On six floors above, the bedrooms are no less calming, with the same sense of space. Bleached wood flooring, sage green furnishings and copper fittings all add to the feel and many rooms have terraces with sun loungers and wide views; some have circular baths in the bedroom (which guests will either like or loathe) and all have superb drench showers, button-operated curtains backed by sheers and intelligent lighting.
Another newcomer, The Newman, in quirky Fitzrovia just as Six Senses is in quirky Bayswater, has a similar energy: all about the spa; cocktail menu that’s 50 per cent non-alcoholic; emphasis on sleep (both hotels use Naturalmat beds) and staff who are encouraged to be professional but also to “be themselves” (with varying results – the Whiteley’s Kitchen crew were delightful and became my friends, although it’s the first time in a five-star hotel that I’ve been called “darling”).
Talking of the restaurant, it was my one disappointment. I miss celebratory dining in top hotels: As at The Newman (though I loved the food there) an all-day, open-kitchen restaurant with one short, unchanging menu just doesn’t cut it for me, however right-on the “maverick British, vegetable-forward cuisine informed by the Anglo-Celtic calendar”.
Truth is, I didn’t particularly enjoy my dinner (breakfast was great) in Whiteley’s Kitchen, and the same went for the “Mediterranean” restaurant upstairs in Place, which hotel guests can freely use. Maybe it was just me (and my companion), but in both restaurants, nothing jumped out from the menu and the dishes we chose were, taste-wise, a little underwhelming (for example, beef featherblade with barley and cottage cheese for him; dry-aged pollock with rosé sabayon and rainbow chard for me).