The Berkeley, Maybourne

“Is this the best hotel in London?”

In summary we experienced so much that was 5 star plus, including The friendliness and knowledge of the doormen The professionalism of the reception staff The lady who looked after our room Giorgio in ABC kitchens for his wine knowledge and friendliness Surrenne spa and the utter tranquility Cedr… more

In summary we experienced so much that was 5 star plus, including The friendliness and knowledge of the doormen The professionalism of the reception staff The lady who looked after our room Giorgio in ABC kitchens for his wine knowledge and friendliness Surrenne spa and the utter tranquility Cedric Grolet bakery and the quality of the ingredients for breakfast. My final word - When can I return?

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“Our New Favorite!”

We’ve stayed at a number of wonderful luxury hotels over the years but the Berkeley is our new favorite. We booked through Chase’s The Edit, which gave us a number of perks that we enjoyed (free upgrade, early check-in/late check-out, free breakfast, daily spending credit), but the hotel’s staff ma… more

We’ve stayed at a number of wonderful luxury hotels over the years but the Berkeley is our new favorite. We booked through Chase’s The Edit, which gave us a number of perks that we enjoyed (free upgrade, early check-in/late check-out, free breakfast, daily spending credit), but the hotel’s staff made this stay so memorable. We experienced wonderful service from the start. We checked in with Waleed, who could not have been more helpful. We arrived well before check in but he found us a room (upgraded to junior suite!), and accommodated a very late check out for the next day. There was a short wait as they coordinated final touches on our room but Waleed provided us wonderful coffee from the restaurant. The room was phenomenal. The junior suite is spacious, modern, clean, and had an incredible view. The king bed was very comfortable. I loved the shower and my wife enjoyed the tub. The toilet comes with a bidet and automatically opens and closes when you enter—very fun to experience. The personal touches from the staff were a true highlight. We traveled with our baby, and not only did the hotel provide a crib (which we requested in advance), they provided a diaper pail and an assortment of Kith and Kin baby supplies to use during our stay! A very nice and helpful touch. (They even provided diapers and supplies in the family bathroom off the lobby!) We tried every restaurant and bar on site. Dinner at La Mone was fine—a great vibe and we enjoyed most of our dishes. The rooftop bar at the Emory (connected to the Berkeley) comes with an unbelievable view of London. A great place for a night cap. We also enjoyed breakfast at the abc restaurant, with incredible service from Suzanna, who was so accommodating with our baby (setting up a high chair, providing utensils for him, offering food ideas, and doting on him). We were sad to leave the Berkeley. The heartfelt goodbye from bellman Mohammed only made it harder. This will be our go-to hotel in London and we can’t wait to come back!

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“Best hotel in London!”

Unbelievably fantastic!! Staff was so welcoming and helpful. I accidentally left my purse in a taxi and the staff and security team helped me get it back by the end of the day! So so helpful and would highly recommend!

“Frustrating Stay Due to Lack of Communication”

I wish Trip Advisor allowed .5 star ratings because our stay at The Berkeley was frustrating and I have debated between leaving a 3 or 4 star rating since checking out. Compared to The Peninsula, The Berkeley does not measure up, but we would still stay at The Berkeley before returning to The Dorch… more

I wish Trip Advisor allowed .5 star ratings because our stay at The Berkeley was frustrating and I have debated between leaving a 3 or 4 star rating since checking out. Compared to The Peninsula, The Berkeley does not measure up, but we would still stay at The Berkeley before returning to The Dorchester. The frustrations with our stay at The Berkeley began upon check-in, where our room was upgraded thanks to our AMEX amenities and a bit of angling from us after we were first given a room without any mention of a possible upgrade. A few days prior, I had arranged to have flowers and a nice welcome card in our room upon arrival, and we had to wait in the lobby for about 10 minutes for our upgraded room to be prepared. I was sure the 10 minute wait was to move the flowers and welcome card into our new room, but there were no flowers in our room and the welcome card was addressed to some other person. This is in direct contrast to The Dorchester, the L’Oscar and the Saint James in Paris, where the same pre-arranged flower orders were very tastefully in our rooms upon arrival along with nice welcome cards and a few extra treats. When I called the concierge to figure out what happened, it took a few minutes for The Berkeley to admit that my email from a couple days prior when I ordered the flowers was received and simply not acted upon by the hotel. It was very frustrating to go back and forth over the phone as The Berkeley staff initially suggested that my email ordering the flowers (which was in response to a pre-existing email conversation with The Berkeley) was not received. It wasn’t until 20-30 minutes after bringing the issue up to the concierge that they acknowledged receipt of my pre-arrival order. To be fair, The Berkeley staff was very apologetic about the mistake and offered to give us a “romantic” turndown service that included a free bottle of champagne (Billecart-Salmon rosé) and rose petals in the shape of a heart on our bed. That was a very nice touch and convinced me the rest of the stay would be seamless. The Berkeley also promised to deliver the flowers and welcome card free of charge while we were out of the room the next day. I was asked when the room would be unoccupied so the flowers and welcome gift could still be a surprise for my fiancé and told the staff we would be out of the room from 12pm-2pm the next day. Unfortunately, after going out for breakfast and arriving back at The Berkeley the next morning around 10am, the staff had already placed the flowers (without any card) in our room and was still in the process of tidying our room up requiring us to awkwardly wait in the hallway for 10 minutes for the room to be vacated. When I called the concierge to explain the timing issue, they apologized and told me they had instructed the staff not to enter the room until noon, but that instruction was evidently not heeded. In response, The Berkeley offered to set up their house car to take us to Westminster Abbey later that day for a tour we had booked. It was a nice gesture, but when we arrived at the valet at the scheduled time, we were told the house car was not available for hours and had to hail a taxi to get to our tour. After calling the concierge again for an explanation of why the house car that was promised to us as a “sorry” for the previous issues was not available when we were told it was scheduled for our use, we again received an apology for the lack of communication and were offered couples massages free of charge. Again, a very nice gesture. We were also offered complimentary drinks at the rooftop bar at The Emory (sister property that is connected to The Berkeley) that night. Upon arrival at The Emory rooftop bar, we were seated away from the windows despite a table next to the window being open. I figured the table was reserved for a larger party, but less than 10 minutes after we sat down, another couple that did not have a reservation (we were seated so close to the host stand that we could hear every conversation) was seated at the table near the window as my fiancé was continually brushed up against by the staff and many patrons who had to squeeze by our table to get to the elevators and the bar. We left The Emory rooftop bar unsatisfied. The next night, we ordered room service and received another bottle of Billecart-Salmon rosé champagne and a stunning cake from the Cédric Grolet restaurant downstairs. The Berkeley also set up their house car (successfully this time) to take us to the L’Oscar hotel upon checkout. To sum up our stay, The Berkeley repeatedly dropped the ball regarding requests and expectations inherent in a hotel of this caliber and price. Each time a mistake was made, The Berkeley did their best to fix the issues by generously offering bottles of champagne, massages and other complimentary gifts. The complimentary gifts, although welcome, do not excuse the continuous stream of mistakes we encountered during our stay. We would have happily given back all the complimentary gifts in exchange for a seamless stay. Nevertheless, The Berkeley did make us feel that they were truly sorry for each mistake and that is why they get 4 stars instead of 3. Having given The Dorchester 3 stars, it did not feel right to give The Berkeley the same rating because the rooms at The Berkeley were nice, the staff was generally friendly and the location is top-notch. We likely won’t be staying at The Berkeley again, but would consider staying at The Berkeley before ever setting foot back in The Dorchester.

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