The hotel is as we remembered - still as classy and elegant, with its stunning lobby and beautifully manicured central courtyard garden. The suite we were upgraded to has been recently renovated to a high standard and there are signs that other parts of the hotel are undergoing refurbishment too (for example, work on the roof) which is a good sign of regular maintenance. A pity though that the breakfast, whilst still brimming with choice and variety, has lost some of its quality. Breakfast at the hotel was, during our last visit, a serene experience we anticipated every morning. On our current revisit, the breakfast room has become chaotic and noisy like a railway terminal, as the hotel appears to gear increasingly towards catering for large conference groups. Tables, hitherto confined to the actual breakfast room and the lovely tree-arbored terrace overlooking the fountains and ponds, have now spilled over into the colonnaded corridors of the garden, ruining both the ambience and lowering the tenor of what used to be an elegant ritual. The calibre of the hotel guests seems to have deteriorated as well, which is a pity for this iconic, historic hotel.
