Business Traveller was among the first visitors to receive a preview of London’s first Peninsula hotel, located in the capital’s Belgravia district.
The newly-built hotel, designed by Hopkins Architects, is housed on the site of a former 1960s office block overlooking Hyde Park Corner between Grosvenor Crescent and Halkin Street, and features 190 rooms as well as 25 residences, shops, bars, restaurants and a ballroom.
New details released today include the news that the signature restaurant will be led by award-winning chef Claude Bosi, while employees’ garments have been created by fashion designer Jenny Packham.
First announced in 2015, The Peninsula London is scheduled to open later this year, but there is still no exact opening date. The hotel’s managing director Sonja Vodusek commented:
“The project has continued to be challenging, but we are now getting closer to the commissioning phase. This is a process which ensures that all the systems and components of the building are tested, inspected and maintained according to a highest standards of safety and security.
“Once that commences, and depending on progress, it will take approximately ten weeks to complete our first phase of the building testing.”
Hotels and suites
The hotel centres around an off-street courtyard, landscaped by designer Enzo Enea “in the style of a classic English garden with cascading ivy and wisteria vines”, with the addition of two 120-year-old Japanese maples.
Designed by Peter Marino, the 190 rooms and suites start at 51-59 sqm and all include a mahogany-panelled dressing room and bathrooms with honey-coloured onyx, all of which include a bathtub, separate Toto toilet and bathrobes.
Many rooms and suites have floor-to-ceiling glass windows with views over Buckingham Palace Gardens and Wellington Arch, while others overlook the courtyard.
The hotel’s interiors include original artwork from more than 40 artists from The Royal Drawing School, depicting British landscapes in different styles.
Event venues include the pillarless St George Ballroom, which can accommodate up to 450 banquet guests and includes two elevators large enough for motorcars, as well as a private cinema for film screenings for up to 15 guests.
The hotel also has several cars, including four hybrid Bentley Bentaygas, an electrified 1960 vintage Austin taxi, and a restored 1935 Rolls Royce Phantom.