Raffles OWO London

Description

Raffles London at The OWO is one of those rare openings that genuinely alter the mood of a city’s hotel scene. Housed in the former Old War Office on Whitehall, after a painstaking restoration, it has the kind of historical weight most addresses can only borrow through good storytelling. Here, the story is the building. Yet for all the Edwardian Baroque scale, the hotel does not feel stuck in sepia. It feels newly polished, very London, and surprisingly alive.

Rooms and suites

There are 120 rooms and suites, including 39 suites, and they manage to feel both stately and liveable. Thierry Despont’s interiors lean into the building’s heritage without becoming stagey: classic Edwardian references, custom fabrics, softly tailored furnishings and thoughtful detail rather than blaring theatrics. The top suites are the obvious fantasy, with their political history and commanding views, but even the broader room concept sounds convincing because comfort has not been sacrificed at the altar of period drama. It is plush, yes, but never fussy.

Food and drink

The food and drink offering is expansive, but not in a vague, luxury-by-numbers way. Saison by Mauro Colagreco brings relaxed Mediterranean all-day dining to the mix, while The Drawing Room handles breakfast, afternoon tea and evening drinks with the sort of ease London hotels often promise and rarely achieve. The Guards Bar and Lounge, facing Horse Guards, sounds especially well placed for a proper Whitehall martini, while the discreet Spy Bar adds a note of mischief in a building where espionage lore comes with the walls.

Hotel amenities

What really sets the hotel apart is the scale of its wellness offering. The Guerlain Spa stretches across 27,000 square feet and four floors, paired with Pillar Wellbeing’s fitness, movement and nutrition expertise. There is also a 20m indoor pool, vitality pool, gym and movement studio, which gives the whole place more depth than a typical grand London stay. This is not simply a handsome address with a spa tucked below stairs. Wellness is part of the identity here, and that feels modern in the right way.

Location

Whitehall is not a neighbourhood that usually trades in softness, which is partly why Raffles works so well here. You are in the thick of official London, with Horse Guards opposite and St James’s Park, Westminster and Trafalgar Sq all close at hand, yet the hotel turns that pageantry into atmosphere rather than noise. For first-timers, it places the capital’s icons on the doorstep. For repeat visitors, it offers a more ceremonial, faintly secretive version of London than the usual Mayfair circuit.

Hotel rating

In editorial terms, this sits firmly in London’s top tier. It is a true five-star hotel, but more importantly, it has character, which is harder to engineer than marble or chandeliers. Service, butler culture, serious dining ambitions and a landmark setting all combine to make it one of the city’s most significant recent stays. It will not suit anyone after discreet minimalism or a casually thrown-together boutique mood, but that is hardly a fault. This is a grande dame in brand-new clothes.

Hotel vibe

The vibe is richly layered, quietly theatrical and unmistakably British, though not in a dusty way. There is pomp here, certainly, but also wit, sensuality and a welcome sense that the hotel knows how extraordinary its setting is without needing to shout about it. Raffles London at The OWO feels made for travellers who enjoy history, ritual and a little ceremony with their room key, but still want the comforts to feel current. It is opulent, assured and, somehow, rather fun.