The Mandrake Hotel

The Mandrake Hotel, a Michelin Key Selected property in London, stands out as a luxurious and eclectic escape in the heart of Fitzrovia, offering guests an immersive and often "transformative" experience.

1. Overall Rating & Sentiment

The Mandrake consistently receives "very good" to "exceptional" feedback, with a strong overall guest rating of 8.0 out of 10 on Booking.com and a high "Overall Experience" score of 19.4 out of 20 from verified MICHELIN Guide guests. Guests frequently describe the hotel with words like "unique," "amazing," "extraordinary," and praise its "mysterious, luxurious, creative and hedonistic" vibe.

2. Key Highlights

Guests are particularly drawn to the hotel's distinctive and vibrant design, its carefully curated private art collection, and the captivating central courtyard filled with hanging jasmine and passion flowers. The exceptional service and friendly staff are consistently highlighted, as is the unique atmosphere and "vibe" that sets it apart from more conventional luxury hotels. The spa and wellness center also receive acclaim.

3. Room Quality

The Mandrake features 30 to 34 stylish bedrooms, along with luxury suites and a penthouse, spread across four floors. Rooms are designed to incite "enjoyment, sensuality and pleasure," characterized by rich textures, vibrant dark colors, and theatrical lighting. Standard amenities include hammam-style marble bathrooms, smart TVs, USB port outlets, Italian linens, hypoallergenic comforters, and Grown Alchemist products.

Room types vary:

• Mandrake Rooms are noted for their minimalist, dark, and moody aesthetic.
• Newman Rooms are decorated in earth tones and feature vintage furniture.
• Terrace Rooms offer floor-to-ceiling windows and double doors opening onto shared terraces overlooking the central courtyard.
• Suites may include additional luxuries such as free-standing tubs and four-poster beds.
• The Penthouse Suite boasts an emperor-size bed, a rooftop jacuzzi under a retractable roof, and can compete with London's finest lodgings.

4. Dining Experience

The hotel offers a notable culinary experience:

• YOPO Restaurant and Bar serves a modern European menu with Latin American influences, emphasizing South American flavors, raw, and plant-based cuisine. It is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• Jurema Terrace provides an outdoor dining option.
• Waeska Bar is celebrated for its botanical-based house cocktails crafted by expert mixologists, and also features live music and DJs from Thursday through Saturday.
• Guests have praised the quality of the breakfast and mentioned that the hotel serves some of the best oysters in London. Private dining experiences, including in a glasshouse apothecary, are also available.

5. Service & Staff

The service at The Mandrake consistently receives glowing reviews. Guests frequently describe the staff as "amazing," "super cool and helpful," "polite and friendly," and offering "5*++ service." Many feel treated like "VIP guests" due to the personalized and attentive hospitality.

6. Location & Accessibility

The Mandrake Hotel is ideally situated in Fitzrovia, central London, offering excellent accessibility. It is a mere 2-minute walk from Oxford Street, placing it amidst numerous shops, Michelin-starred restaurants, and places of interest. Key attractions nearby include:

• The British Museum (650 meters / 0.4 miles)
• Covent Garden (1.3 km / 0.8 miles)
• The London West End (within a 15-minute walk) with its theaters, bars, and shops.
• Within a ten-minute walk of Piccadilly Circus, Bond Street, and Soho. Public transportation is easily accessible, with Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road, and Goodge Street underground stations all within a 5-6 minute walk.

7. Value & Pricing

As a luxury lifestyle hotel and a Michelin Key Selected property, The Mandrake's pricing reflects its high-end offerings and unique experience. Typical rates can start from around £308 for a double room. While it is a premium price point, many guests feel it offers good value for the distinctive style, exceptional service, and prime location, viewing it as worth the cost for a memorable stay.

8. Common Complaints

While overwhelmingly positive, some recurring criticisms include:

• Noise from Bars: The Members Only Bar and Waeska Bar feature live music and DJs from Thursday through Saturday until late, and some rooms may be affected by noise. The hotel reportedly makes efforts to install soundproofing for rooms and staff often pre-warn guests and can allocate rooms carefully if quiet is preferred.
• Terrace Room Privacy: While offering access to the beautiful hanging gardens, the balconies for some terrace rooms are described as semi-private or on a communal walkway, which might not offer complete seclusion.
• Room Size & Functionality: One guest noted that a Terrace Room, while classy, felt compact and lacked a decent desk for working, requiring furniture rearrangement to access plug sockets for video calls. Another mentioned some rooms felt very small for the price.
• Navigation: One guest found the lifts a "little confusing" and navigating through the bar to reach their room in the evening could be "tiresome."

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