Kim Jong Un attended a “paramilitary parade” with his daughter to mark the 75th anniversary of North Korea’s founding on Saturday, the country’s state media have reported.

Paramilitary forces and industrial workers marched down Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang as part of the parade, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

Kim attended the parade with his daughter, who is believed to be called Kim Ju Ae, and received congratulatory letters from China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, according to KCNA.

A Chinese delegation, led by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong, and visiting members of the Russian Army Academic Ensemble Alexandrov were in attendance, KCNA said, adding that diplomatic envoys stationed in Pyongyang had also been invited.

In Putin’s letter, according to KCNA, the Russian leader wrote that relations between the two countries have “invariably developed on the principle of friendship, good neighborliness and mutual respect,” adding that he believes they will “expand the bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts.”

“This fully conforms with the interests of the peoples of our two countries and will contribute to ensuring security and stability in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia,” Putin wrote, according to KCNA.

In Xi’s letter, according to KCNA, the Chinese leader said his country was “ready to strengthen the strategic communication, deepen the working-level cooperation and promote the China-DPRK relations” with Pyongyang.

Houston Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. was arrested Monday on suspicion of assaulting a 26-year-old woman in New York, according to the New York City Police Department.

Porter, 23, was taken into custody on the scene and the woman was taken to a hospital, according to the spokesperson. He was held on preliminary charges of second-degree assault and strangulation, NYPD said.

Neither Porter’s representative nor the Rockets have responded to requests for comment.

Porter was selected in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft out of University of Southern California by the Milwaukee Bucks. He would later end up with the Cleveland Cavaliers after being traded twice.

Porter has played four seasons in the league – one with the Cavaliers and the past three with the Rockets. Last season he averaged 19.2 points per game.

The Rockets announced in October that the team had signed Porter to a multiyear contract extension reportedly worth over $80 million.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, making his debut with the New York Jets, was carted off the field after suffering an ankle injury on just his fourth play in the team’s NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on Monday night.

The injury occurred during the team’s first drive in the first quarter when Rodgers was sacked by Bills edge rusher Leonard Floyd.

The four-time Most Valuable Player hobbled up for a few moments before going back down to the ground. He was attended to by the Jets’ medical staff before being helped off the field at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

After being looked at in the blue medical tent on the sidelines, the 39-year-old was taken to the locker room on a cart, and he missed the rest of the game.

Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters in the postgame news conference, “(We’re) concerned with his Achilles (tendon). MRI’s probably going to confirm what we think is already going to happen with his Achilles, so prayers tonight. But, it’s not good.”

Rodgers’ X-rays “were negative,” the team posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Backup quarterback Zach Wilson entered the game for the injured Rodgers.

“I hurt for Aaron, and how much he’s invested in all of this,” Saleh said. “I’m still going to say a prayer. I’m still going to hold out hope.”

Before being traded in the offseason, Rodgers had spent the first 18 seasons of his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, where he led the team to a 31-25 victory in Super Bowl XLV in 2011.

Rodgers won MVP awards in 2011, 2014, 2020 and 2021 while setting numerous records for his accuracy and deadliness over the years.

Olga Carmona, the Spanish soccer star who scored the winning goal in the Women’s World Cup final, said it made her “angry” that Luis Rubiales’ unwanted kiss on teammate Jennifer Hermoso overshadowed the team’s historic victory.

Following weeks of fierce criticism, Rubiales resigned from his position as president of the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) on Sunday, saying that he “won’t contribute anything positive [to RFEF or Spanish soccer]” were he to remain in the role.

Speaking to Spanish late-night talk show El Hormiguero on Monday, Carmona said that she felt “most angry” about the fact that Rubiales had kissed her teammate Hermoso on “a day that was not appropriate.”

The 46-year-old previously apologized and described the kiss as “mutual,” though Hermoso denied that claim, saying she did not consent and was not respected.

“It is obviously sad that we achieved something historic, something that really takes a lot of work to achieve and that it was overshadowed because of what we all know happened,” Carmona said.

“Yes, it does make me angry and I think that hopefully from now they’ll talk about how we are world champions.”

When asked if she had spoken with Hermoso, Carmona confirmed she had not.

“We do have a close relationship, but I understand what she’s going through, so I haven’t talked to her,” the Real Madrid star added. “I understand that it’s a difficult situation. No one likes getting attention for having something like that happen.”

Carmona was one of more than 80 Spanish soccer players to sign a letter supporting Hermoso, which said that the players would not return to the national team “if the current leaders continue” in their posts.

Carmona said that she was still undecided if she would return now that Rubiales has resigned and head coach Jorge Vilda has been sacked – being replaced with Montse Tomé, the first woman to ever hold the role – as part of the shake-up in Spanish soccer.

“Well, there’s been more than Rubiales’ resignation, there’s also been other changes, we have a new coach,” Carmona said. “First of all, we have to wait for the call list and see if I’m on it or not and see what happens from there.

“Rubiales’ resignation is still very recent, it only happened last night, and so we have to discuss as a group and see what happens.”

On Monday, European soccer governing body UEFA released a statement acknowledging Rubiales’ resignation and the “the public discourse” surrounding him and his recent actions. It also thanked Rubiales for his many years of service to European football.

UEFA’s statement was released hours after the governing body hosted a group of women, including two-time Ballon d’Or Féminin winner Alexia Putellas, in a conference designed to create “an institutional yet independent voice of experience and expertise” on subjects including player welfare.

The board for women’s soccer was meeting for the first time since being created earlier this year.

Rubiales could still face charges for his actions at the Women’s World Cup final, and on Monday, Spain’s National Court admitted the complaint made against him by Spanish prosecutors for “the crimes of sexual assault and coercion.”

The admittance of the prosecutor’s complaint – part of the Spanish legal process – allows the court to begin gathering evidence, which it said involves requesting videos of the incident from news outlets.

WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi have both expressed their intentions to remain with the Phoenix Mercury next season and to play at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Mercury’s season ended on Sunday, as the team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Phoenix finished last in the league standings at 9-31.

As she prepares to enter the upcoming offseason as a free agent, Griner, who turns 33 in October, said she intends to sign with the Mercury.

“Phoenix is home. It’s where I’ve been,” Griner told reporters. “Me and my wife literally just got a place (here). This is it.”

Regarding the Paris Olympics next year, the two-time gold medalist said: “If I get the invite, I’m going to show up, of course.

“There’s no greater honor than playing for the USA, playing for your country. I’ve got some really good memories with Team USA, so I would love the chance to continue that.”

Griner returned to play with the Mercury this season after she was freed in December from wrongful detention in Russia. Earlier this year, she said that she will “never go overseas again” to play basketball in light of what happened, unless it’s for the Olympics.

The nine-time All-Star added that she plans to use the upcoming offseason to get herself properly conditioned for the 2024 season.

“Just conditioning, getting my weight where I want it and not trying to do that in the middle of the season, pretty hard, pretty tough,” Griner said.

“Being able to take this first offseason that I have now I’ve never had before, where I could actually work on myself – my game, body, conditioning, everything, studying the game and not having to worry about what my team needs from me if I was overseas. Now, I can just worry about what I need to do for my team here this whole offseason.”

Griner got visibly emotional when asked about the death of Bill Richardson, the former Democratic governor of New Mexico who traveled to Russia to discuss Griner’s possible release with Kremlin officials.

“That was very tough,” Griner said. “Really good man. So much good. So much good. I owe a lot to him.”

Taurasi, meanwhile, will be 42 next season, and she is under contract for the Mercury in 2024. During the season, Taurasi became the first player in WNBA history to score 10,000 career points.

She told reporters that she’s excited about what the Mercury will do in free agency and with salary cap space.

“I’ve got another year on my contract and I’m definitely going to fulfill that,” Taurasi said.

Regarding the Olympics, she said that she’ll “be doing my best to hopefully be on that team.”

“If I’m lucky enough to be on that team, I’ll be ready to represent my country,” Taurasi added.

Hurricane Lee increased in size late Monday in the Atlantic and still is expected to grow significantly this week, forecasters say – growth that will help determine the extent of its impact on the US Northeast, Bermuda and Canada.

Lee, a Category 3 hurricane on Tuesday morning, was centered about 575 miles south of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

Though it could strengthen slightly Tuesday, it is then expected to weaken, grow in size and speed up after it makes its northward turn in the coming days.

Even if it’s weaker, a larger storm could impact a more widespread area. A larger Hurricane Lee, then, is more likely to affect the Eastern Seaboard – even if not through a direct landfall.

Tuesday morning, Lee’s hurricane-force winds extended 80 miles from its center – up 5 miles from evening. Tropical storm-force winds extended 185 miles from its core.

Those tropical storm-force winds could extend over 300 miles from Lee’s center later this week, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in a Monday storm briefing.

“It is still expected to significantly increase in size, and hazards will extend well away from the storm center by the end of the forecast period,” the hurricane center said Monday night.

Lee’s core is expected to turn north by midweek and pass near, but west, of Bermuda late Thursday and Friday, and could deliver strong winds, rain and high surf to the island territory, forecasters said.

It’s too soon to know the extent of the impacts Lee might have along the Northeast US and Atlantic Canada late this week and this weekend, the hurricane center said.

“However, because wind and rainfall hazards will likely extend well away from the center as Lee grows in size,” people in those areas should monitor the forecast for the next several days, the hurricane center said.

Regardless of its final track, the storm will send big waves to a growing area of the East Coast throughout the week as it tracks northward. This will cause coastal erosion, dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents at beaches.

Dangerous surf was already happening along the Florida coast and on many of the far eastern Caribbean islands as well as the British and US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Hispanola, the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Bermuda.

Rip currents have already killed 71 people in the US this year, preliminary National Weather Service data shows. Three people in New Jersey died in rip currents kicked up in the wake of Hurricane Franklin last week.

Lee, which was a Category 1 storm Thursday, intensified with exceptional speed into rare Category 5 status as it moved west across the Atlantic, more than doubling its wind speeds to 165 mph in just a day.

Dangerous flooding in the city of Leominster, Massachusetts, has trapped residents, submerged vehicles and sent water gushing through the streets as storms bring the threat of flooding across portions of the Northeast, officials say.

Leominster, a city in central Massachusetts about 40 miles northwest of Boston, is under a local state of emergency due to flooding “all over the city,” Mayor Dean Mazzarella said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Heavy rains that began Monday and are expected to continue across western portions of Massachusetts overnight have prompted flood or flash flood warnings in the area through Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. The region had seen between 6 to 9 inches of rain as of Monday night.

“Life-threatening” flash flooding was expected across the impacted parts of Massachusetts as well as portions northeastern Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island, the agency said, noting as many as 8 inches of rain had fallen around Providence by Monday night.

In Leominster, videos posted on social media show vehicles submerged by dark flood waters on a highway. Elsewhere, footage shows emergency vehicles and other drivers trying to navigate a street overtaken by rapidly-moving water as rain continues to fall. Another video shows water filling a gaping sinkhole in the middle of a street lined with houses.

Fire crews from the nearby town of Hubbardston responded to Leominster to assist with emergency response and reported that several people had been trapped in the area.

Schools in the area will be closed Tuesday due to the flooding, Leominster Public Schools announced.

The mayor urged residents to remain inside and avoid venturing out.

“Trust me when I tell you, if you do not have to go out – don’t,” Mazzarella said in a Facebook live stream Monday evening, “There are very few streets that aren’t flooded.”

National parks are really into big things, especially super-large landmarks.

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal safeguards the southern slopes of Mt Everest, the world’s highest peak at 8,849 meters (29,032 feet).

Venezuela’s Canaima National Park is home to Angel Falls, the world’s tallest waterfall at 979 meters (3,212 feet).

Sprawling across 400 square kilometers (154 square miles), Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia boasts the globe’s largest religious monument and largest ancient ruined metropolis.

But the largest thing about national parks may be their colossal size.

Larger than Delaware and roughly the same size as Wales, Yellowstone was considered huge when it became the world’s first national park in 1872.

However, an explosion of new protected areas in the late 20th and early 21st centuries put the older generation of national parks to shame when it comes to size. Some of the newbies are more than 50 times bigger than Yellowstone.

Here’s a look at the largest parks on each continent.

North America

Sprawling across nearly half of the world’s largest island, Northeast Greenland National Park is currently the globe’s single largest national park and biggest land-based protected area.

It’s hard to wrap your brain around its sheer size – 972,000 square kilometers (375,000 square miles) – which makes it larger than all but 29 of the United Nations’ member states.

The vast Greenland Ice Sheet comprises most of the park, but there’s also a long, rugged coastline that’s home to musk oxen, polar bears and many other Arctic creatures.

The best way to reach the park from Ittoqqortoormiit, the nearest town, “is by boat during the summer, in the winter by dogsled with our local hunters,” says Mette Pike Barselajsen of Nanu Travel, which offers guided trips to East Greenland.

South America

South America’s largest parks are found in the continent’s least-populated regions – the Amazon and Patagonia.

The reigning champ is Chiribiquete National Park in southeast Colombia (43,000 square kilometers/17,000 square miles). Protecting a massive tract of Amazon rainforest, tepui flat-topped mountains and wild rivers, the park looks like something out of “Jurassic Park” rather than a modern landscape.

There may not be dinosaurs, but the place is inhabited by other apex predators.

Called the “Maloca (Longhouse) of the Jaguar” by the local indigenous people, Chiribiquete flaunts a wide range of flora and fauna, as well as more than 75,000 ancient rock paintings, some of them rendered more than 24,000 years ago.

Colombia Oculta offers flightseeing trips over Chiribiquete’s truly “lost world.”

Australia

Australia’s largest nature reserve is also brand new. Covering 36,000 square kilometers/13,900 miles, the Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert National Park was declared in 2021 to protect the starkly beautiful desert landscapes of far northern South Australia.

It includes one of the world’s largest dune fields, acacia woodlands, spinifex grasslands, gypsum outcrops and playa (dry) lake chains. As well as more than 150 bird species, the park provides an arid habitat for small marsupials (many of them nocturnal), dingoes, feral camels and the perentie (Australia’s largest lizard).

Currently, the park has no visitor facilities and no paved roads; anyone who ventures into the Simpson Desert on their own should be well-versed in wilderness survival. Outback Spirit Adventures offers 14-day guided tours in Mercedes Benz G Wagons. Due to extreme heat, the park is closed during the antipodean summer.

Asia

Despite being the largest continent, Asia has fallen behind in the race for the world’s largest national parks.

Established in 2021, China’s Sanjiangyuan National Park is now the largest (123,100 square kilometers/47,529 square miles), a colossal chunk of the Tibetan Plateau that nurtures the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lantsang rivers.

Rugged and remote, the highlands harbor a range of rare, endangered or vulnerable animal species, from snow leopards and Himalayan wolves to the wild yak and Alpine musk deer. The park also includes cultural sites.

Elevated Trips offers guided journeys through Qinghai Province that include forays into the Sanjiangyuan region.

Europe

Given its small size compared to many other continents, many of Europe’s largest parks seem puny compared to the others. But that doesn’t mean they’re actually small.

Far and away the largest is Iceland’s Vatnajökull National Park (14,141 square kilometers/5,460 square miles). The reserve personifies the island’s “fire and ice” ethos, a wonderland of volcanoes and hot springs, fjords and glaciers that’s easy to explore on your own (camping, hiking and birdwatching) or via guided trips.

Africa

Some of the world’s highest and biggest sand dunes are the centerpiece of western Namibia’s Namib Naukluft National Park, Africa’s largest at 49,768 square kilometers (19,216 square miles).

The dunes – some of them more than 200 meters (656 feet) high – were created by millennia of waves and onshore winds depositing sand on the world’s oldest desert.

Easy to explore with your own vehicle, the main park road leads to the vibrant Sossusvlei dunes and photogenic Dead Vlei with its ghostly forest. Hot-air balloon flights offer a bird’s-eye-view of the awesome desertscape.

In addition to its legendary dunes, Namib Naukluft is renowned for its desert canyons, shipwrecked spangled seacoast, as well as flora and fauna that have adapted to one of the Earth’s most arid places.

Although it’s not a national park per se, Africa’s largest protected zone is the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (520,000 square kilometers/200,000 square miles) formed in 2012 to safeguard adjoining parts of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola and Namibia.

Antarctica

The bottom end of the planet doesn’t boast any national parks yet, but the Antarctic’s only official nature reserve is the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area.

Created in 2016, the reserve spans 1.55 million square kilometers (600,000 square miles) and is home to millions of polar animals including penguins, whales, seals and seabirds.

Yet, at some point in the future, the entire continent could become the Antarctic World Park. At 14.2 million sq km (5.5 million square miles), that would make it around 10 times larger than any other reserve.

“During the 1980s, NGOs (nongovernment organizations) promoted the idea that Antarctica should be designated a world park,” says Claire Christian, executive director of the Antarctic & Southern Ocean Coalition. “But this didn’t occur.”

Instead, the Antarctic Treaty nations signed a new international agreement called the Protocol on Environmental Protection that prohibits mining and established rules to minimize the environmental impact of tourism and scientific research activities in Antarctica.

Japan’s flag carrier has started a year-long trial of a service that allows travelers to book a set of clothes — covering different sartorial styles and seasons — and receive it at their hotel upon arrival. At the end of the stay the clothes are returned, to be washed and cycled back into the system.

Called Any Wear, Anywhere, the service runs through the end of August 2024 and Japan Airlines says it could cut carbon emissions by reducing the weight carried by its airplanes.

Any Wear, Anywhere estimates that about 22 pounds (10 kilograms) saved in luggage equals about 16.5 pounds (7.5 kilograms) saved in emissions — the equivalent of running a hair dryer 10 minutes a day for 78 days.

“I love traveling and I’ve been to many foreign countries, but I’ve always dreaded dragging around luggage or doing laundry abroad,” says Miho Moriya, who came up with the idea and manages Any Wear, Anywhere for Sumitomo, the Japanese company that handles reservations, deliveries and laundering of the clothes.

“When traveling, the three most important things for me are accommodation, food and clothing,” she adds. “When we travel abroad, there are hotels and restaurants that provide lodging and food on site, but not clothing. Why do we have to bring our clothes from home?”

Apparel for all seasons

Moriya submitted the idea for the service through an internal entrepreneurial challenge within her company, and she says that once it was approved, after a delay due to the pandemic, it took “many tries” to find an airline that was willing to support it.

Users of the service log onto the website and choose from a few options — women or men’s clothing; which season they’re for; smart or casual styling; the number of tops and bottoms; and dates for pickup and return. Their selections will be waiting for them at the hotel, for prices that range between $34 and $48 for the whole rental period.

All garments are either pre-owned or sourced from company overstock, although users can’t see this information about their selection. The service has been running since the start of July, and Moriya says that the response has been overwhelmingly positive. “We have requests from all over the world and over 115 countries in total, even though we’re not doing any kind of promotion,” she says, adding that the United States and Australia are the countries with the largest number of users.

The true impact of the trial will only be revealed at the end, once Japan Airlines tallies the weight savings and calculates the exact reduction in emissions. “We have to see the final results before we can say if this service is sustainable or not,” says Moriya, adding that the calculations will factor in the emissions produced by the deliveries of the clothes and the laundering.

Cutting weight, cutting emissions?

Weight reduction is a proven way to save fuel and reduce emissions, and it’s been factored in by aircraft manufacturers and airlines for a long time, for example by designing lighter passenger seats or replacing heavy paper manuals with tablets. Even small changes can have a large impact: when Qantas redesigned its tableware for first and business class to be just 11% lighter, the company says it started saving 1.1 million pounds (535 metric tons) of fuel per year.

However, Japan Airlines must be able to see a statistically significant reduction in baggage weight, says Gary Crichlow, an aviation analyst at consulting firm AviationValues. “Should they determine whether passengers are indeed traveling with less baggage,” he adds, “they must next determine whether there is a causal link to the initiative.”

Once that’s proven, the challenge would be to ensure that the lower weight actually translates into reduced fuel consumption. “What matters from an emissions standpoint is how much fuel is burnt hoisting the total weight over the aircraft into the air and keeping it there until it lands in Japan,” he says.

“It doesn’t matter whether the weight comes from passengers, bags, cargo, crew, or catering. As aircraft real estate is highly valuable, there will always be an economic incentive to offset the reduced passenger baggage weight with additional revenue-generating belly cargo. That may not necessarily be a bad thing from a holistic point of view, if it results in the most efficient use of the aircraft’s cargo capacity. But it would appear to run contrary to the stated aim of the initiative. Therefore, transparency as to the real weight saved per flight (if any), and fuel consumption reduced as a result, will be key.”

Nina Gbor, a sustainable fashion expert and educator, thinks the project is a positive step. “Often people buy new clothes just for their holiday and business trips, so this service will reduce this unnecessary clothing waste and the virgin resources used in making new clothing. It’s also making use of excess stock and pre-owned apparel that might have typically gone to landfill or incinerated.

“Extending the life of clothes by just nine extra months of active use reduces carbon, water and waste footprints by around 20-30% each.”

Gbor believes that the initiative should be embraced by more airlines. “With global flights projected to reach 32.4 million passengers in 2023, the clothing rental model should be replicated by other airlines around the world if they are serious about supporting the circular economy and achieving sustainability goals,” she says.

Moriya shares this ambition and hopes to expand the partnership with Japan Airlines to other members of the OneWorld Alliance, which includes American Airlines, British Airways and Quantas – and then to other alliances. “Our ultimate goal is to expand the service to all over the world,” she says.

It turns out that luxury London hotels are like buses. You wait ages for one to open, and then two, or in this case several, come at once.

After being beset by delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 1 Hotel Mayfair, the first London location for the 1 Hotels brand opened its doors in July, the new Mandarin Oriental Mayfair is scheduled to open later this year, while Raffles Hotels and Resorts is launching Raffles London at The OWO in the coming weeks.

And this month, the UK capital is welcoming another of Asia’s most renowned hotel groups this month, as The Peninsula finally arrives in the city, over 30 years after beginning its search for a London location.

Grand opening

On September 12, the red blindfolds covering the eyes of the Chinese stone lions at the main entrance of the Peninsula London, which overlooks popular landmark Wellington Arch, were due to be removed in a special ceremony.

And the hotel’s uniformed pages, another iconic characteristic of the Peninsula brand, will be on hand to welcome its first guests.

With 190 rooms and suites, 25 luxury residences, a rooftop restaurant, and a spa with a 25-meter indoor swimming pool, The Peninsula London is undoubtedly one of the most highly-anticipated properties in the UK capital, with rates per night beginning at £1,300 (around $1,621).

While it may be one of many hotels opening in London this year, the launch of a purpose-built five-star hotel in the city is almost unheard of these days, with many other brands opting to convert existing buildings instead.

“We’re proud to be coming to London, to work alongside our illustrious neighbors. It’s a very exciting time for the capital.”

Picturesque location

Situated close to Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park Corner, the hotel has been designed to “gracefully harmonize with the heritage buildings of Belgravia,” which is known for its Georgian and Regency architecture.

The huge building holds an internal courtyard where those arriving by car can enter discreetly. Designed by landscape architect Enzo Enea, the cobblestone courtyard features wisteria vines and two 120-year-old Japanese maples.

As is typical with Peninsula hotels, the London offshoot will provide guests with a luxury fleet of cars, including a vintage Rolls-Royce Sedanca de Ville from 1935, a Rolls-Royce Phantom II, a Bentley Bentayga and an electrified Austin Healy taxi.

However, it’s also among the few Peninsula properties without one of the helipads the brand has become synonymous with, apparently due to its proximity to Buckingham Palace.

Luxurious rooms

The hotel’s rooms and suites, which range from 51 to 59 square meters to 549 to 635 square feet in size, all feature original artwork with a Royal gardens theme, luxurious bathrooms and dressing rooms with built-in wardrobes, raised luggage racks, and a nail dryer.

Each has a special valet box near the door, where guests can leave laundry, or anything they want removed from their room, and staff can fill with newspapers or room service items without disturbing them.

Some of the rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows, showcasing impressive views of Wellington Arch and Hyde Park, while others look out onto the courtyard.

PenChat, a 24-hour private e-concierge service, is also available to guests. The bespoke staff uniforms are the work of British designer Jenny Packham.

The hotel has been designed to “service both visitors and local residents,” with a coffee shop, apparently one of the requirements negotiated during the sale, and a retail arcade, located on the premises.

“We believe that the investment we have made into this project, the dedication of our people and the project teams we have worked with, and the quality and the attention to detail that we have strived for, will make this a unique hotel that we believe will stand out not only in London but globally, and will be one of the most important hotels in our group for generations to come,” Clement Kwok, managing director and CEO of The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited, owner and operator of The Peninsula, said in a statement.

Dining destination

Inspired by British aviation and motorsport, the hotel’s rooftop restaurant Brooklands get its name from the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, and is among its stand out additions.

Led by renowned chef Claude Bosi, Brooklands, which opens in late September, features an automotive-themed bar, airplane style doors, and an overhead model of the Concorde.

Ground-floor establishment Canton Blue is themed on the story of the Keying, a Chinese trading junk ship which sailed between China and Britain during the 1800s, and honors the “spice-trade union of Asian and British cultures.”

The intimate restaurant has an upper deck area, along with a downstairs cocktail bar that serves up sophisticated cocktails and artisanal teas.

Meanwhile, afternoon tea is served, alongside live music, in the stunning lobby restaurant, The Lobby, which features high ceilings, hand painted murals and crystal chandeliers.

“At The Peninsula London we wanted to create a new dining destination for Londoners and locals,” adds Vodusek, before explaining that both establishments have “their own unique design concepts, their own chefs, their own bars and completely different menu and atmosphere.”

The hotel’s spa, which offers various treatments, workshops and exercise classes, and holds a 25-meter indoor swimming pool will open later this year, along with a huge ballroom with capacity for up to 450 people and two elevators large enough to hold motorcars.

The Peninsula London is open for bookings from September 12.