The Lobby At The Peninsula London in City of London, Westminster

We felt the tea cakes weren't fresh!!! taste was not balanced. I was very disappointed, the cakes didn't match the ambience and service Thanks Jack and Jenny

Bajamos de Cambridge para desayunar. Varias mesas estaban vacías, pero la camarera dijo que estaban todas ocupadas. ¡Mal servicio, cero honestidad! Caminamos por la esquina hacia el Mandarin Oriental, donde el servicio fue encantador. Ahórrese una experiencia decepcionante al seguir caminando.

I am so sad to have to say this, because in my youth I adored the Peninsula in Hong Kong, ate there very often, and have always regarded it as an absolute byword for excellence. I met two friends here, at my request. I had been waiting for ages for it to open, and fully expected it to be wonderful. When I looked beforehand at the menus for all its restaurants online, I was a bit perturbed. The menus seemed very unimaginative, and somewhat out of touch with what has become a great food city. Even the Cantonese menu looked disappointing (and I see from today's Giles Coren review that the food is nothing special either). However, I went ahead with my plans and hoped all would be well. My friends (ladies who lunch) both had chopped salads, and I had a Caesar salad, one of my favourite dishes. Their salads were fine, nothing more, but my Caesar salad was really very poor. It was so tiny that I had to query whether they really had given me the main-course size, and the leaves were limp and floppy. The coffee was fine. As it stands, I have had to discourage other friends who had suggested we eat there. I am really sad and disappointed by all this.

We had breakfast in this rather smart new hotel early on the 28th of December. Oddly, we could not book a table in the lobby via the hotels booking site as it showed no availability. As we were staying at The Bulgari it was a short stroll so we had a quick look in and the lobby was empty. No problem getting a table and the member of staff was polite and service was prompt. I like to pre-empt a stay in a hotel by visiting it and eating beforehand, it should give an indication of the standard to expect or indeed avoid. My breakfast arrived without the hash brown, this was noticed and it arrived 10 minutes later (separately)...it would have been professional to remove both orders and replace them correctly? The hash brown was evidently straight from the freezer, it was brown on the outside and frozen in the centre. I did point it out to the staff by commenting that my wife cooks as bad as the chef. It was said in humour but it was said hoping for a reaction. No reaction whatsoever. Definitely not the best breakfast I have had, I can put up with a lukewarm breakfast (a common thing in the UK) but frozen? Apart from that, the hotel looks very good and it has not put us off booking a 4 night stay next month--I will avoid all the dining possiblities and hopefully enjoy the room and the location. I am a firm believer that breakfast is of the utmost importance, it tends to be the last dining experience before departure so if they do not get it right it is the last impression. Here's hoping that the breakfast is not a true indication of the hotels overall standards.

I'm a longstanding fan of the Peninsula in Hong Kong so when a friend visiting from Canada wanted to treat me to a nice afternoon tea for my birthday, I picked the newly opened Peninsula hoping for good things. And it was lovely: thoughtful, warm, attentive service that never tipped over into being intrusive or - worse - patronising: we had been patronised by a waiter having afternoon tea in a smart hotel in Victoria, Vancouver Island, earlier in the year, so we were looking to forget that experience. You're always aware that service is a paid-for thing, but the young staff in the Lobby were very good at making us feel genuinely welcome. I loved the sparkling tea - what a clever, satisfying and inventive alternative to champagne! I don't drink, and I often feel a bit short-changed by the non-alcoholic alternatives, but this was great. And we loved the food, especially the thoughtful substitutions when we asked to swerve a couple of the standard offerings. Lovely, delicate savouries, nice sandwiches and smart little sweet bites. And of course scones with cream and jam - I particularly liked the strawberry and mint jam. The whole afternoon lived up to my high expectations: I loved the way the Lobby, with its pillars, lions guarding the entrance and the younger staff wearing the classic Pen uniform reminded me of some fabulous stays in Hong Kong. We never felt rushed, nor did we feel overlooked at any point. I assume the previous two reviews were written not long after the opening when the service had yet to settle down, as they don't reflect the really very nice experience we had on Sunday afternoon. Thank you, Peninsula staff - you banished the memory of a poor experience elsewhere earlier in the year and gave me a lovely birthday treat.

Had Breakfast in the Lobby restaurant on Monday. Very average! There was a problem with gas/electric in kitchen. Waited almost one hour for cooked breakfast which was served almost cold. I ordered tea at the beginning to drink with breakfast which was cold when breakfast arrived. I asked for a fresh pot. When I got the the bill they had charged me for the second pot of tea. Not great customer service! Very disappointing!

To celebrate my 60th milestone birthday, I wanted to take my dear friend from Hong Kong to the “Peninsula Afternoon Tea” experience as she was the special friend who’d recommended that I stay at the Peninsula HK in 1987 - such a memorable trip. Unfortunately this was one of the worst afternoon tea’s that we’ve both encountered. Despite booking this at least 2 weeks in advance, we we’re first seated in the table directly in front of the staff console, which was not private as we could constantly hear the chit chat amongst the staff. When we asked to be moved to a quieter table, bearing in mind half the tables were empty, our server was not happy about this. She had to ask the someone and after 5 minutes with a frown seated us elsewhere. It’s a shame that at this stage our server didn’t change. She took our order as one of us is a vegetarian and our tea orders. Few minutes later she returned as she’d forgotten which teas we’d ordered - not a great start. Our server then poured our glass of champagne, but poured it so quickly that it mainly consisted of bubbles & when they’d subsided our glasses were then half full!!! The tea then arrived but there was at least a half an hour wait till the sandwich arrived- too long a wait. The vegan sandwiches were lovely and my friend thoroughly enjoyed the coronation chicken. However, no refills or extra sandwiches offered . The trio of warm savoury items were good. We then had another 20 minute wait for our sweet selection of cakes and pastries to arrive!!! We did ask our server why is it taking so long, and her response was “they cook everything fresh” - really!!! The selection of cakes were just wow wow wow - hence why I’ve given this review 2 stars. I don’t remember the name of my server, but her name began with N and she told us s few times she’s new. When I’m paying more than £200 for afternoon tea, I’d expected much better service than what I’d experienced. When one of managers came with the bill and asked how everything was? - I did tell him we were very disappointed with the service and to have such long waits between courses was not normal & the fact our server couldn’t pour the champagne properly. He just apologised but eagerly to our card and no mention of even waiving the service charge. I’ve been waiting patiently for Peninsular London to open and shame my 1st experience has not been a memorable one but rather embarrassing to have treated a childhood friend to.