The Heritage Suite, Photo Credit: Richard Waite Photography
Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square may be a brand-new property, but it is one steeped in history.
Across from the Tower of London and a short walk from the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe, the central London hotel resides in a 1922 landmark building along the River Thames that was the headquarters for one of the world’s busiest ports.
The Four Seasons’ second London outpost (the other is in Mayfair) is in the oldest section of the city, where the Romans once settled. Remnants of the past are everywhere. In fact, after the hotel’s groundbreaking, crews unearthed bones and pottery pieces, which were donated to a museum.
We sat down with general manager Charlie Parker to find out his favorite parts of the new-old property.
The Treasure at Ten Trinity Square, Photo Credit: Richard Bryant
The Architecture
The hotel’s classical façade with its towering, stately columns captures your eye. “It’s very imposing,” Parker says.
If the building looks familiar, it’s because it has served as the backdrop for movies like War Machine and Skyfall. But it’s also been around for quite some time — it’s the former base of the Port of London Authority.
“The building welcomed all manner of traders and travelers from all over the world,” he says. “Now we are welcoming travelers and traders in a different light. There’s a symmetry to that. It’s coming full circle.”
The White Mille-Feuille, Photo Credit: Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square
La Dame de Pic London
“It’s where cuisine flows into art,” says Parker of the creative French restaurant helmed by acclaimed chef Anne-Sophie Pic.
One of his go-to dishes is the berlingots starter, pasta triangles stuffed with smoked pélardon cheese. “Sometimes I wish it was a main course,” he says.
He also can’t resist the white mille-feuille, one of Pic’s signature creations. Layers upon layers of Tahitian vanilla cream, crisp puff pastry and jasmine jelly are encased in royal white icing and plated with voatsiperifery pepper foam dollops. “It looks like a little iceberg,” Parker says as he pulls up a photo of the pastry on his iPhone. “It’s making me hungry.”
A Splash of Zen, Photo Credit: Richard Waite Photography
The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square
While the luxury hotel debuted in January, its spa was just unveiled in June. The 18,083-square-foot space offers a beautiful indoor vitality pool with air and water jets, a 46-foot-long swimming pool, a sauna and steam room.
But its defining feature is its hammam. “We are the first in London to use it as a treatment room,” he says.
Try it out with the Prestigious Cocooning, a service that includes a hammam session, black soap and Miel d’Ambre scrubs, a bathing ritual and a revitalizing massage.
The Heritage Suites
Also debuting this summer are nine Heritage Suites, which sit in the old port offices. Original features were preserved, including decorative plasterwork, fireplaces and 16-foot ceilings. “They are dramatic,” Parker says of the ceilings’ soaring heights.
The suites meld the historic and the here and now with a sleek gray color palette and luxurious touches, including customized beds, heated toilets and Bottega Veneta toiletries.
The UN Ballroom, Photo Credit: Richard Bryant
The UN Ballroom
The walnut-covered ballroom, with Corinthian columns and floor-to ceiling windows overlooking Trinity Gardens and the Tower of London, is a handsome place to hold a wedding or private event.
But like the rest of the hotel, the restored space has a backstory: it hosted the inaugural General Assembly of the United Nations in 1946. “It’s a truly historic room,” he says.
