Living it up in Mayfair (Four Seasons)

Member Name: flickpugh

Product:	Four Seasons
Date:	09/05/05 (325 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Luxurious, Great location, Fabulous service and food

Disadvantages: not for the average budget, can't afford to stay in another one, No swimming pool

I won a competition for a free night in the Four Seasons Mayfair last year for a night in a superior room, overlooking Hyde Park. After dumping my overnight bag I went straight over to the tall window and onto the tiny balcony to take in the sites of central London. We could see as far as the twinkling Canary Wharf towers, but were also looking down on Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Millennium Eye and much more. The view by night was just as impressive, with millions of burning lights stretching to the horizon without a gap, clearly indicating the vastness of this city.

The room was very nice indeed. Perhaps not quite as extravagant as I was expecting but the huge plasma screen television on the wall opposite the bed was quite something. I had a nose through the mini bar, where they had a tube of crisps for £3 and made a note to stuff my face at afternoon tea so to avoid the need for any midnight snacks. There aren’t too many takeaways in Mayfair!

The Four Seasons website describes the décor of the room as: “Decorated with reproductions of British antiques, the design is warmly traditional.” This sums it up perfectly, the room feels luxurious, yet homely because the trimmings and décor is not overdone.

The bed was huge, Emperor sized, rather than King. The drawers were stuffed full of tourist information, business tools such as emergency phone chargers, stationary, shoe shining kits and other such goodies. I am a huge fan of hotel gifts but quickly noted the sign saying that missing bath robes would be charged for (not that I’ve ever gone taken any thing like that or even a hotel towel, but I do know someone that has taken a soap dispenser from the wall which in my opinion is taking it far too far!) There is of course in-room Internet access (charged at astronomical rates), a hair dryer, desk and armchair for serious workers and other business essentials. Other room services and amenities for guests include CD and DVD players (DVDs are available for free hire from the reception), voice mail, in-room safe, exercise equipment on request and complimentary newspapers. They even give you a little jogging map of Hyde Park.

We watched a bit of television and flicked through the multitude of satellite channels. The TV was amazing and got the boyfriend back onto how we really must get one for our apartment, even though we only got our widescreen TV a year ago. I ignored him, but must admit it was rather nice, like being in a cinema with comfy beds!

After a quick check of the marble bathroom for toiletries (huge bottles of Crabtree & Evelyn shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and shower gel, plus loads more freebies!), we made our way down to the lounge for afternoon tea.

We were seated in the middle of the lounge amongst lone business men (and the odd Gucci clad woman), a group of scarily sophisticated teenage sloanes and a couple of pampered families with bored looking spoilt children.

Softly scented rose petals were strewn across our elegantly decorated tables. This place makes the Ritz look like the Little Chef; the attention to detail is impeccable. We were treated like we were as important as a regular millionaire client. Apart from one slightly haughty waiter, none of the staff had the air that they thought they were better than you, or that you don’t belong in their posh restaurant, that you get in some upmarket restaurants.

We were served swiftly with a glass of expensive rosé champagne and the first round of delicately sculptured sandwiches soon followed. I tried one of each; they were tiny but delicious. We had mini croissants stuffed with smoked salmon and cream cheese, prawn and cucumber sandwiches, beef and mustard, crab, egg and loads more. Tiny tartlets with roasted tomatoes and pesto smeared chicken dressed with balsamic vinegar won my heart over completely. I had three and would have had more but was too embarrassed to ask, surrounded by stick thin model types as I was!

I saved enough room for the dessert round. French patisserie style strawberry tarts came first. Heaven, but more was to come. A tray was dangerously left with us, covered in impossible to resist mini delights, such as baby tiramisus, bite sized Black Forest Gateaux, a finger of chocolate fudge cake and lots more but I was starting to feel a bit queasy by then!

After refusing more (!) we sat back and enjoyed another glass of champagne, letting our food go down. We weren’t finished yet though and along came the slightly snooty waiter with bowls of Eton Mess, a strawberry and cream meringue mixture, which I just had to try! By this point I had no fear that the mini bar in our room would be left safe and intact.

We remained for a further half hour or so, listening to the gentle sounds of the piano and discreetly people watching. The sloanes had gone by now, no doubt getting themselves ready for an evening in the nearby Met bar or Annabels. The children of one of the Millionaire Families were immersed in comics, whilst their equally bored looking parents read the complimentary newspapers and did anything but speak to each other. How sad I thought to myself, those kids would probably appreciate a trip to Brewsters or Harvester far more. All this extravagance is totally wasted on them, but I guess you get used to anything if it’s what you’re brought up on.

The gift shops were of course stocked with gifts only the seriously rich could afford, although I could stretch to a couple of postcards to send my family. The ladies toilets by the gift shop were the perfect powder room, full of expensive perfume and other useful bits, with no annoying toilet attendant demanding a tip for giving you a bit of loo roll or soap like you get in so many so-called trendy bars in London these days. That’s quite a big gripe of mine!

There is a spa in the hotel, although you can get the masseuse to come to your room (I’m sure this is not a dodgy massage parlour type service though guys before you get too excited!) Treatments on offer include deep tissue massage, reiki, shiatsu and other holistic therapies. I decided that they would all be above my freebie weekend budget however and walked on by.

The gym is accessed by using your room key. This was something that took me quite a while to figure out. After knocking several times it did suddenly click however and I took a peek. I had brought my gym stuff with me, but was far too full on French fancies and fuzzy from champagne to even attempt using any of the equipment unfortunately.

The machines are all ultra modern, as you would expect and there is a television per piece, plus a great view through the tall glass windows. The gym is open 24 hours and complimentary juice and fruit is always on offer. The energetic can make use of one of the cross trainers, climbers, cycling machines, treadmills or a range of weight training equipment. In my opinion any five star hotel without a swimming pool and Jacuzzi is lacking something, so this is my one complaint about the Four Seasons Mayfair.

We finished our tour of the hotel in the Lanes cocktail bar, sipping a few ridiculously expensive drinks to finish of our weekend living as ‘the other half live’. We did get a bowl of free nuts and crisps with every round ordered though, so all was not lost. It almost made the £10.50 cocktail and £4 a half pint of beer worthwhile!

*** Final Facts on the Four Seasons Hotel, Mayfair

~~~ The hotel has 226 rooms, on 9 floors, 26 suites and 11 conservatory rooms opening onto a landscaped terrace.

~~~ If you are an event organiser for a company where money is no object, you may be interested to learn that they have 924 square metres (9,927 square feet) of elegant function space

~~~ The hotel has a private garden, beautifully landscaped and perfect for a short stroll. Hyde park is just a few metres away if you’re feeling a bit more energetic.

~~~ High-speed Internet access in all guest rooms and wireless connections in all public areas

~~~ Theatre Desk and in-house florist

~~~ The hotel is just a short walk from London's West End, Bond Street, Piccadilly and Knightsbridge. The Met bar is just round the corner, we just walked passed it on a quick evening stroll and saw Marilyn Manson enter with all his cronies to the screams of teenage fans and blinding camera flashes from endlessly persistent photographers!

~~~ Check-in time is 3pm, check-out time is 12pm, although we were half an hour late leaving because I just couldn’t drag myself away from the comfy bed and fab TV!

~~~ A quick glance at the price list when checking out revealed that had we been paying, we’d have forked out over £300 for the night’s accommodation, even at a specially reduced weekend rate. This added to our £17.50 a glass of champagne X 4, the bottle of Veuve Clicquot (£70) and £60 for the afternoon tea makes that competition win one of my biggest comping successes (see my Prizefinder.com for details on how you could be as lucky!)

Contact Details
Hamilton Place, Park Lane
London, England W1A 1AZ

Telephone: 44 (20) 7499-0888
Guest Fax: 44 (20) 7493-1895

Administrative Fax: 44 (20) 7493-6629

London Heathrow Airport: 45 minutes
London Gatwick Airport: 90 minutes

http://www.fourseasons.com/london/celebrations/in dex.html

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