London’s hotels are not short of dazzling penthouses. Last year Claridge’s unveiled its £60,000-per-night penthouse complete with no less than 75 Damien Hirst artworks and a nine-metre heated rooftop lap pool, making it the most expensive in the capital. Now, the Four Seasons at Trinity Square has just unlocked the security-guarded doors to London’s largest penthouse.
At 9,100 square foot, the four-bedroom Skyline Penthouse is a super-sized addition to the City of London. To put it into context, the size of the average UK home is 915 sq ft — so it’s ten times the size of your house, probably. You’ll certainly rack up your step count as you traverse from the grand lobby to the master bedroom at the far end of the digs. The place is gargantuan with hidden nooks and eye-wateringly expensive artworks at every turn.
Formerly the London residence of the Four Seasons Trinity Square owner, Chinese-Thai billionaire Yan Bin, it is very much aimed at the super-rich jetting in for an extended stay in our fair capital. And despite its opulence, it still somehow has a homely feel. It comes complete with an office — with chic Hermes cushions and a killer backdrop of Tower Bridge for the ultimate Zoom background — state of the art kitchen, dining room, wood-panelled library, snug cinema room, private gym and four en suite bedrooms. We counted nine bathrooms in total, but the place is so vast that there were doors we never got round to opening.
The wrap-around roof terrace is the real scene-stealer. With pinch-me views across the Thames from the Shard to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, I refuse to believe there is a more special spot in the city for sundowners.
Hidden inside the Grade II building’s statues and turrets (it used to be headquarters of the Port of London Authority) is a charming secret garden. Just take the private elevator up one floor. No self-respecting member of the 0.1% would travel without an entourage and so the penthouse comes with its own staff quarters and the hotel can provide 24-hour butler service on request.
The price for this vast luxury? Around £50,000 per night. As you’d expect with such a price tag, it’s full of expensive touches. Created by London-based Martin Kemp Design, marble abounds, everything is controlled by iPad and the master suite showers (there are two bathrooms in the main bedroom alone with the requisite his and hers walk-in closets) transform into saunas at the touch of a button.
The height of decadence has to be sinking into the cocooning marble tub with a glass of champagne and a private view of Tower Bridge. Want to shut out the world? The touch of a button will send the blinds shooting down.
Should you get bored of luxuriating in London’s biggest penthouse, then the rest of the Four Seasons’ offerings await. Book in for a pampering treatment or hammam at the spa, tuck into sushi and dumplings at Chinese-Japanese Mei Ume restaurant, or treat yourself (even more) to the tasting menu at two-Michelin starred Le Dame De Pic. Breakfast is served in the lobby and is a prime location for VIP-watching — during our stay the US national basketball team were causing a commotion, though I missed a sighting of LeBron James. Can’t win them all.
When it comes to penthouses, it turns out size does matter.
