Hotel Review • United Kingdom • England • London
This Hotel Brings Singaporean Hospitality to the Heart of London
Steps from Liverpool Street, inside a 43-story glass tower, Pan Pacific London has somehow made the Square Mile feel calm.
The Review
Why it works
Courtesy of Pan Pacific London
Hotel Snapshot
Liverpool Street is not where you'd expect to find serenity in London. It's commuters and briefcases and people eating McDonald’s on the street at 1 a.m. after the club; I’m sure the producers of Industry got a lot of inspo from its atmosphere. Which makes the moment you step through Pan Pacific London's doors—into a lobby that smells faintly of lemongrass, staffed by people who move with conspicuous calm—feel almost disorienting. The property is a masterclass in Singaporean hospitality, transplanted into the Square Mile.
Pan Pacific opened its European flagship in London in 2021, occupying the lower floors of One Bishopsgate Plaza, a 43-story bronze glass tower that rises confidently above the surrounding City streets. The brand has always felt most at home among urban skylines—Jakarta in 1976, Singapore in 1983, and now London—and the move makes a lot of sense. The Square Mile is exactly the kind of kinetic hub that Pan Pacific knows how to build a sanctuary inside of.
Design & Character
Yabu Pushelberg, the New York design studio behind the interiors, was tasked with fusing Southeast Asian warmth with British refinement. They very much delivered. The lobby stretches ahead in creamy marble and pale oak, botanical murals depicting Southeast Asian flora spilling across walls, curved archways softening what could’ve easily been a corporate atrium. The building's 90-degree angles have reportedly been deliberately avoided throughout, on the basis that right angles are incompatible with rest.
The Asian identity announces itself in subtle details—a traditional Chinese teapot painted with cherry blossoms in the rooms, a Moss & Lam mural behind the concierge desk showing an Asian parrot perched on a British greyhound, lemongrass in the air. It's cultural homage done with restraint.
The Rooms
All 237 rooms and suites share the same design language: neutral tones, warm timber, floor-to-ceiling windows, curves instead of corners, each varying in size and where its windows face. The Gherkin appears in several of them (it did in mine). Custom headboards depict oak, elder, elm and maple trees in muted watercolour brushstrokes that read as Asian in technique and English in subject matter, which is the whole hotel’s M.O.
Credit Jack Hardy
Standard inclusions across all categories: Nespresso machine, Chinese tea set, Jo Loves toiletries, Dyson hairdryer, automatic curtains, and a minibar stocked with locally inspired London snacks alongside the expected options. Premier and Executive rooms add bathtubs. The 42 suites—individually named, each with separate living areas—feel more like serviced apartments than hotel rooms. Butler service comes with the top suite categories. And, the two-bedroom Pan Pacific Suite on the 19th floor has wraparound windows.
Food & Drink
Straits Kitchen, the hotel's main restaurant, takes its name from the Straits of Malacca (the historic maritime route connecting Asia's cuisines) and serves Southeast Asian food made with British ingredients. I had the five-course Experience Menu. It opened with a tuna tartare and wasabi cream. A pork skewer with char siu glaze and plum ketchup followed. Crab risotto was next. Then hereford beef short rib was—slow-cooked, glazed in sweet soy and stout jus. Finally, dessert: a soy and sesame caramel ice cream sandwich. I left very full.
I had an early morning flight the next morning, but if you’ve got time before checking out, breakfast is also served at Straits. You’ll get a continental buffet full of fresh fruit, pastries, cheeses, and charcuterie, plus à la carte options that run from wonton noodle soup and congee to full English and eggs Benedict.
For drinks, Ginger Lily Bar & Lounge is the place to be: a long black marble counter, plush seating, a Turner-inspired mural by Moss & Lam, and a cocktail menu that balances Singaporean-inspired signatures with the usual suspects. The hotel’s Silverleaf bar is more intimate, more speakeasy; better for a late drink when the mood calls for it.
Spa & Wellness
The SENSORY Spa & Wellbeing floor is the hotel's most distinctive feature, occupying an entire level of the tower and built around the property’s 60-foot heated infinity pool—floor-to-ceiling windows and city views included.
The 60-minute spa treatment I had was a holistic massage using Pañpuri oils. I’m not a spa or massage snob by any means but I fell asleep towards the end of the treatment, if that’s an indication of how relaxed I felt. The changing rooms are clad in verdite marble, and there’s also a sauna and steam room. And for those who love a good workout when traveling, the Pan Pacific London’s 24-hour gym is what hotel gyms rarely are: (very) well-equipped, properly spacious, and notable for being the first in the UK to install the TecnoBody D-Wall biometric system—a digital training screen that provides real-time movement feedback and replaces the conventional mirror. Two reformer Pilates machines are available for independent use. A poolside studio hosts yoga and guided meditation classes. The wellness floor, in short, takes itself seriously in all the right ways.
Gallery
A closer look
Courtesy of Pan Pacific London
Credit Johnathan Stewart
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