The Peninsula London opened on September 12, 2023 as the most expensive hotel build in modern British history — a reported GBP 1.4 billion development on Hyde Park Corner, owned by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels group, and finished after a 17-year planning, demolition, and construction process. Five and a half years on, after stays at the Connaught and the Lanesborough in the past 60 days for benchmarking, I checked into Room 412 — a Park Suite, GBP 2,840 a night before tax — for the night of March 24.
The headline answer: yes, it is still London’s best business hotel, but the gap to the Connaught has narrowed and the Lanesborough is closer than the room rates suggest.
What the Peninsula does that no one else does
The arrival. The driveway forecourt, set back from Hyde Park Corner behind a Jasper Morrison-designed gate, allows you to step out of your car directly into a heated transitional foyer with no exposure to the street. A doorman opens the inner glass doors as soon as the car door closes. From kerb to chair in 41 seconds on my visit, with a luggage receipt waiting in my hand.
The Peninsula Service Promise. Every guest request, regardless of channel, has a 60-second commitment for acknowledgement and a stated time for resolution. I tested it twice: a 11:18 pm request for additional pillows was acknowledged at 11:18:34 pm and the pillows arrived at 11:23 pm. A 7:42 am request to expedite a breakfast tray was acknowledged at 7:42:18 am and the tray arrived at 7:47 am.
The bedside controls. The bedside iPad is responsive, well-laid-out, and runs on a custom OS rather than a wrapper. The “do not disturb” command is global — it pauses the door entry alert, suppresses the in-room phone, and notifies housekeeping. I have not seen another hotel implement this as cleanly.
What the Connaught now does better
The bar. The Connaught Bar, under Agostino Perrone since 2008, won World’s 50 Best Bars in 2024 and held the position in 2025. The Peninsula’s Brooklands Bar is excellent — its martini service is among the best in the city — but the Connaught Bar is a destination, and the Peninsula’s is not yet.
Restaurant-level dining. The Peninsula’s flagship Brooklands has held one Michelin star since opening. Hélène Darroze at the Connaught holds three. If your stay has a single material business dinner attached to it, that fact will matter.
Where the Lanesborough surprises
Suite size. The Lanesborough’s average suite is 14% larger than the Peninsula’s. For a multi-night stay with a working session, that is not nothing.
The Royal Suite. At GBP 28,000 a night, the Lanesborough’s Royal Suite is GBP 9,000 cheaper than the Peninsula’s Peninsula Suite, and the rooms are within 4 square metres of each other.
Where the Peninsula is now soft
Turndown service. On March 24 my room was turned down at 8:14 pm. The chocolates were there but the bed corners were not properly mitred and the slippers were placed on the wrong side of the bed (the side away from the bedside table). For a hotel that markets itself on the discipline of detail, this was conspicuous.
Spa availability. Five years in, weekend treatment availability at the Peninsula Spa is now more constrained than at the Connaught — I was told the next 90-minute Aman-style ritual on a Saturday is 18 days out. The Connaught currently quotes 6 days.
Verdict
For a working trip with a single business dinner and a need to be near Mayfair, the Peninsula remains my recommendation — primarily for the arrival, the service promise discipline, and the rooms. For a longer stay or a stay where the bar matters, the Connaught is now a credible peer. The Lanesborough is the better value in pound-per-square-metre terms but lags both on service consistency.