At a Glance

• Location: Florence, Italy
• Star Rating: 5-Star
• Number of Rooms: 121
• Room Stayed: Renaissance Suite (Scale Suite)
• Dates of Stay: September, 2025
• Rates: From €1,400 per night
• Value For Money: Expensive, but justified for the scale, grounds and amenities
• Best For: Couples, families, luxury travellers wanting resort scale within a historic city
• Would I Return? Absolutely

What It Does Well

• Unmatched scale for a Florence city hotel, with 11 acres of private gardens
• Strong resort-style facilities
• Excellent staff engagement
• Historic character, with frescoes and original details throughout the common areas and select suites
• Calm, secluded setting that remains close to Florence’s main sights

Areas For Improvement

• Breakfast does not match the standard set elsewhere in the hotel
• Charging extra for the pool cabanas feels unnecessary given their size and fairly basic setup
• Check-in lacks the polish expected at this level
• The jacuzzi is not warm enough and felt in line with the temperature of the pool

First Impressions

The Chancery Rosewood occupies the former United States Embassy on Grosvenor Square, and the building gives it a sense of scale that few London hotels can match. The imposing exterior immediately signals history and importance, while the interiors are sophisticated, richly detailed and properly proportioned.

This is not a townhouse hotel attempting to create grandeur from a small lobby. The Chancery Rosewood has extensive public spaces, multiple restaurants and bars, a serious spa, a large gym and a 25 metre pool. It feels ambitious from the outset and has the infrastructure to support that ambition.

Setting

The hotel sits directly on Grosvenor Square in the heart of Mayfair. Central London shopping, dining and cultural attractions are within easy reach, making the location difficult to fault.

It also works particularly well for Londoners seeking a staycation. The suite sizes, spa, pool, restaurants and house car allow guests to spend a significant part of the stay within the hotel without feeling confined.

Arrival

We were collected in a Mercedes Maybach, which provided an excellent start to the stay. The hotel also operates an impressive house car fleet, including a Bentley for local drop offs. More importantly, the car was available when we wanted to use it, which is not always the case with hotel transport.

We arrived at approximately 10.30 am and were greeted by the Managing Director before being escorted to reception. Our suite was not ready, which was understandable at that hour, but the hotel prioritised it and handled the wait generously.

We were taken to GSQ, the hotel's cafe, and invited to order whatever we wanted while the room was prepared. It was a simple but instinctively thoughtful gesture that set the right tone.

The Room

The Chancery Rosewood is an all suite hotel, and in this case the designation is justified. Even the entry categories are genuinely spacious by London standards. With the lowest room category starting at 53sqm/570sqft.

Our Grosvenor Junior Suite had an attractive outlook and felt polished, private and appropriately luxurious for Mayfair. The design was sophisticated without becoming bland, and the room provided enough space to relax rather than simply sleep.

The minibar included complimentary soft drinks and snacks, although alcohol was excluded. This should arguably be expected at the price, but it remains welcome when many luxury hotels continue to treat every small item as an additional source of revenue.

The bathroom was equally well considered. Smaller amenities were presented in a vanity bag that guests could take with them, while the bath oils and salts were substantial enough to be useful rather than decorative.

Dining

The hotel has an extensive food and beverage offering, spanning Mediterranean and Japanese concepts across five separate restaurants and bars, including a rooftop bar. On paper, this should make The Chancery Rosewood one of London's strongest dining hotels. During our stay, it was the weakest part of the experience.

The hotel has an extensive food and beverage offering, spanning Mediterranean, Japanese and pastry led concepts across five separate restaurants and bars, including a rooftop bar. On paper, this should make The Chancery Rosewood one of London's strongest dining hotels. During our stay, it was the weakest part of the experience.

GSQ had very good food at relatively reasonable prices for the location. Service, however, was slow and our food arrived cold. The café also attracts a significant number of outside guests. During the week, it was filled with business meetings and people taking calls, giving it a more commercial atmosphere than the rest of the hotel.

Breakfast for hotel guests is served at Serra, a beautiful room with a promising menu. On our first morning, several items were wrong, forgotten or misunderstood, while a table seated well after us was served first.

Food quality was inconsistent. The hash browns were excellent one morning and close to inedible the next. This is not a major failure in isolation, but consistency is a basic expectation at this price.

The team was well intentioned and made a genuine effort to recover the situation. The follow up became slightly overdone, including a handwritten card the following morning expressing hope that we had slept well. It was kind, although a more natural response would have felt less rehearsed.

Room service was more concerning. We ordered a club sandwich with one half vegetarian and the other containing meat, but both arrived combined. The vegetarian portion was therefore not vegetarian.

After we sent it back, dinner arrived in two stages and the dessert melted while we waited. More surprisingly, the room service attendant relayed a message from the chef questioning whether the order was wrong and asking for a photograph. A guest should not be expected to provide evidence that an incorrectly prepared meal is incorrect. The pasta was decent, but the dessert was disappointing and the overall room service experience needs significant improvement.

Bars

The rooftop Eagle Bars are positioned as important destinations within the hotel. The terraces were closed because of rain during our visit, which undoubtedly affected the experience.

Inside, the spaces felt more like passageways than somewhere guests would naturally settle for an evening. The cocktails were competent but not memorable, and the atmosphere did not match the ambition of the hotel.

I would return in better weather before reaching a final conclusion. With the terraces open and more guests present, the bars may feel entirely different.

Facilities

The Asaya Spa is one of the hotel’s strongest assets. The 25 metre pool is unusually generous for London, heated to approximately 31 degrees and surrounded by comfortable beds and chairs. The warm, cocooning room makes it easy to spend several hours there.

The hydrozone is less successful. A glass partition separates the jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, cold plunge and solarium beds from the main pool. The layout feels disconnected, while a loud fan affected the atmosphere and the jacuzzi could have been warmer.

Pool staff were kind but attentive to the point of distraction. Their constant presence made it difficult to relax without feeling observed. A less visible and more intuitive approach would better suit the setting.

The gym is modern, substantial and well equipped. A seating area with a fireplace creates a comfortable transition towards the treatment rooms, while the changing facilities were excellent.

Our massage was competent, but the ritual surrounding it felt rushed. The therapist did not spend enough time introducing the treatment, discussing preferences or allowing us to settle before beginning. At this level, the preparation is part of the experience.

The couples treatment room is available as an expensive addition and includes a jacuzzi bath, fruit platter and drink. It was pleasant but not especially memorable, and for hotel guests who already have a bath in their suite, it felt unnecessary. It may make more sense for external spa visitors wanting to extend their time using the facilities.

Service

Staff were among the strongest aspects of the stay. Almost everyone we encountered was genuinely lovely, including the arrival team, reception, drivers and many members of the spa team.

The overall service culture felt warm and generous. Some newer teams can appear technically trained but emotionally distant. The Chancery Rosewood largely avoided that, with staff who seemed genuinely interested in helping.

The remaining issues were operational rather than cultural and appeared concentrated within food and beverage and parts of the spa. These should improve as the relatively new hotel becomes more established.

Would I Stay Again?

Yes. The Chancery Rosewood is a particularly strong choice for a London staycation because the hotel itself becomes part of the experience rather than simply somewhere to sleep.

The generous accommodation, extensive wellness facilities, central location and house car make it easy to spend two days enjoying the property and Mayfair. Food and beverage needs improvement, but it is not enough to outweigh the hotel’s considerable strengths.

Final Thoughts

The Chancery Rosewood is already a serious addition to London’s luxury hotel market. Its architecture, suite sizes, service and wellness facilities give it substance beyond the excitement of a new opening.

Food and beverage is the clear weakness. Breakfast, room service and the bars need greater consistency, sharper execution and more atmosphere.

Even with those shortcomings, we thoroughly enjoyed the stay. If the dining catches up with the rest of the hotel, The Chancery Rosewood could become one of Mayfair’s most compelling luxury hotels.

If you wish to have us assist with any bookings email us at bookings@stripetravel.com or contact us here. By booking with us, you will likely receive the following additional benefits:

• Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• Daily breakfast for up to two guests per bedroom
• $100 USD equivalent food and beverage credit to be used during the stay
• Early check-in and late check-out, subject to availability
• Complimentary Wi-Fi