London has a wealth of historic luxury hotels.
It happens all the time in the travel industry: someone “fat fingers” a typo at the wrong moment, and an airline fare or hotel room rate is advertised at a fraction of the intended price.
Depending on the jurisdiction, the amount of the rate or fare, and the company’s policy, they’ll either choose to honor the mistake or withdraw it, not wanting to lose money. But a luxury hotel in London made a rate mistake many, many times in the wrong direction recently, as reported on the travel industry and loyalty program site FlyerTalk.
The 1 Hotel Mayfair is a luxury hotel in one of London’s toniest districts (it’s across the street from The Ritz London, and just steps from the royal palaces Buckingham and St. James) where rooms typically go for around £1,000 ($1,350) per night. And they’re worth it—the rooms are spacious and designed with eco-friendly luxury products, from reclaimed wood flooring to sustainably sourced mattresses, filtered taps and bath amenities from Bamford.
But recently, sharp-eyed internet sleuths found those rooms advertised for the evening of July 10 with a starting rate of £9.5 ($12.83) million. Mid-July is certainly peak season for London, but for perspective, that’s just over double the price of the average detached home in Mayfair, not exactly a steal, averaging £4.7 ($6.35) million on their own.
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That’s clearly a mistake, but almost to add insult to injury were the terms of the rate—prepaid, and non-refundable. Sell a couple of those, and one imagines the hotel would be able to pay off its own mortgage in short order.
Of course, commenters on FlyerTalk were quick to point out the loyalty benefits of purchasing such a rate, including top-tier status in Mission by 1 Hotels loyalty program. With tiers that sound an awful lot like the fictional White Lotus loyalty program (“I was a Petal, but I’ve worked my way up to a Blossom” quotes Tanya McQuoid in Season 2), it takes just $75,000 in annual spend to reach the highest tier “Bloom” status, which offers room upgrades, hotel credits, and a rebate benefit intriguingly titled “Self Love Rewards.”
Not quite in the market to drop nearly £10 million on a single hotel room night? Relative nearby bargains for July 10 include The Ritz London (£2,415), The Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane (£1,575), The Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, London (£1,550), or the London Hilton on Park Lane (£496). For even better pricing in Central London, consider seeking hotels in neighborhoods like Paddington, Bayswater, or Shoreditch.
London also has a wealth of historic luxury hotels. Among our favorites are The Savoy, where famed hotelier César Ritz and gastronome Auguste Escoffier literally wrote the book on modern hospitality (Ritz later founded his eponymous hotel after being fired from The Savoy). The Savoy was founded by Richard D’Oyly Carte, the theatre impresario of Gilbert & Sullivan fame, and was reportedly a favorite of Oscar Wilde.
Another impeccably luxurious property in London is The Lanesborough, housed in a vintage 1719 mansion (they’ve renovated since) next door to Hyde Park Corner, overlooking the Wellington Arch. A shopper’s delight, it’s equidistant from the Knightsbridge fashion temples Harvey Nichols and Harrod’s or the boutique shopping of Sloane St.
Travelers with their hearts set on booking a room at the 1 Hotel Mayfair will be happy to learn the mistake rate was quickly corrected. The pre-paid, nonrefundable rate at the hotel for a standard King on July 10 is £969 at press time.
Related: The 15 Ultimate Things to Do in London in 2025 (And the Top Things to Avoid)