A gem of hotel which has recently undergone an extensive makeover, including the now much enhanced GBR restaurant. The hotel dates from 1908 and it remains a convivial and traditional place to stay (the Union Jack still flies above the hotel’s courtyard entrance), while the cocktail bar is as fine a venue as ever.
Hotel Location
Tucked away down a tiny alleyway off St James’s, home to such established names such as Locks and Co Hatters and Berry Brothers wine merchants. Jermyn Street (good for shirts and shoes) is close by and the hotel is convenient for Piccadilly (with the Royal Academy) and the West End. If you ask the doorman he can direct you to a hidden short cut to Green Park. And if you’re feeling flush/decadent head to the Caviar House and Prunier on Piccadilly.
Service and Facilities
On the button service – the staff know what the guests want and facilitate queries with understated efficiency and charm – ask for spare phone charger at 6am and one will be there in a flash. There’s a decent well equipped 24-hour gym, steam room and a treatment rooms with massages and facials from £35. Dukes bikes are available to hire and they will also prepare picnics to take to one of the London parks.
Rooms
The hotel has 90 rooms including five deluxe suites, nine junior suites and one stunning penthouse with a small balcony; there are three other room types, ranging from Dukes to Luxury. The recent refurbishment has meant new beds (greatly comfortable) and updated décor and rooms now feel thoroughly refreshed. All are elegant, subtle and have subtle, muted tones which blend easily with the antique furniture.
The gorgeous bathrooms feature Floris products. The bright and more feminine Duchess rooms are tailored to female guests. All rooms also have a Handy phone which acts as a city guide, mobile internet provider and phone.
Hospitality and Cuisine
The GBR – the Great British Restaurant – is now an all-day brasserie. It has had a makeover and is improved in look and layout from what was Thirty-Six restaurant, giving it much more eye-catching, Twenties-like appeal, with distressed mirrors, black and white photos, and a ‘bar’ where you can sit and eat too. Chef Nigel Mendham is luckily still in charge and his top-notch, well-tailored menu features dishes such as pressed English rabbit leg (£14.50), braised ox cheek (£21) and South coast with a shellfish stew (£23.50).
Afternoon tea is also available (from £42.50) and breakfasts are superb, with a full table service and dishes such as Cumberland sausage brioche and boiled egg and soldiers (£6). There’s a comfortable, classicly furnished sitting room on the ground floor and a canopy-covered Cigar and Cognac Garden. The nice bar, where Ian Fleming once downed his famous martinis, is presided over by the affably efficient Alessandro Palazzi. Cocktails aren’t cheap (from £17) but they are worth it.
