Browns Hotel

Although it is pricey beyond imagination, Brown's Hotel does deliver. The hotel - part of the Rocco Forte luxury boutique collection - gets nearly every detail right. It is housed in a very London-like townhouse (or combined townhouses) in the heart of Mayfair's shopping district. It offers spacious rooms/suites, with simple, but elegant furniture and a heavenly bathroom. Service is perfect and wonderfully English. The high price is best paid on an expense account (I've stayed here frequently on business and look forward to every return!). My only negative comment is that the hotel charges for internet use... but for over £500-£750 per room per night (depending on the season!!!) I think internet should be free...

Dreadful!

It was recommended by a colleague who had been staying there twice a year for years (and his father before him).

I got a tiny room (converted cupboard) on the top floor. It was mid summer and there was no aircon. Sun had been shining on the roof all day, so it was like an oven.

Very "old style" place. Overpriced and over rated.

My colleague had told me to speak to the manager (his best buddy) to get the best rate. Manager didn't want to speak to me, so I booked through the office's usual agency. 20% cheaper than my colleague was paying! LoL.

Maybe it has improved since my stay (probably about 1990) but there was no way I would go back.

Unique Quality: The heat.

This is a lovely old hotel with a lot of neat history attached to it. It's lobby is a cosy sitting area decorated in classic chintz, the dining room is very formal, and the small bar is quite comfy, although sort of tucked out of the way, so it doesn't get a lot of traffic. Our room was huge and quite formal, with great old bathrooms, but the hotel has a somewhat frayed feel for a place that charges top dollar, as this does. The staff is extremely helpful, and the hotel is ideally located, close to the tube and Green Park, up the street from St. James, and within walking distance to Buckingham Palace etc. I'd definitely stay here again, but only if I wasn't paying full price.
P.S. The bed linens are absolutely sybaritic!
P.P.S. I just read that this is presently closed for renovation, and due to open again in 2005. I bet it will be phenomenal (and phenomenally expensive) when it's done.

Unique Quality: Great bed linens! Fab location.

Directions: Mayfair