Rosewood London

One can’t help but feel this classic Edwardian monument, on High Holborn in the part of London between the City and the West End that we’re apparently meant to start calling Midtown, was somewhat wasted in its former life as an insurance company headquarters. But we’re willing to let bygones be bygones. What’s important now is that it’s open to the paying public, in the form of the sensibly named, quietly confident Rosewood London. (It’s a sister to the Carlyle in New York, if that gives you any idea of what you’re in for.)

While the Belle Époque edifice remains in fine shape — there’s a quarry’s worth of marble in there — the old insurance-company interiors have been thoroughly reimagined by Tony Chi, of much Park Hyatt fame. The result is grand, confidently understated, somehow both contemporary and historically aware, somehow both quintessentially London and invitingly cosmopolitan. If you’re waiting for a punch line, there isn’t one — it’s just as impressive as it sounds.

Even the most basic Deluxe rooms are generous in size and comfort, with fine Italian bedding, the latest in-room electronics, and impressive Italian marble baths. This being London, of course, the suites quickly ascend into almost comical luxury, culminating in the Grand Manor House Wing — yes, wing — complete with six bedrooms, three living rooms, a private elevator and entry, and even, somehow, its own postcode.

Well, we can’t all book that one. We can, however, have a bite in the very same Holborn Dining Room, an impressive modern-British restaurant, as well as the more casual Holborn Delicatessen or the not at all casual Mirror Room. It’s Scarfes Bar, however, that feels like the Rosewood’s inner sanctum — it’s a suitably warm and clubby space named for the artist Gerald Scarfe, whose illustrations line the walls. If you’re a fan of single malts, sloe gin, leather armchairs or, oddly enough, Pink Floyd, then this is your place.