Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane

Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane stands on Hamilton Place, set back from Park Lane a short walk from Hyde Park Corner. It opened in 1970 as the Inn on the Park, the company's first European hotel, and returned in January 2011 after a top-to-bottom redevelopment: Pierre-Yves Rochon designed the public rooms, Tara Bernerd the 196 bedrooms and suites, and Eric Parry the glass-walled spa that caps the tenth floor. Pavyllon London, Yannick Alleno's modern French restaurant, holds a MICHELIN star, and Bar Antoine sits alongside it.

The event spaces are gathered on one floor, which the hotel will let as a whole. The Ballroom is the largest at 326 square metres, naturally lit and served by its own pre-function area, and takes 500 for a reception or 300 seated; it divides into Ballroom A and Ballroom B when a smaller room is wanted. Around it sit six further rooms, most with natural light: Oak, Halcyon, Avalon, Albion, Pine with its carved panelling and marble fireplace, and Hamilton, whose floor-to-ceiling windows give onto Park Lane and Hyde Park. TEN at Four Seasons, on the tenth floor beside the spa, holds twenty for a drinks reception above the rooftops.

The ballroom is the room to know here. It is the largest hotel event space in this stretch of Mayfair that still reads as a hotel rather than a conference floor, it takes a dance floor and a staged production, and it is a lift ride from a starred kitchen. Hire runs through the hotel's own events team.