Raffles London at The OWO

We have been fortunate to stay at The OWO several times, and every visit has been an outstanding success. We did stay at another world famous, river side 5* hotel earlier this year in the same hotel group... yes, it had superb standard rooms akin to The OWO, and the food was excellent BUT, and it's a HUGE but... the extra special element that makes The OWO stand above its peers, the staff, with their super professional, friendly, kind and attentive attitude was noticeably missing.... to us, that's the key to The OWO being such an extraordinary and special place to stay - the staff! Reception staff always give you a really genuine 'welcome back' greeting. The absolutely lovely Saison Manager, Natalia, greets us like family the minute she spots us in the hotel and spoils us every breakfast time! Worth her weight in gold to the hotel! We all loved the new breakfast items on offer. The Guard's Bar staff are super friendly and always give us a lovely welcome too. The staff in The Drawing Room, so professional, and patient! explaining all about the first class 'Operation Mincemeat' afternoon tea... we'd seen it being photographed in March when really enjoying the 'Secret and Spies' tea so had to return to try it. Another 'tour de force' and a delight to eat! Olivia Campbell, the manager recognised me from that day in March! She had been so kind allowing me to be really nosy and look at the items being photographed that day. My career was hospitality. We can't rate Raffles at The OWO highly enough and have already booked for January next year!

I had booked The Spy Bar and Paper Moon on the 18th July for 5 people, to celebrate my and my eldest son’s birthday. My wife and I had been to Raffles prior and were keen to share our experience. To ensure we had the only date available for our family, bookings were made two months in advance and we were thoroughly looking forward to our night out. Last Thursday (9th July), we received a call from a member of staff at Paper Moon to let us know our reservation had been cancelled due to an exclusive booking at the restaurant, no alternative suggestion or particular apology given. Over many, many years, I have never experienced a situation with a senior 5 star hotel where one guest, due to a presumably larger wallet, takes precedence over a long held booking from another guest. This really does seem to be an opportunistic booking by the restaurant, made less than 10 days before our reservation, which leaves us with very little opportunity to secure a similar experience for an important family celebration. We have of course had some back and forth with the hotel, but no satisfactory explanation on how or why our existing long standing booking just gets bumped due to a larger revenue opportunity. The only reason for a 2 star review and not one, is due to Michele from the restaurant having the courtesy to call with an apology and to try and find a resolution. Very disappointed and had expected significantly better from Raffles OWO

The best hotel experience we have had in London in over 30 years of going there for business and pleasure. The service was outstanding and the staff anticipated our every need. From the warm greeting at check in to the wonderful concierge-led tour of the hotel, every moment of our 3 night stay was special. Highly recommend arranging a room with a view of the Horseguards - we saw the changing of the guards from our window. The rooms are done to perfection and elegantly appointed, yet consistent with the history of the OWO. Check out the spy bar when there!

We’ve been in OWO for afternoon tea.When we first entered we were greeted by Romas who is the head butler and he gave us a tour in this lovely historic hotel .you can feel the history and beauty of it in every part of this hotel .We had the chance to see the Churchill , Haldane ( which has Churchill office ) and the Granville suites which was the most spectacular suite .The interior design is fabulous and full of heritage .The afternoon tea was a unique experience.every single piece of cake has a different story .they have their own signature tea selection .the one I chose was a mixture of rose and earl gray I think .I really would like to come and stay here .

Walk in for a quick bite and a drink. Warm welcome from Joseline - the host from Mauro Restaurant. she took me around to the hidden gem their Japanese rooftop. Nice selection of Sashimi, nigiri and Bento. Peter the host was equally friendly and professional. Overall short time but quality!