English Rose: Why this Hotel Adds Up to a Trifecta of Perfection

His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, lingers in the lobby, and it’s no wonder.

It’s the lobby at the Chesterfield Mayfair, one of the six London-located hotels in the Red Carnation portfolio of properties, in one of the city’s most stellar neighbourhoods. No wonder, due to the fact that five of the six are also ranked within the top 10 hotels in the U.K. capital by the guest-driven TripAdvisor and the Chesterfield voted one of the best hotels in the U.K. by Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers Choice awards.

But for us, the wonder is that the Chesterfield adds up to a trifecta of perfection: Mayfair is within walking distance of Hyde Park, Fortnum & Masons and Picadilly Circus (St. James Park and Buckingham Palace are not far either), an intimate bar – we love the forest green leather banquettes, dark wood panelling and a baby grand piano – and rooms that have eschewed the ultra-modern (read cold and hard-edged) trend of late.

It’s a blend of traditional English to the-manor-born sensibilities, overstuffed Savile Row-inspired wing chairs and portraits of Winston Churchill with up-to-date amenities such as large bathrooms, Fragonard and Elemis spa toiletries, rich yet neutral palettes and even a few rooms meant for the singleton traveller in mind. Perhaps most wonderful is the Stanhope Suite for a proper English flat feel within a hotel.

If it’s good enough for His Holiness, then it’s definitely good enough for us. www.chesterfieldmayfair.com