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Overall, The Lanesborough is the stronger stay.
The Lanesborough for winding down, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane for the food.
Fat Favorite, 17.5 out of 20. The Lanesborough
Fat Favorite, 16.5 out of 20. Four Seasons Hotel London at Park LaneLondon, United Kingdom · Oetker Hotels
Butlers who remember thermostat settings a year later and a doorman greeting guests by name at the curb carry this score.
A Regency-style Oetker Collection hotel in Knightsbridge, London, facing Hyde Park, with a basement wellness centre and hydrotherapy pool.
Read the full verdictLondon, United Kingdom · Four Seasons
Pavyllon and the breakfast tasting menu draw real enthusiasm.
A recently refurbished Four Seasons at the bottom of Park Lane in Mayfair, close to Hyde Park and Green Park.
Read the full verdictOut of 20
Overall +1
Overall: The Lanesborough 17.5 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane 16.5 out of 20.Service +1.5 Why
Service: The Lanesborough 18.5 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane 17 out of 20.The Lanesborough: Butlers who remember thermostat settings a year later and a doorman greeting guests by name at the curb carry this score, though a lost-property accusation shows it isn’t flawless.
Rooms & Design +1.5 Why
Rooms & Design: The Lanesborough 16.5 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane 15 out of 20.The Lanesborough: Alberto Pinto’s 2015 refresh of the old St George’s Hospital building splits opinion: maximalist Regency rooms that some call a dream and others call dated.
Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane: Rooms are comfortable and the suites can be huge, but several guests call the closets small, the bathrooms dated, and the 1970s exterior charmless.
Location +1 Why
Location: The Lanesborough 18 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane 19 out of 20.The Lanesborough: Hyde Park Corner, the park across the road and the tube at the door put this above most London rivals on pure convenience.
Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane: Right on Hyde Park with Mayfair and Knightsbridge on foot, though rooms facing the rear look onto a car park rather than the park.
Dining +2 Why
Dining: The Lanesborough 15 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane 17 out of 20.The Lanesborough: The Grill and Library Bar get real praise but the Bridgerton afternoon tea draws the sharpest complaints about stale sandwiches and thin flavor.
Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane: Pavyllon and the breakfast tasting menu draw real enthusiasm, but the a la carte breakfast billing has confused and overcharged more than one guest.
Wellness +3 Why
Wellness: The Lanesborough 16.5 out of 20, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane 13.5 out of 20.Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane: The spa and vitality pool please plenty of people, but there is no proper swimming pool and some call the facilities behind the brand’s other London properties.
Strengths of The Lanesborough
Strengths of Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane
Trade-offs of The Lanesborough
Trade-offs of Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane
The Lanesborough Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane Only at The Lanesborough
Only at Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane
The Lanesborough is 93 rooms in a converted Regency hospital at Hyde Park Corner, and the thing people actually talk about isn't the building, it's the staff. A doorman who remembers your name on the second visit. A butler who found out a guest's mother had been hospitalized and sent flowers to her room without being asked. The service here is the reason regulars keep coming back instead of trying the new openings. One traveller who's cycled through the Connaught, Rosewood and the OWO said this is still the one that feels like home.
The rooms split people. It's maximalist Regency decor, chandeliers, rich fabrics, nothing minimalist about it, and if that's not your taste you won't be converted by a good stay. The decor won't work for everyone, and that's a real preference, not a flaw. The more consistent complaint is the Bridgerton afternoon tea: several guests paying £300-400 for two found the sandwiches dry and pre-made, the cakes bland, and the tea selection thin for the price, even as others call it the best in the city. Breakfast queues on busy weekends and a stiff door policy at the cigar lounge are the other recurring gripes, worth knowing before you book a packed holiday week.
None of that touches what happens upstairs. Guests who travel with kids get a miniature butler uniform and a backstage tour, the house cat Lilibet has her own following, and the quiet here, even steps from Hyde Park Corner traffic, keeps coming up as a genuine surprise. Book it for the staff and the Library Bar, skip the themed tea if food quality matters more than the photo.
Four Seasons opened this hotel in 1970 as the Inn on the Park, and it's still the one that put the brand on the map outside North America, running on the idea that comfort beats opulence. It's not a jaw-dropping lobby. It's a quiet street two minutes from Hyde Park, blackout curtains that actually work, and a staff that remembers your coffee order and your kid's name by the second morning. Tucked between Hyde Park and Green Park with Knightsbridge and Mayfair in walking distance, the location is hard to beat in this city.
The building itself splits opinion. Some love the residential warmth; others find the 1970s exterior flat and the renovated rooms oddly designed, with a doorless closet and a single light switch shared between the bathroom and the dressing area that means a 3am trip lights up the whole room. Breakfast is the other place it slips: the tasting menu at Pavyllon gets people genuinely excited, but the standard a la carte breakfast has produced repeated billing confusion, and one family's confirmed gluten-free order still arrived as regular bread, cold, on a birthday. Ask for a park-facing room; the rear rooms look onto a car park, not greenery.
Book it if you want London handled quietly and well: a hotel that solves jet lag and looks after kids without turning the stay into a production. Skip it if you're chasing the kind of history and drama you get at Claridge's or the Dorchester down the road, both of which trade some of this warmth for a grander sense of occasion. For a family wanting Hyde Park on foot and a bed that actually works after a long flight, this is still the one to book.
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The Lanesborough: Butlers who remember thermostat settings a year later and a doorman greeting guests by name at the curb carry this score. Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane: Pavyllon and the breakfast tasting menu draw real enthusiasm. Overall, The Lanesborough is the stronger stay.
The Lanesborough is ahead on winding down. Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane is ahead on the food. The Lanesborough adds Heritage and Wellness; Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane adds Culinary. Both are tagged Urban, Family, Architecture and Romantic.
Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane leads on this. The Lanesborough: The Grill and Library Bar get real praise but the Bridgerton afternoon tea draws the sharpest complaints about stale sandwiches and thin flavor. Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane: Pavyllon and the breakfast tasting menu draw real enthusiasm, but the a la carte breakfast billing has confused and overcharged more than one guest.
The Lanesborough leads on this. The Lanesborough: Alberto Pinto’s 2015 refresh of the old St George’s Hospital building splits opinion: maximalist Regency rooms that some call a dream and others call dated. Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane: Rooms are comfortable and the suites can be huge, but several guests call the closets small, the bathrooms dated, and the 1970s exterior charmless.
Both are in London, about 275 m apart — close enough that the choice is the hotel, not the neighbourhood.
Neither: The Lanesborough and Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane both hold Two Michelin Keys in the Michelin Guide’s 2026 hotel selection. The Keys come from the guide’s own anonymous inspections and are separate from the Fat Score.
