The Hari London

Making an impact in a big-league luxury-boutique town like London is no easy proposition, and which fact only redoubles in the neighborhood of Belgravia, a setting that’s no stranger at all to high-end hospitality. The Harilela family is aware, of course, as plentifully evidenced by the Hari London, an exercise as much in delicious eccentricity as in hat-doffing reverence for its environs. Familiar yet thrilling, understated yet richly appointed, here is a hotel the locals can’t help but look up to.

The Hari London aims to mix the local brand of luxury with their American-grown sensibility, and you’d have to say their British design team has hit the mark — the occasional decorative Union Jack proving almost superfluous. It’s perhaps a slightly darker, more mid-century look than many London luxury boutiques, a bit of a Mad Men influence, though with custom imported linens and Noble Isle bath products the comforts are quite up to local standards.

The library bar and adjoining garden terrace is the sort of private-public space that London does so well — not a hint of the velvet-rope scene that’s so common Stateside, though replete with memorable touches like expertly prepared cocktails and a pitch-perfect cigar humidor. Il Pampero restaurant, led by acclaimed chef Claudio Covino, aims to mix hotel guests with West London locals by means of irresistible aperitifs and haute-Italian specialties. Again, sights are set high; this is the embassy district, for one thing, and it’s not for nothing that nearby Sloane Square has become a byword for upper-class London.