If you’re as old as me, you might remember this as the place where ‘90s celebs would get papped spilling out of the Met Bar. Today, it feels a bit more sedate. And while it’s still very much five-star plushness all around, it’s definitely a lot more minimalist than some of the hotels around here. The entrance is economical to say the least: just enough room for a small army of exceptional staff, a door to a doozy of a restaurant, and a short little pathway to the lifts transporting you to your room.
And those rooms are very lovely, even if that minimalist aesthetic might not be as jaw-dropping for some as the buck-dropping might suggest (this place ain’t cheap). Still, welcome petit-fours, iPads operating everything, and quite possibly London’s comfiest bed make it pretty dreamy. Man, that bed. I’m still pining. Oh, and the views out across Hyde Park are epic, so make sure you ask for a room up high. My only real gripe? It was a bit of a drag getting served a drink in the lobby, but first-world problems and all that. I’d return in a heartbeat.
The neighbourhood
Let’s make no bones about it, there’s not a huge amount close to here. Hotels in this part of town tend to be luxe bases for the moneyed to be whisked off in fancy cars but that does mean the in-house restaurants and bars tend to be pretty good. Transport links on the Piccadilly Line are decent (once you’ve navigated the maze of Hyde Park Corner tube), with fancy-pants shopping in Knightsbridge one stop westbound, and central London proper (Leicester Square) two stops eastbound.
Nearby
Galvin at Windows for high-quality dining in the clouds.
Hyde Park for excellent walks and a visit to the Serpentine Gallery.
Green Park for a nose at Buckingham Palace.
Time Out tip
You can have two. First up, make sure you check out the seasonally-inspired cooking at the ‘Taste of Como’ restaurant; for a hotel also hosting Nobu (ah, more ‘90s memories!) there’s a lot to live up to, but for me it smashed it. Second? The COMO Shambhala spa: home to the best massage I’ve ever had, and some ridiculously good ginger tea punchy enough to make that wonderfully aggressive deep-tissue massage feel like a tickle.