“Re-opening our restaurants ahead of bedrooms made so much sense – it brought back our local clientele and, from an operational pint of view, it gave us rhythm, getting the team into action,” says Amanda Hyndman, general manager of the Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park, London.
In September 2016, the hotel started what was to be a two-year renovation led by Hong Kong-based designer Joyce Wang. The nine-floor building, which dates back to 1890, is H-shaped, with half the 180 rooms and suites facing over Knightsbridge, across to Harvey Nichols department store, and the other half looking directly into Hyde Park (this is London’s only hotel that actually has a doorway into a royal park, although that opening is not generally used).
It was intended that first one wing and then the other would close, the rest of the hotel operating normally. Tragically, a rooftop fire on June 6, 2018, meant that the entire hotel closed abruptly.
“We were all ready back of house but we had to close everything. We kept on all our 600 associates, and we all, myself included, went full-time into local community projects. Teams worked with such organizations as Age UK, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Oxfam, and with food banks and homeless shelters. This was great for team-building and also for cementing our relationships with the world around us,” recalled Hyndman, who wore at-work T-shirts for months.
The restaurants had a chance to undertake some minor investments that otherwise would not have happened until a later date. Power supplies were changed, and floors were restored in Dinner by Heston and the Rosebery Room, where afternoon tea is served. By October 2018, it was thought the F&B operations could be opened ahead of rooms. “On December 4, we opened our two main restaurants, Bar Boulud and Dinner by Heston, plus the Rosebery Room, Mandarin Bar and all banqueting, and the Mandarin Spa. They regained their former business almost immediately and now numbers are fully restored. Overall, 85% of customers in both restaurants are locals and about 25% come at least once a week,” she said proudly.
Bedrooms, however, were still not ready; the hotel opened for lodging business on April 15. In the interim, non-F&B associates were partly rostered for yet more on-site training. At other times they continued their volunteering – in all, the hotel has committed to 10,000 hours’ ongoing community service for 2019.
As regional vice president for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Hyndman also oversees the Mandarin Oriental Prague, in the Czech Republic, and the forthcoming 50-room Mandarin Oriental Mayfair London, plus 80 residences, scheduled to open in 2021. She gives both its siblings equal attention but when she talks about the Hyde Park hotel, her face lights up.
“My goal is to make this hotel one of the finest in the world, through passionate, kind and generous service,” she promised.