The London Marriott Hotel Park Lane
By Lulu Townsend
I’ll admit, I didn’t expect the London Marriott Hotel Park Lane to feel quite so special. With 150 rooms, including 38 suites, it could easily lean towards a corporate feel. Instead, it feels boutique in spirit, with all the warmth and attention to detail you’d hope for. The location couldn’t be better, right on the corner of Marble Arch, Oxford Street and Park Lane, with Hyde Park a few steps away.
The rooms are elegant without being showy, finished with parquet floors, silk curtains and soft tones of pink, mauve and grey. Bathrooms are marble and generously sized, with heated towel rails that operate year-round, Japanese-style toilet seats, and a lineup of Penhaligon’s products that feels suitably luxurious. Beds are another high point: Hypnos mattresses layered with toppers and dressed in silky smooth linens make for one of the best night’s sleeps in London. Add in the nightly turndown service (you even get to choose the time) and plenty of thoughtful extras - magazines, water, teas and coffee - and you feel properly looked after.
Downstairs, Lanes of London sets the tone beautifully. Benjamin at the bar mixes a mean vodka gimlet and chats with easy charm, while chef Manjur draws on his Indian heritage to create standouts such as fragrant crab cakes alongside perfectly cooked classics like a rib eye steak.
And then there’s the spa. A stunning indoor pool and sauna sit quietly at the heart of the hotel, rare in central London, giving you the chance to slip away from the buzz of Mayfair for a swim or some hot therapy. It’s also a brilliant base for families. The hotel will happily arrange everything from interconnecting rooms to a surprise picnic set up in your suite, complete with teddy bears from Hamleys for the children.
Just as boutique hotels prove that luxury can thrive on a smaller scale, London Marriott Hotel Park Lane shows that big can be beautiful too.
