The Shepherd Mayfair hotel has opened in London on the site of Mayfair’s oldest house (1618)

Since early October 2026, The Shepherd Mayfair has been welcoming its first guests in London, in the heart of Shepherd Market, on the site of The Cottage, the oldest house in Mayfair, built in 1618 and destroyed in a bombing raid in the winter of 1940. So this is neither a reopening nor a historic residence, but a brand-new hotel of 82 rooms and suites, created from the conversion of the former Park Lane Mews Hotel.

☰Contents

1. A house from 1618, flattened by bombs in 1940
2. A new hotel on the former Park Lane Mews
3. Who designed The Shepherd Mayfair’s interiors?
4. 82 rooms and suites, from 15 to 35 m²
5. Fayre, British cooking beneath painted murals
6. The Lounge now, Teddy’s from November
7. From 400 pounds a night, breakfast included

A house from 1618, flattened by bombs in 1940

On the façade, a green plaque from Westminster City Council, the local authority for this part of central London, tells the story of the spot: here stood The Cottage, dated 1618, the oldest house in Mayfair, from which a shepherd once drove his flock. The house and its archway were destroyed in a bombing raid in the winter of 1940. The hotel carries that shepherd in its name, but nothing of the original house survives.

A new hotel on the former Park Lane Mews

The building is the former Park Lane Mews Hotel, acquired in 2021 by Bain Capital Special Situations and Orka Investments. Planning consent, granted in August 2023 according to Bain Capital, covered a major refurbishment combined with a rebuild: architecture by Buckley Gray Yeoman, construction by CIT, operation and design by Hamilton Pyramid. The project is targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating, the British environmental certification for buildings, and also includes 16 luxury residences in two Hertford Street townhouses.

The entrance opens onto Stanhope Row, in the heart of Shepherd Market and its cobbled lanes. Green Park is a 7-minute walk away and Hyde Park Corner 5 minutes, according to the hotel. Mayfair is drawing other projects too, such as The WestDill Mayfair, set in a former bank on Piccadilly.

Who designed The Shepherd Mayfair’s interiors?

The interiors are the work of interior designer Timothy Shepherd, founder of the Shepherd& studio, based in Soho and in Paris’s 16th arrondissement. On the walls, the hotel displays photographs by George McLeod and Jack English and drawings by the illustrator John Broadley.

82 rooms and suites, from 15 to 35 m²

The hotel has 70 rooms and 12 suites over six floors, in five categories, each with its own layout. The Standard measures about 15 m², the Superior 18 m² and the Deluxe King 23 m²; among the suites, the Shepherd’s Suite reaches 30 m² and the Mayfair Suite 35 m², with bathtub, sofa and chess table, according to the official booking engine checked on 23 October 2026.

Bathrooms are in marble, with walk-in showers and bathtubs in some suites; the Floris toiletries, from the London perfume house, were created for the hotel. The desk doubles as a dressing table. Check-in is at 3pm, check-out at noon, and the hotel is entirely non-smoking.

Fayre, British cooking beneath painted murals

On the ground floor, Fayre restaurant seats 62 and serves breakfast (7am to 11am), lunch and dinner. The menu is British: lobster and prawn brioche, a beef Wellington-style pithivier (a puff-pastry pie), Gloucester Old Spot pork chop, aged steaks and “puddings in a glass”, including a strawberry and champagne trifle.

The walls are covered with murals painted by Adam Ellis on the theme of the May Fair, with its livestock markets, theatres and jugglers.

The Lounge now, Teddy’s from November

The hotel’s second venue, The Lounge is a 46-seat café-bar with a terrace and a takeaway counter, no reservations.

In November 2026 the hotel will open Teddy’s, a 72-seat cocktail bar on the lower ground floor, from Tuesday to Saturday evening. The menu will revive forgotten cocktails from the 1930s and offer five signatures inspired by expressions coined by the British writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

From 400 pounds a night, breakfast included

On the official booking engine, checked on 23 October 2026, a night costs £400 (about €460) from 12 to 13 November 2026 for two adults in a Standard Double room, on a prepaid rate, breakfast and taxes included. The flexible rate rises to £465, a discretionary 5% service charge is added to the bill, and the Mayfair Suite starts at £680.

For comparison, see our pick of the best hotels in London and the Cambridge House hotel, once a prime minister’s mansion, which opens in London on 1 February 2027.