Review of Lanesborough Hotel, by Nadia Latif

Guests revisit The Lanesborough again and again. This former hospital overlooking Hyde Park Corner has become something of a London institution; even the heaving traffic that swarms about her doesn't seem to fluster this grande dame in the slightest. She stands immovable and unshaken, a haven for the shopaholics, socialites and businesspeople that stay here.

Top-hatted doormen stand smartly at the entrance, pulling back the heavy wooden doors to reveal a splendid marbled lobby, replete with sparkling chandeliers, Old-Master-style artworks on the walls and an Amazonian amount of mahogany furniture.

Leading off from the library, the communal Withdrawing Room and Library Bar are discreetly well-serviced, stuffed full of comfortable sofas and coffee tables with polished brass 'service bells'. The drive towards antiquated aristocracy is very much in evidence, with glass cabinets of vintage cognac on proud display; one twisted old bottle dates back to 1786.

The recently launched Apsley's Restaurant has a markedly different feel to the rest of the place. Designed by New Yorker Adam Tihany, it serves up modern Italian cuisine in a surprisingly rustic and simple style. But the real star of the show is the renowned afternoon tea. Come four o'clock, Apsley's is full of some of the most powerful and influential people in London - all daintily sipping Darjeeling and nibbling at finger sandwiches. So good is the spread here that the UK Tea Council has twice (05 and 08) awarded the hotel 'Best Afternoon Tea in London'.

The Lanesborough's Regency-style bedrooms and suites have the same moneyed atmosphere as the lower floors. Dark wood panelling, heavy swathes of fabric, richly coloured carpets and period pieces all mark them as more personal residence than Kensington luxury hotel. The rooms come with all mod cons, not that you'd initially guess. Everything, from the flat screen television, to the minibar, to the sound-system, is tucked away beneath a veneer of sumptuously polished wood.

Thank goodness, then, for the small army of butlers that attend to each floor. A staff of more than twenty of them deliver a focused service that includes showing each guest at the Lanesborough around their accommodation, unpacking their suitcase (if needs be) and seeing to their every whim during their stay. The really exceptional part is that every guest receives this attention - whether they are booked into a Deluxe Room or the palatial Buckingham Suite.