This relatively new hotel in the old US embassy in Grosvenor Square, (close to my home) has had a load of press not only for it’s expensive room rates £1600 per night, you do get a free cancellation policy, no kidding but for it’s notable interiors led by French architect Joseph Durand featuring a 1960’s vibe to compliment the building exterior I suspect which conjures an MI5 definitely government 1960s office block. Yabu Pushelberg designed the asaya integrative wellness facility which I did have a peak inside described as a subterranean sanctuary where you can even get tweaked at the in house Taktouk Clinic offering “natural” results from injectables, skin health with cutting edge technology.
This spa does look and feel luxurious, we were in the hotel for breakfast at the GSQ cafe but the staff were kind enough just to let me in to have a look as it was empty of guests. It’s hues of aqua and wood, individual cabanas in neutral earth tones with stripe pillows and fluffy towels at the ready. I have to say the 25 metre pool inviting me to strip off and dive in made breakfast awaiting me upstairs seem less appealing.
It’s a funny place, feels American definitely there are a lot of staff milling around and Middle Eastern because of the vast open airy spaces, the scale, lots of stone and massive lighting installations and the guests I saw. This is probably because of the prices.
The GSQ cafe is where I figured breakfast is served for hotel guests and visitors like me. It’s not the kind of place where you can comfortably take loads of pictures. I got the feeling this is definitely discouraged favouring hotel guests privacy over social media sharing, a good thing I thought.
The menu was a variety of the usual suspects for breakfast, yogurts, danish pastries, healthy options like chia seed parfait, some special homemade museli and savoury choices like avocado on sourdough, which I ordered smoked salmon bagel, sausage roll,
Crumpets or scrambled egg croissants. A cup of tea costs £6 a coke £4 with a £20 minimum spend (it would be pretty impossible to spend less) I guess it’s their way of discouraging lookie loos, and a 15% not discretionary service charge for service that frankly wasn’t all that.
It’s an all day place opening from 8.30am to 8pm Monday through Friday and from 10am to 10pm Saturday and Sunday.
To sum up. It was interesting to see it but would I return. Probably not unless it was for cake in the afternoon at £10 a slice they did look good. We saw some ladies tucking into cake early.
The food was good nothing wrong with it but the atmosphere was a little bit flat, like a hotel that hasn’t quite found it’s feet, doesn’t really know who it’s customer is, not English, not European. It didn’t feel easy or relaxed.
The building is imposing for sure and the decor grand in its glamourous spacious design but in turn a little bit cold and impersonal. Like I said I imagined somewhere behind a closed door James Bond and Q interrogating an international crime boss.
It feels expensive with overt minimum spends and compulsory tipping but not really worth it if you get my gist and mainly because it has no atmosphere.