“Everyone knows all the green Rolls-Royces belong to The Peninsula,” Mary Goodnight tells James Bond in The Man With The Golden Gun, citing the Hong Kong hotel’s signature fleet of chauffeured chassis. The “Grande Dame of the East”, which overlooks the city’s Kowloon Peninsula (hence the name), is Hong Kong’s oldest and finest hotel. Having opened almost a century ago, The Peninsula Hong Kong has become more than just a landmark; the hotel group is now established as a hallmark of white-glove hospitality.
Its seamless service and quiet luxury has translated globally into hotels throughout Asia, the USA and Europe. From a prime position opposite the Bund in Shanghai to Paris’s elegant 16th arrondissement, historic buildings have been transformed and brand new properties have materialised in some of the world’s most glamorous neighbourhoods. But for decades, frequent flyers and “Pen-pals” have been wondering when the hotel group might develop a London base.
This September, they’ll have their prayers answered: The Peninsula London will open its doors on Grosvenor Place in Belgravia, where a new porte-cochere has appeared at the entrance opposite Hyde Park Corner. It’s taken 35 years of location-scouting in the capital to find the perfect place, but few such highly anticipated hotel openings can guarantee being worth such a wait.
When designing the hotel, the minutiae has been considered as carefully as the major components — how the air conditioning can be positioned so as not to create an uncomfortable draught during the night; how rooms can be designed so as to accommodate a breakfast trolley.
Heavyweights in design, cuisine and wellness have also been brought in as collaborators to finesse the guest experience. Architect and designer of the interiors, Peter Marino (who designed Dior’s Paris flagship and Louis Vuitton’s Bond Street store), has brought his high-end expertise and fluency in the language of luxury to the table. Rich materials such as sycamore, leather, mahogany and honey onyx bring a sexy vibe to the 190 bedrooms, while not feeling like a dramatic departure from classic English codes of hospitality.
The area will have one of the highest concentrations of five-star hotels in the world, and Marino’s light touch has spritzed — rather than soaked — the place with touches of tradition. Take, for example, the hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper, depicting scenes of Hyde Park, in the lobby, and a clandestine wisteria-draped courtyard landscaped in the style of an English country garden.
Something tells us Bond would rather enjoy a martini with Goodnight at Brooklands, but as well as a beautiful bar offering first-class cocktails, it will also be home to a restaurant headed up by Michelin-starred chef Claude Bosi, whose kitchen will be dishing up a polished menu of modern British cuisine. International guests, Londoners and locals can also book a table at innovative Cantonese restaurant Canton Blue, schedule a leisurely afternoon tea in the Lobby or drop in on the laid-back Peninsula Boutique and Café for sandwiches, snacks and sweet treats.
Like its flagship’s fleet of custom-built Brewster green Rolls-Royce Phantoms, The Peninsula Hotels are well-oiled machines designed to turn a journey into an experience. City gateways don’t get much grander than this.
The Peninsula London opens on 12 September. To make a reservation, visit peninsula.com/london
