HOTELS
HOTEL REVIEW
THE LANDMARK LONDON | BY ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD
Across the road from the boutiques of Marylebone, Regent’s Park in leg-stretching range and right by Madame Tussauds, the London Planetarium, and the Sherlock Holmes Museum, The Landmark London is assuredly well-positioned. It’s bang opposite Marylebone railway station ‘Great Central Station’ as it was, which serves the Chilterns area and is directly linked to the hotel by an original iron canopy. This stunning Victorian edifice of red brick with a clock tower and turrets was built originally as a railway hotel. After con-verting into a convalescent home in WW1 and being used for Intelligence in WW2, it returned as a hotel. Recently refurbished, the rooms felt brand new and refreshing with beautiful finishing. A doorman in his top hat and cape ushered me inside past the wood-paneled reception into a hall bedecked with
carpets, artwork, mirrors, and chandeliers, living up to the hotel’s claim as “an ocean of luxury in the heart of London.” And this was before stepping into the soul of the hotel, the vast centerpiece of the atrium. Around the clock, people come for afternoon tea, dinner, or drinks and are soothed by either the harp or grand piano. The experience is dramatic and majestic in equal measure. This experience left me with a sense of wonder and transported me to another continent, one glamorous and warmer with eight gleaming pine trees. The trees, lit day and night for further prominence, were protected by a glass rooftop. The space was reminiscent of a botanical garden or grand museum; this is the famous Winter Garden. This expansive space stretches many stories with lush drip71 | UPSCALELIVINGMAG.COM | APRIL 2023