A fashionable address and Hyde Park views! What more can one ask for on a London break? And yet The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, has much more to give the discerning business or leisure traveller, and that in an atmosphere that echoes a royal residence and high living. ‘We look forward to welcoming you to our distinguished residences in London’ proclaims the online brochure and it is indeed a wonderful welcome.

The hotel enticingly faces the chic shops of Knightsbridge, particularly renowned retailers Harrods and Harvey Nichols, awash with the bustle of happy shoppers and tourists on a sunny spring morning. And in the Mandarin Oriental’s backyard, lies Hyde Park with its swaying trees and seasonally changing vistas. Besides the easy nearby shopping and chic residential areas, the hotel is only minutes away from the Royal Albert Hall where one may witness evenings of music. The Knightsbridge Underground Station (a great way to get to places quickly and circumvent traffic jams in the city) is on the corner and affords easy access to the City and West End. You certainly cannot find fault with the hotel’s central and chic location.

And I am pleased as punch with the Knightsbridge-facing, richly-furnished room that I am given. All the rooms offer a choice of facing the fashionable streets of Knightsbridge or afford sweeping Hyde Park views, both enjoyable and changeable with the time and seasons. All the rooms and suites have been decorated with refined English elegance and finished with Regency details. Heavy drapes in luxurious folds, extravagant floral prints and rich colours enhance the interiors while Bang and Olufsen technology adds to the comfort levels. A rather large brolley lies in a corner, mindful of the city’s changeable weather and returning in the evening after a hectic day on the town, I discover a truly scrumptious chocolate and cherry pastry waiting on the centre table. It is the small gestures and kindly details that define great hospitality.

Of the 25 suites, all decorated lavishly and affording wonderful views from balconies, terraces and large French windows, the Royal Suite is perhaps the most prestigious. A luxurious three-bedroom residence, it would make perfect accommodation for a family. The refined design of the suite includes Lalique crystal lights and a steam shower experience under a dramatic fibre optic chandelier. The master bedroom has a spacious walk-in dressing room and a balcony with fine views over the park. A private dining room makes a perfect setting for private dining or a dinner for eight, catered wonderfully by the hotel. A party of up to 40 guests can be accommodated on the balcony, making it one of the city’s most exclusive settings for a small party. The cuisine, of course, is Oriental-inspired while priding itself on being world cuisine.

While the park offers itself to fitness enthusiasts, for jogging, boating, walking, the hotel’s state-of-the-art gymnasium is perfect for gym-lovers. The spa has been consistently voted the best in the country and the spa menu is exhaustive in its offerings of treatments and massages. It also offers an ultimate programme for brides-to-be, making sure they meet their most special day, rosy and glowing. The heat and water oasis offers all guests an exhilarating experience while professional therapists blend techniques from the world over for individual needs. The boutique stocks Mandarin Oriental signature products so you can take the best with you back home to create your own personal spa time.

Breakfast is a joyous occasion at the hotel that does not expect you to pick from a buffet of pre-laid-out selections. The breakfast menu is scrumptious indeed with daily baked toasted English muffins and crumpets; wholemeal bloomer or delicious pastry board. ‘Breakfast like a king’ was surely invented in England. The larder offers British Isles cheeses, cold cuts and smoked salmon, trout and mackerel. The hot dishes include a British Breakfast with eggs, cured back bacon, house made pork sausage, black pudding and mushrooms or a toasted muffin with ham, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, or buttermilk pancakes with an assortment of sides. Can you blame me now? Large platters of food are whizzing past me and everyone looks content. Even if you, like me, are not normally a breakfast person, go for it at the Mandarin Oriental – you will not regret it! And especially if you are treated, as I indeed was, to the Household Cavalry’s daily procession that trots past the huge bay windows, with quintessential British regalia.

You could stay in at the hotel, all day, and be perfectly well looked after. The evening sees the foyer all a-bustle with the city’s well-dressed, out to spend a wonderful evening at its signature bars and restaurants. The Bar Bouloud dishes up Chef Daniel Boulud’s soulful interpretation of traditional French cuisine with house made terrines, pates, hams and saucissons as well as traditional dishes such as coq au vin and moules while the cellar is dedicated to Boulud’s native city of Lyon and its surrounding wine making regions, Burgundy and the Rhone Valley. The Mandarin Bar, styled like a catwalk is the place to be seen in and the staff is reputed to mix the finest cocktails. I am ensconced at a table-for-two at the window overlooking the park at the fairly recently opened Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, a far cry from his famous three-Michelin-starred Berkshire village restaurant, Fat Duck. The menu at Dinner is inspired by historical British cuisine. The Adam Tihany decorated room draws on historical references but remains thoroughly modern. An open kitchen bustles while a spit rotisserie with an elaborate pulley system exclusively roasts pineapple for a perfect dessert. The menu includes bracketed dates after each item. Start with Meat Fruit (c 1500) for a surprising version of a mandarin orange served with grilled bread. This is actually a chicken liver parfait, delicious and melt-in-the-mouth. Rice and Flesh (c 1390) is interesting with a saffron risotto dotted with calf tail. The mains include Powdered Duck (c 1670), Roast Turbot (c 1830) and the highly recommended Spiced Pigeon (c 1780) cooked in Ale, amongst others. Finish off with the rotisserie-roasted pineapple in Tipsy Cake (c 1810) or Taffety Tart (c 1660) for a perfect end.

With so much going on, it is little wonder that the hotel throbs with activity. Function spaces like The Ballroom, the Roseberry rooms, Balfour and Asquith or The Loggia offer private entrances for guests while the outdoor, The Terrace, is perfect for a summer evening. If all else fails, there’s champagne picnics in the park that the hotel will set up for you with its customary courtesy.

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