BACKGROUND

Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, the London restaurateurs behind the Wolseley and the Delaunay, opened their first hotel in Mayfair in September.

WHAT’S IT LIKE?

Corbin and King fans won’t be surprised that this is a refined, beautifully designed property run by highly professional staff.

While their restaurants are in the European grand café style, the influence here is 1920s American art deco. The building is a 1926 former garage with a Grade II Listed art deco façade, upon which sits a striking robot-like form. This is Antony Gormley’s Room, an “inhabitable sculpture” with a bedroom inside.

Parked outside is a shiny Daimler, used to shuttle guests for free within a one mile radius.

As is the case throughout the hotel, great care has been taken to recreate the period in the lobby, from the wood panelling and checked floor to the curved lines of the furniture.

Double doors lead to the bar and restaurant, with reception to the right and a residents’ bar to the left. There are some 1,600 vintage artworks in the public areas and guestrooms.

WHERE IS IT?

A great location overlooking Brown Hart Gardens, between Grosvenor Square and Oxford Street, and a few minutes’ walk from Bond Street Tube station.

Very tranquil, despite being only steps from Selfridges, and so well soundproofed that I couldn’t hear the outside world from my front-facing bedroom, even during the Christmas shopping season.

ROOM FACILITIES

Almost a third of the 73 rooms are suites. Entry-level Classic rooms are 30-34 sqm, with size and view largely differentiating the categories (some face an inner courtyard).

They have a classic feel, with parquet flooring and bespoke rosewood furniture – including a lovely desk-cum-dressing table-cum-cabinet housing UK/US plug sockets, USB ports, a safe, free soft drinks and a Nespresso machine.

After checking into my Studio (38-43 sqm), I switched on some jazz from the 170 albums on the TV, cracked open a London encyclopedia and felt transported back to another era for a couple of hours.

The bathroom had a tub and walk-in shower (Classics and some Superiors have only a shower) and D R Harris toiletries.

Gormley’s Room – priced as a Mayfair suite – has a living room and white bathroom, through which you walk to access the sculpture, a 4 sqm, ten-metre-high, almost-black space lined in oak, bare but for a king-size bed.

RESTAURANTS AND BARS

The atmospheric Colony Grill Room is open all day and serves dishes from both sides of the Atlantic, such as New York shrimp cocktail (plump and delicious), calf’s liver and bacon, and Porterhouse, New York Strip or rib-eye steak (tender and juicy).

A breakfast of scones, juice and coffee is included in the room rate (à la carte options extra). The excellent American Bar specialises in bourbons and classic cocktails.

BUSINESS AND MEETING FACILITIES

The Lotos room seats 48 delegates theatre-style or 18 for a board meeting.

LEISURE FACILITIES

There is a spa and hammam with a plunge pool, two treatment rooms, sauna and steam, a salon and a gym.

VERDICT

A triumph for first-time hoteliers Corbin and King. They have brought the high-level hospitality of their restaurants to the Beaumont, with great success. It looks superb, too.


FACT FILE

  • HOW MANY ROOMS? 73 – 20 Classic, 17 Superior, nine Premier, six Studio, seven Superior Studio, nine one-bedroom suites (four Classic, four Mayfair, and Room), and the five-bedroom Presidential (bookable in different configurations).
  • HIGHLIGHTS The elegant styling, well thought-out rooms with beautiful furniture and great books and music, and the old-school glamour of the American Bar.
  • PRICE Internet rates for a flexible midweek stay in March started from £395 for a Classic room.
  • CONTACT The Beaumont, Brown Hart Gardens; tel +44 (0)20 7499 1001; thebeaumont.com