Make a Knight of it

AN immaculately coiffed guest sashays out of the massive doors of the Mandarin Oriental, past the top-hatted, red-coated doorman, revealing a glimpse of the marbled hall inside. Reopened about a year ago after being ravaged by a fire in June 2018, this turreted Edwardian icon is the pinnacle of centuries of Knightsbridge’s hospitality—but its gilded grandeur is a far cry from the timbered inns that peppered the area in the past. After all, this was one of London’s most infamous suburbs,