An oasis in London’s Mayfair - ‘London’s first mission-driven sustainable luxury hotel’

Three decades after I briefly owned Mayfair — the most coveted and expensive square on the London Monopoly board — I’m bedding down in this affluent district for real.

But my (temporary) home bucks expectations from what you’d maybe expect from a West End enclave often associated with bling and excess.

In fact, 1 Hotel Mayfair has been billed as “London’s first mission-driven sustainable luxury hotel”.

It makes its eco-minded ethos apparent from the get-go, with plants dripping from its exterior and foliage galore greeting you inside, including living walls fed by rainwater from the roof and sculpted moss hanging from the ceiling.

Recycled wood, stone, fabrics and inviting seating shape the lively lobby, where people are on laptops, chatting and soaking up caffeine hits from Neighbours, a cafe that morphs into a bar in the evening.

Others are checking in and out at reception, which is set around a salvaged tree trunk from Sussex, a county south of London.

Yorkshire stone and Welsh slate are among the other British materials furnishing this hotel, which spreads across two converted existing buildings and adheres to BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) standards.

Clad in wood, the lifts take you upstairs to the 181 guest rooms, which span from 23sqm Alcove Kings to suites that are seven times bigger and have $10,000-a-night price tags.

I’m in room 707 — a 55sqm Junior Suite, which has a stone-paved terrace that I’m immediately drawn to, stepping outside to glimpse the upper levels of the iconic Ritz hotel, about 50m away on Piccadilly, and the tree tops of neighbouring Green Park.

The hotel arranges Friday afternoon group park jogs and it’s also linked up with the Tree Council, a local independent charity, to provide an app-led walk that gets you up close with nature — discovering the back stories of hidden trees in and around Mayfair.

Rides can also be arranged in the hotel’s fully electric Audi e-tron car and workshops can be booked with the Botanical Boys, a London duo that specialise in crafting terrariums (which are like aquariums, but for plants instead of fish).

My suite lounge is a serene place to hang out.

It has a sofa on rustic timber flooring, small dining table and chairs, TV, coffee table books (including one by top landscape gardener Tom Stuart-Smith) and a woven cupboard that hides a mini bar with a Nespresso machine, kettle and teas.

The hotel has a no single-use-plastic policy and each room has a filtered water tap by a wall of vegetation and glasses concocted from recycled wine bottles.

A sliding wooden door divides my lounge from the bedroom, where locally-sourced bed linens layer an organic mattress and bedside tables are hewn from tree trunks.

Opening the wardrobe, I find soft linen robes and spare hangers made from both certified responsibly-sourced rubber producers and recycled milk cartons and books.

The stone-floored bathroom has a walk-in rainforest shower, plants and products infused with geranium, lavender, and peppermint by Bamford, a high-end spa that offers holistic treatments on the hotel’s first floor (next to the 24-7 gym).

State-of-the-art, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems use lighting and airflow systems that moderate depending on if you’re in your room or not.

Half the time I’m not, whether I’m out enjoying London or frequenting Dover Yard, the hotel’s lounge bar, or the Dovetale restaurant, which, fittingly, is big on seasonal farm-to-table cuisine with a menu of reimagined European classics, a raw bar and dishes cooked over the grill.

Cocktails (some with repurposed ingredients) are about $45 and you should anticipate a bill of around $200-250 per person for a three-course meal with wine.

Run by head chef Tom Sellers, who helms the two Michelin-starred Restaurant Story near Tower Bridge, Dovetale has already gained a good reputation for its Sunday roasts, but I’m here in midweek when it’s busy with an after-crowd - suits on, ties off.

There’s a convivial atmosphere. Soulful tunes drift through the room and a fire in a glass cabinet flickers before me as I tear into the warm, delicious homemade sourdough bread.

I enjoy a starter of Orkney scallops (with Yorkshire rhubarb), followed by grain-fed black Angus ribeye steak with fries and peppercorn sauce.

I had been tempted by the Maison Burgaud duck, but the steak is ace and well paired with an organic 2020 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

For dessert — recommended by my friendly waiter — the baked Alaska is revitalising, stoked with passion fruit, banana and pineapple.

An alternative sweet would be a Knickerbocker Glory, which staff conjure from a special cart that they bring to your table.

This layered ice-cream sundae was first popularised in the US and Britain in the early 1900s (not long before Monopoly was created).

After a good sleep, I’m back at Dovetale for breakfast, where I skip the American-slanted options like pancakes and fried chicken, and plump instead for granola, croissants, yoghurt and honey, eggs benedict and a flat white.

It fires me up for another morning of London.

I reckon I’ll have a wander in Green Park, pop over and have a peek at Buckingham Palace, then loop back to browse the bookshops and boutiques of Mayfair.

Fingers crossed, I may even have time for a mid-morning nap before it’s time to check out of this impressive hotel.

* 1 Hotel Mayfair is the first European outpost of SH Hotels & Resorts, an affiliate of the Starwood Capital Group that launched with properties in Miami’s South Beach and Manhattan. It’s spreading its wings further, bringing its “sustainable sanctuaries” to Australia, when it opens the 277-room 1 Hotel Melbourne by the Yarra River at Docklands in December 2024.

* Steve McKenna was a guest of 1 Hotel Mayfair and Visit Britain. They have not seen, influenced or approved this story.