It is a new era for the Montcalm Collection.
Following a rumoured £50 million facelift, the Montcalm Mayfair is reborn as an Autograph Collection address; the London hospitality group has renovated its flagship property, increasing its desirability factor and considerably improving the perception of the entire brand in the process.
Once the Montcalm London Marble Arch, the Montcalm Mayfair, Autograph Collection is aiming to make its mark in the capital’s highly competitive luxury hotel scene with an attention-grabbing culinary partnership, surprising facilities, and a tasteful new look.
The Location
Given the hotel’s name and the fact its website says it is “in Mayfair”, you might reasonably assume the Montcalm Mayfair is in that area. But rather than occupying one of Europe’s glitziest, priciest postcodes, as suggested, the property sits in nearby Marylebone. It annoys me to see the property’s proper location misrepresented.
Apart from this being misleading, the hotel’s actual surroundings are worthy of acknowledgement: the area is charming, convenient, and a gateway to a less touristy stretch of the city. Set on a pretty crescent, and occupying a row of elegant, gold-brick Georgian townhouses, the hotel is a few minutes’ walk from Hyde Park, Selfridges department store, Marble Arch tube station, cultural attractions such as the Wallace Collection museum, and the many lovely neighbourhood restaurants and boutiques that populate this part of the city.
The Background
Truth be told, even as a 17-year resident of London and someone who stays at, and writes about, its upmarket hotels, the city’s Montcalm Collection only caught my attention recently.
The homegrown brand has long operated a handful of pleasant but overlooked hotels across the capital, but following a two-year closure and top-to-bottom restoration, its flagship Montcalm London Marble Arch reopened with a new name and to considerable interest as locals clamour to assess the results of its rumoured £50m facelift.
That hefty investment is intended to elevate standards so that the hotel can compete with London’s better-established luxury addresses, and returning guests should notice the uplift immediately. Drawing from the earthy colour palette of nearby Hyde Park, elegant rooms in soft greens and golds feature pretty floral frescoes across their ceilings, and updated amenities include an executive lounge offering complimentary drinks and treats, a perk that is a rarity even in London’s priciest hotels. In fact, so extensive has the hotel’s refashioning been that it has now been accepted into Marriott’s Autograph Collection of distinct, independently minded properties.
The Rooms & Suites
The hotel’s townhouse facade belies the fact that this is a substantial property – with 151 rooms and suites, there is plenty of diversity in the inventory.
Though its entry-level Studios are boxy, overall the rooms are welcoming and cosy, and the bedding is top quality. Alternating mossy green and burnt orange colour palettes seem to reference the changing seasons at nearby Hyde Park, while handmade crafts, and thoughtful touches like framed bedside poetry, make it feel as though the interior designers wanted to create a space that feels genuinely homely.
Of the smattering of signature suites, my pick was the ground-level Botanical Suite. Set slightly apart from the rest, and with its own side entrance onto the street, it feels a little like having your own des res.
The Dining
The hotel’s intent to become a real player in the highest levels of London’s luxury echelons is most evident at emerald coloured restaurant Lilli by Akira Back.
Given it is led, from afar, by the feted US-based Korean American, I was unconvinced its modern British menu would work. I was wrong, as every dish we had was note-perfect. Nodding to Back’s heritage, a beautifully pleated beef wellington with smoked sweet potato purée and white kimchi was our highlight, though ordering the baked Alaska is essential. As big as a cricket ball, the wonderfully kitsch dish of vanilla ice cream comes mummified in baked, browned meringue and is served with a splodge of raspberry coulis.
Next door, Lilli’s bar’s evening bites menu delivers straight-forward, tasty small plates (think teriyaki beef Scotch eggs and spicy chicken katsu sliders). Additionally, the breakfast offering runs from a dainty, high-quality buffet selection to all the expected egg dishes and pillowy buttermilk pancakes served with fresh berries, vanilla cream, and blueberry compote.
@lilli_byakiraback @chefakiraback
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Wellness & Spa
Surprisingly pastoral, with a “signature soundscape” of British woodlands and forests and air scented faintly with clove and sandalwood, YĀTRĀ Signature Spa may be less known than many of London’s hotel spas but makes a soothing retreat on a rainy evening. It offers Ayurvedic-inspired treatments, sauna and thermal suites, a petite hydro pool, and a hot tub. A mini gym rounds out the facilities.
Montcalm Mayfair, 2 Wallenberg Place, London, W1H 7TN, UK
Prices starting from £500 per night (expect to find lower rates on the hotel’s website out of peak season)
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