These Iconic Luxury Brands from Asia Are Ready to Upset London’s Hotel Scene

ALTHOUGH LONDON HAS ALWAYS BEEN a globally minded city, traditionally its best hotels have been long-standing homegrown brands famous for their irrepressibly English articulation of hospitality. But the capital’s luxury landscape is changing. In recent months, the unveiling of three high-profile Asian hotel brands—each promising stellar standards of service and all manner of flashy amenities, plus stratospheric starting rates—has locals asking if England’s most extraordinary hotels aren’t in fact its many quintessentially British premises but a clutch of audacious new arrivals from the East.

Admittedly it’s partially because these properties—Peninsula London, Raffles London and Mandarin Oriental Mayfair—opened in such quick succession that this topic has become a talking point across the city. All costing from around £1,000 a night, the hotels certainly aren’t marketed at the hoi polloi. Instead, their clientele is likely to be only the most privileged Brits and global elites who routinely find themselves in London. Those elusive, lucrative consumers may have sky-high standards when it comes to hospitality, but they’re also just the type who can be seduced into splashing out hundreds of pounds on dinner or into upgrading to flashy five-figure-a-night signature suites.

But the timing of these openings also speaks of another reality. In decades past, tentative international visitors might have sought out the familiarity and assumed quality of a Four Seasons, St. Regis or Ritz-Carlton if staying in an Asian city. Now informed travelers know from firsthand experience that countries throughout Asia have a deep-rooted culture of hospitality and that their high-end hotel brands are setting global standards in service, design, wellness and cuisine. Just how widespread that recognition is feels fairly easy to test out anecdotally—ask some friends if they consistently enjoy the warmest welcomes and most elevated hotel experiences in, say, New York, Hong Kong, Milan, Paris or Tokyo.

Back in London, the fanfare surrounding these three huge openings has been preceded by the arrival of several other notable Asian properties. In Western Europe’s tallest skyscraper, Shangri-La The Shard, London wows with the best views in the city and a slew of superlatives (like Britain’s highest swimming pool and bar), then there are the hotels operated by Singapore’s Pan Pacific Hotels Group, Japan’s Prince Hotels, India’s Taj Hotels and Hong Kong’s Harilela Group. With the Six Senses brand soon bringing its Maldivian-born wellness sensibilities to a renovated art-deco shopping center just north of Hyde Park, Asian domination of London’s luxury hotel sector looks set to continue.

BOOK YOUR STAY AT SHANGRI-LA AT THE SHARD, LONDON VIA BOOKING.COM

What to know about these 3 hot new Asian hotels in London

THE PENINSULA LONDON

In a congested capital where luxury hotels typically occupy historic buildings, Londoners were intrigued to see what you get after investing £1.1 billion in a new-build. One answer: masses of space. Finished in onyx and mahogany, rooms at The Peninsula London start at 51 square metres. Decorated with leafy murals of nearby Hyde Park, the colonnaded lobby lounge is likely the most capacious in the city; the 25-metre subterranean pool is vast and totally private. But this still feels like a Peninsula. Dressed in pristine whites, pages stand beside the traditional Chinese lion sculptures that guard the door; and with discreet booths and private dining rooms, Canton Blue is now one of surprisingly few high-end Cantonese restaurants in this food-obsessed city. rooms from £1,300; read our full review here.

RAFFLES LONDON

The opportunity to occupy one of the most monumental ex-governmental buildings in the country lured Raffles to Whitehall, a serious riverside setting often overlooked by wealthy visitors to the city. The edifice is magnificent, with its centrepiece a grand marble staircase capped by a Venetian-crystal chandelier. Although explicit references to Raffles’s Singaporean roots are rare—in tribute to the original signature drink, you can order a London Sling at Guards Bar, but there’s no Asian restaurant, for example—the brand’s refinement is omnipresent. There’s its elegant Guerlain spa and photogenic pool, not to mention trio of restaurants that are the first in the United Kingdom by celebrated Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco, whose Mirazur in France has three Michelin stars. rooms from £930; read our full review here.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL MAYFAIR

Another new build by Regent Street, this hotel-and-residences hybrid is MO’s second London hotel. While its older sister on Hyde Park is a storied Knightsbridge landmark that plays on its English heritage, this smaller property feels global and frequently references the brand’s Asian origins. Bedroom layouts have been influenced by feng shui (and that gorgeous de Gournay wallpaper was hand-painted in China), while chef Akira Back’s dining concepts celebrate Korean and Japanese cuisine—so expect to see bento boxes and mushroom pine porridge on the breakfast menu. Still, there’ll be no confusion about where you are when you ascend to the top of the property: a forthcoming rooftop bar promises to offer unmissable views of the city. rooms from £920; read our full review here.

Lede and hero image courtesy of Mandarin Oriental Mayfair.

Written By