The Lanesborough London is one of nine hotels in the Oetker Collection luxury hotel group. Actually Oetker calls them ‘masterpiece’ hotels. They go beyond luxury to cost-no-object delivery in every detail.
If you ever have occasion to visit you might notice the particularly beautiful and unusual slightly rosy lustre of the brass signage. To achieve that finish takes time and skill. We managed the production process to get all of the signage to exactly that right point of soft pink tint.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. It reacts with air and humidity and in the process changes colour. Once it reached exactly the right shade (a process that can happen suddenly which is why it needs to be attended to) the reaction process was stopped by the application of clear lacquer to protect and preserve precisely that shade point.
If you’re curious about what ‘cost-no-object’ can mean have a look in the online hotel boutique. You’ll find the most beautiful handmade in London, lacquered, inlaid, leather, cherry wood backgammon sets by Alexandra Llewellyn. They take two weeks to make. The Lanesborough edition costs £6,000. But that’s small change compared to the just over £38,000 you could spend on a hand-crafted TT Trunks men’s accessories trunk. Made of cow hide and lined with camel they take up to 20 weeks to make. But that’s small change compared to the Lanesborough special edition drinks cabinet/trunk you could buy for just over £127,000 made in Spain over the course of 24 weeks. These must be definition of cost-no-object masterpieces of their kind.
