Mr & Mrs Smith

The Arch London

London, United Kingdom

Tucked behind the glorious marble arches of Hyde Park’s sturdiest landmark, The Arch London hotel is a grand Georgian pad, spread over seven former townhouses and two old mews houses. Walls are covered in hand-made Italian wallpaper and artwork by rising British talents, and bedrooms are kitted out with all the technology you could wish for.

Need to know

• Rooms 82, including nine suites.
• Rates Double rooms from $289.81 (£185), excluding tax at 20 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (£185), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details Rates exclude breakfast (£17 for Continental; £22 for full English).
• Facilities Gym, book and DVD library, free WiFi throughout and valet parking. In rooms: Sky HD TV, internet radio with more than 10,000 channels, CD/DVD player with film library, iPod dock, free soft drinks, Jing tea, Nespresso machine and Malin+Goetz products.
• Check-out 12pm but flexible, depending on availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
• Children Cots are provided free; extra beds for older children are £50 a night. A babysitter can be drafted in, but you’ll need to give a week’s notice.
• Also In-room beauty treatments can be arranged, and guests can get 20 per cent off at the Puro spa a few minutes down the road (+44 (0)20 7723 5028).

Food and drink at The Arch London

• Hotel restaurant HUNter 486 (named after the 1950s district dialling code for Marylebone) has a wood-fired oven and a grill, serving a range of pizzas and roasted meats. It’s open plan, with refectory tables, glass light fixtures, clinical white lamps and lots of dangling pots and pans. If you’ve come for tea, don’t miss sampling the range of éclairs – they include strawberry and Veuve Cliquot and foie gras and Sauternes.
• Dress code Unearth whatever’s in your Bond Street bags and don it for dinner.
• Top table Snuggled up at one of the circular banquettes, or sat under the champagne bar’s ceiling scribbles in praise of the bubbles.
• Last orders Breakfast is on offer 6am–11am. The restaurant is open from midday until 10.30pm, with a slot for afternoon tea between 4pm and 7pm. The bar keeps is open 24 hours a day for guests and until midnight for everyone else.
• Room service Choose from HUNter 486’s menu 24 hours a day.
• Hotel bar This sexy space has a slick bar backed by a dazzling array of premium spirits, with Philippe Starck bar stools and a pressed-tin ceiling. Le Salon de Champagne has a graffiti-covered ceiling, enormous-backed armchairs and floor-to-ceiling banquettes. There’s also the Martini Library, whisking up the obligatory martini cocktails, including the hotel’s signature HUNtini (made with lemon rind). The Martini Library is open for guests to use 24 hours a day.

The Arch London 50 Great Cumberland Place Marble Arch, London, W1H 7FD