Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London

Was really looking forward to staying here and at c£1,000 for the cheapest rooms and rising it's one of the most expensive in London. The positives are the wonderful location backing onto Hyde Park in the heart of exclusive Knightsbridge also the breakfast was superb. The service was expedient but not overly friendly, the room just wasn't worth £1,000 it was very small, had no bath and was very clinical with a view of wall but smartly decorated. The tea bags were really cheap quality and other then 2 bottles of water and 2 oranges nothing else was included FOC. Very blingy, very smart, very pricey, very average for the cost.

I stayed here for one night in a junior suite. Check in was seamless and we were shown to our room despite arriving earlier than the check-in time. As usual when checking in they charged the room rate and extra to my card. The room was gorgeous and spacious, I would definitely recommend this room. As we were celebrating my friend’s birthday there was a lovely birthday cake in the room too. We dined at Hestons and had afternoon tea, which I will review separately but both were perfect and I would recommend. The breakfast buffet was disappointing, with a lack of choice, we both ordered a la carte, which was very nice. As I previously mentioned the room rate and extra was charged upon check in, initially I thought this was a hold; however, at around 3am another charge of £400 was attempted to be taken from the card I used at check in. My card declined this charge and they tried to take it again and again it was declined. When checking out I queried this with a member of staff who said the payment at check in wasn’t a hold amount and that’s why the payment was declined. They also stated that they tried taking the extra payment as the amount charged at check in wasn’t enough to cover what we’d spent. I found this very unusual as usually at checkout you pay the difference. I’ve deducted a star off my review for this as I felt the staff perhaps thought we couldn’t afford the bill and tried to take the extra payment, which is very distasteful and offensive. We were checking out a few hours later and waking up to see 2 charge attempts on my card was stressful. Despite the unauthorised transaction attempt, I would return.

High tea We had the privilege to be served by Juliette and wanted to share with the management team about our experience with her. She was a delight to interact with and demonstrated professionalism, attention to details and care. We could not have asked for a better server for our first experience at the Mandarin Hotel Hyde Park for High Tea.

Every staff member we came into contact with were exceptional. Our room was perfect. I hope we get the chance to visit again.

A perfect place to relax and have a 5* service. Excellent location and a very friendly and polite staff. Warm and elegant atmosphere