At the height of a summer heatwave, a family of three swapped the sweaty crowds at Green Park station for the greenery-decked entrance of 1 Hotel Mayfair, stepping into a blissfully air-conditioned lobby just 40 minutes from home. The five-star hotel, which opened in 2023, offered a minibreak in their own city, reached by Tube rather than flight—a welcome relief for parents tired of carting suitcases through airport security.
A Sustainable Lunch at Dovetale
The family's stay began with lunch at Dovetale, the hotel's restaurant built around sustainability, with ethically sourced meat, fish, and dairy. The space, filled with plants and light, resembles a bouji conservatory. The Saturday menu offered a lunch/brunch hybrid, including shakshuka, steak and eggs, oysters, and sea bream. A retro knickerbocker glory menu came with a pencil, allowing the four-year-old daughter to tick off her own choices—gianduja, strawberry sorbet, and rainbow sprinkles—a combination her mother wouldn't have picked but didn't argue with.
A Suite with a View of The Ritz
After lunch, the family headed to their suite, where two squeals of excitement erupted: the daughter's at spotting unicorns, rainbows, and butterflies on her Z-bed duvet cover, and the mother's at the balcony view. To the left, Piccadilly curved towards Soho, with toy-like red buses and black cabs below; to the right, Green Park's grass was scorched but trees remained green. Directly opposite stood The Ritz, under wraps during renovation but still recognizable.
The room(s) matched the view: a living/dining room with corner sofa and four-seater dining table, an enormous bedroom, a bathroom with freestanding bathtub and rainfall shower, a dressing room, and a Japanese-style loo. The design used tactile cream stone and warm wood, with finishing touches like a bedside table carved from a tree trunk, a fluted stone lamp, and a smooth wooden tissue box. The cream and brown palette was leavened by greenery, part of the hotel's sustainability mission incorporating 1,300 plants, shrubs, and trees throughout the property, plus living walls on the exterior and in miniature form in rooms, above a bronze tap dispensing filtered water to reduce plastic use.
A Starlit Sleepover Experience
While the daughter bounced on the bed, unrolled the yoga mat, and told off hooting black cabs, the family eventually left to visit Hatchards children's section, returning with a signed Michael Rosen book to the plant-filled peace of the lobby, where even the lift ceiling was lined with moss. Back in the room, staff had set up a star projector, a tent, a plate of warm cookies, and a glass of milk. The family changed into hooded robes in soft grey sweatshirt material—including an adorably tiny one for the daughter—and curled up to watch Tangled. Later, while she slept, the mother sank into the bath.
The next morning, after breakfast at Dovetale—eggs royale, eggs Florentine, and pancakes with off-menu cornflakes for the daughter—they spent a final couple of hours enjoying the view before checking out, a little sadly, to take their daughter on a promised trip to see where the King lives. After less than 24 hours, the family left feeling calm, rejuvenated, and more in love with London. Rooms start from £500 a night; 1hotels.com/mayfair.
