Rosewood London
London, United Kingdom · Rosewood
An Edwardian Belle Epoque jewel in the heart of Holborn, offering timeless British grandeur reimagined.
Read the full verdictSide by side Rosewood London vs The Mark Hotel
Rosewood London and The Mark Hotel, side by side — the detail is below.
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The Mark Hotel
New York, USA
A 1927 landmark building on Madison Avenue with 106 rooms and a Jean-Georges restaurant, steps from Central Park.
Read the full verdictHow they score
Out of 20. The bars start at 10, so half a point still shows.
Overall
Overall: Rosewood London 15 out of 20, The Mark Hotel Score pending.Service Why
Service: Rosewood London 16.5 out of 20, The Mark Hotel Not scored.
Rosewood London: Butlers who ask before scheduling turndown and a GM who greets on arrival, against occasional reports of curt or dismissive front-desk moments.
Rooms & Design Why
Rooms & Design: Rosewood London 15 out of 20, The Mark Hotel Not scored.
Rosewood London: A former insurance headquarters with heavy marble and a striking porte-cochère, but rooms and bathrooms split guests, with some calling them plain for the price.
The Mark Hotel: Suites have generous closets and marble bathrooms with soaking tubs, but multiple 2025-2026 guests describe dust, stains, mold, and thin soundproofing in specific rooms.
Location Why
Location: Rosewood London 14 out of 20, The Mark Hotel Not scored.
Rosewood London: Holborn puts you a minute from the tube and near the British Museum, but several guests call the immediate streets characterless and inconvenient for Mayfair or Soho.
The Mark Hotel: Steps from Central Park, the Met, and Madison Avenue is the one thing almost nobody disputes, whatever else went wrong on their stay.
Dining Why
Dining: Rosewood London 16.5 out of 20, The Mark Hotel Not scored.
Rosewood London: Scarfes Bar and the Mirror Room’s Monet afternoon tea draw real enthusiasm, while Holborn Dining Room gets called merely fine and occasionally the weak link.
The Mark Hotel: Jean-Georges room service and the hot dog cart get named fondly, but outdoor brunch service has drawn complaints about slow food, missing silverware, and no one checking on soaked tables.
Wellness Why
Wellness: Rosewood London 13 out of 20, The Mark Hotel Not scored.
Rosewood London: A basement spa with small robes, limited seating, and hours that don’t always hold, though the sauna and steam room are free for guests.
The Mark Hotel: There’s a Frederic Fekkai salon and a John Lobb shoe-shine, but one guest was told the shoe cleaner couldn’t handle suede, and there’s little else describing a spa or fitness program.
Strengths and trade-offs
Rosewood London
The Mark Hotel
Strengths of Rosewood London
- Concierge team goes out of its way to secure hard-to-book restaurants and last-minute theater tickets
- Scarfes Bar is a genuine destination with live music and a regular door queue
- The courtyard entrance and porte-cochère give a private, traffic-free arrival
- Afternoon tea in the Mirror Room, especially the Monet-themed menu, gets consistent praise
- Butlers and housekeeping handle scheduling requests with real flexibility
Strengths of The Mark Hotel
- Location a block from Central Park and the Met is hard to beat
- Front desk and concierge staff frequently praised by name for going out of their way
- Jean-Georges room service and in-room dining draw consistent praise
- Old-school, personal welcome that regulars say keeps them coming back
Trade-offs of Rosewood London
- Rooms and bathrooms are frequently called plain or oddly laid out for the price point
- Holborn Dining Room is a step down from the rest of the food and drink on property
- The immediate neighborhood is quieter and less distinctive than Mayfair or Soho
- The basement spa is small, with limited seating and hours that don’t always hold
Trade-offs of The Mark Hotel
- Multiple recent guests report dust, stains, and mold in specific rooms
- Lost or damaged guest belongings have been handled slowly and inconsistently
- Outdoor dining service can be slow and inattentive, especially in bad weather
- Some rooms suffer from poor soundproofing and noisy fridges
Where they differ
Only at Rosewood London
Nothing the other doesn’t also offer.
Only at The Mark Hotel
The verdicts
Rosewood London
This is a converted Pearl Assurance building on Holborn, all marble and a set-back courtyard entrance that lets your car pull off the street, and for a lot of people that arrival sequence alone justifies the stay. The concierge here does real work: guests mention last-minute theater seats pulled together on a whim and a butler who calls ahead to check on room service rather than just showing up. Scarfes Bar is doing serious lifting too, with a regular line to get in most weekends and a reputation among guests as one of the better bars in the city, live music included.
The rooms are where opinion splits hardest. Several guests call them plain or dated for the rate, and more than one mentions oddly configured bathrooms, including a two-half-bath suite layout that puts the only toilet on the far side of the living room from the shower. Holborn Dining Room draws a similar shrug, fine but not memorable, especially next to the genuine praise for the Mirror Room's afternoon tea. Location is the recurring argument: it's a short walk from the British Museum and sits right on top of Holborn tube, but it isn't Mayfair or Soho, and a few longtime guests call the surrounding blocks forgettable.
Book this for the building, the bar, and a concierge team that will fight for a reservation most hotels won't try for. If you want to be steps from Mayfair shopping or a flashier room to match the rate, that's worth pricing in before you book, but for six days near the theaters and the museum with Scarfes downstairs, it's hard to argue with.
The Mark Hotel
The Mark sells you the Upper East Side at its most old-school: a 1927 building a block from Central Park, doormen who learn your name by the second morning, and a Jean-Georges kitchen sending up breakfast in bed. Guests who get the good version of this hotel describe a front desk that remembers a returning daughter, turn-down service with sweets left out, and a concierge team that solves problems most hotels won't even attempt. That's the case for booking it, and it's real.
It's also not the only version on offer. Multiple 2025-2026 stays describe rooms with dust, stains, and mold in the corners, at rates around $1,500 a night before tax. One guest's dressing-stained coat took ten days, four calls, and thirteen different staff members to come back, and arrived at the wrong address. Another had a scarf go missing and got hung up on twice when asking about it. The building is inconsistent room to room and interaction to interaction in a way that a hotel at this price shouldn't be, and the outdoor dining setup in particular gets knocked for slow, inattentive service on a patio with flimsy chairs.
Book it for the location and the classic New York feeling, not for guaranteed flawless execution. If you land a good room and a good day, it's genuinely special, and long-stay guests keep coming back for exactly that reason. If your priority is total reliability over character, that's a fair thing to price in before you commit. Either way, ask for a renovated room category at check-in and don't assume a lost item will be found quickly.
Still torn between Rosewood London and The Mark Hotel?
We’re Sofie and Nicolas, and we’ve stayed in hotels like these ourselves. Tell us what the trip is and we’ll tell you which one we’d book, and why. We’re not really a booking service, but a few times a year we plan one properly for someone; if that’s what you’re after, say so.
It's just the two of us, so we take on a handful of trips at a time. If we're full, we'll say so. We reply within a working day. The hotel pays us, not you: your rate is the same as booking direct, and the perks come on top.
What fat travellers ask
Which should I book — Rosewood London or The Mark Hotel?
Rosewood London and The Mark Hotel, side by side — the detail is below.
What’s the difference between Rosewood London and The Mark Hotel?
The Mark Hotel adds Design. Both are tagged Urban, Heritage, Architecture and Culinary.
Which is better for dining, Rosewood London or The Mark Hotel?
They land level here. Rosewood London: Scarfes Bar and the Mirror Room’s Monet afternoon tea draw real enthusiasm, while Holborn Dining Room gets called merely fine and occasionally the weak link. The Mark Hotel: Jean-Georges room service and the hot dog cart get named fondly, but outdoor brunch service has drawn complaints about slow food, missing silverware, and no one checking on soaked tables.
Which is better for rooms & design, Rosewood London or The Mark Hotel?
They land level here. Rosewood London: A former insurance headquarters with heavy marble and a striking porte-cochère, but rooms and bathrooms split guests, with some calling them plain for the price. The Mark Hotel: Suites have generous closets and marble bathrooms with soaking tubs, but multiple 2025-2026 guests describe dust, stains, mold, and thin soundproofing in specific rooms.
Where are Rosewood London and The Mark Hotel?
Rosewood London is in London, United Kingdom; The Mark Hotel is in New York, USA.
Which has more Michelin Keys, Rosewood London or The Mark Hotel?
Neither: Rosewood London and The Mark Hotel 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.
How does Fat Voyage compare Rosewood London and The Mark Hotel?
Fat Voyage scores every hotel out of 20 across five dimensions — service, rooms & design, location, dining and wellness — read from the trip reports in the most active luxury travel communities, critics’ reviews and verified guest reviews, with the long, detailed and recent ones counting most. Nothing is paid for, and no hotel can buy a place.