Hot hotels: five-star service

At many of London’s luxury stalwarts, rooms can feel a little outdated and service a little stuffy. Not so at Rosewood London – whose cream and liquorice-black marble, dark wood accents and crisp colour palette make this a Grade II-listed five-star for the Instagram age. All kudos to the staff, who expertly blend the professional and the playful.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Chef Calum Franklin cooks up one heck of a pie at the Holborn Dining Room (don’t sleep on the Scotch eggs, either), while atmospheric Scarfes (with its roaring log fire, come winter) was voted Best International Hotel Bar at 2020’s Spirited Awards.

Here’s where true five-star service leaves you feeling like part of the family. As soon as you walk through those unassuming doors, it’s all about freshly baked pastries, warm welcomes and one-to-one gallery tours (sibling owners Antonia Filali and Giacomo Fouad come from a distinguished line of artists and collectors, and it shows). The rest of the team will have you exploring the local town of Lecce like a pro, with a private dinner organised for your return.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Take a dip in the pool at sister hotel La Fiermontina (a converted farmhouse) just four minutes’ walk away.

With brolly-bestowing doormen, a check-in desk that’s dished out more than a few complimentary upgrades and a twice-daily turn-down service so impeccable it regularly features in the hotel’s five-star reviews, Regent Berlin is one-part rigorous German efficiency to two parts ‘service with a smile’. Want a particular newspaper? They’ll get it. Prefer to try out a few wines before you choose your bottle? You don’t have to ask. And though the decadent interiors feel very ‘adults only’, staff will lay on marvellous treats for the kids.  

HIGH LIFE SAYS
The hotel shares a postcode with the legendary Gendarmenmarkt square, home to one of the country’s finest Christmas markets (22 November-31 December 2021).

We know what you’re thinking – all Four Seasons offer five-star service. You’re right, but some do it just that smidge better. Enter Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center where, from the moment you ascend that jaw-dropping glass elevator, you’re the hotel’s most important guest. The staff stride a perfect line of attentive-without-being-overbearing, while those who prefer service at a distance can grab in-room dining and the concierge through an in-room tablet.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Make the most of the hotel’s complimentary Tesla, 57th-floor infinity pool and even the free Universal Sphere cinema experience in the building’s ground-floor lobby, produced by Spielberg himself.

If there’s one thing that connects all sublime staff, it’s this: they appear whenever you need them and manage to sink into the background when you don’t. That’s what you can expect from the glowingly reviewed Hotel Pleta de Mar, where the iced water beside your sun-lounger stays topped up, cocktails are created around your taste buds and nothing, no car ride or tasting menu switcheroo, is too much trouble.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
Book your stay via the link below and, thanks to British Airways’ partnership with Mr and Mrs Smith, you can enjoy a bottle of Mallorcan wine and a fruit basket on arrival.

Overlooking the Mediterranean, next to the moored yachts of Zaitunay Bay, The Phoenicia is one of the most recognisable landmarks in downtown Beirut. Having hosted the A-list elite from Marlon Brando to Muhammad Ali in its early days, the hotel closed its doors during the Lebanese Civil War before magnificently rising, Phoenix-like, to regain its title as the city’s most glamorous hotel. These days, it’s the hallmark of Lebanese hospitality.

HIGH LIFE SAYS
While some general managers aren’t readily available, the affable Manrique Rodriguez can often be spotted chatting with guests.