Around 2,500 items of furniture, fixtures and fittings from the five-red-AA-star, 189-bedroom Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park are to be auctioned as a comprehensive renovation of the iconic property gets under way.
The hotel will remain open throughout the 18-onth transformation,which will see the refurbishment of all the bedrooms and suites, as well as a redesign of the entrance, lobby and reception areas. The two restaurants – Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Bar Boulud – together with the bar, meeting rooms and ballroom, will undergo a soft refurbishment. In addition, the façade of the building will also be revitalised.
The spa will continue to operate until June 2017, after which it will close for six months to allow for a significant expansion, which will include the addition of couples’ facilities and a spa studio concept for express beauty and grooming treatments. Interior designer Joyce Wang will oversee the new look of the bedrooms, suites and public areas, while Adam Tihany is returning to upgrade the two restaurants he previously designed.
Mandarin Oriental has operated the hotel since 1996, when it acquired what was then known as the Hyde Park hotel from Forte. It later closed to undergo a £57m restoration, reopening in 2000. Pro Auction will run a three-day sale of the hotel’s contents, to include many items of reproduction and antique furniture. The sale will take place on 24-26 October in the Cadogan Suite Millennium Knightsbridge, 17 Sloane Street, London.