Managing Director, Geoffrey Gelardi. It won the award for Hotel Innovator of the Year. No one was surprised, he has an outstanding reputation in the travel industry. (My being on the Luxury Travel Advisor Board enables me to take part in these awards, so I see the competition.) The hotel has won thirty awards since opening in December 1991 including the World’s Best Small Luxury Hotel in Europe by Travel & Leisure magazine in 2010. 

Small wonder. My visit was an outstanding experience.  

 

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