London : Sleep
In eclectic, eccentric London, sleek design hotels rub shoulders with chandelier-strewn grandes dames, bijou boutique residences and a plethora of global chains that offer comfortable but homogenous lodgings with a corporate bias (needless to say, the latter don’t get much of a look-in here). Some of London’s oldest hotels are also the most beautiful and atmospheric. Claridge’s, Brown’s and The Ritz conjure up a glamorous, old-world feel reminiscent of empire and PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster. Each has proudly preserved the quintessentially British tradition of afternoon tea: their tea salons are destinations in their own right. The grand hotels constantly vie for poll position, with ongoing renovation (in many cases literally re-gilding the lily), competitive service (offering personal butlers, e-butlers even, and striving for the highest staff-to-guest ratio) and discreet modernization (WiFi here, bluetooth there, all concealed behind a façade of tradition); all are seemingly out to win the title for the biggest, tallest, longest, most expensive presidential suite. The upshot is excellent service in the plushest of surroundings – at a price (London’s hotels were recently declared the most expensive in Europe).Intimate boutique hotels range from the ultra-modern (The Hempel, The Baglioni) to those bursting with period charm (Hazlitt’s, Miller’s Residence). But the notion of a ‘boutique’ hotel is as much about sensibility as it is about size, as Soho Hotel, part of husband-and-wife duo Tim and Kit Kemp’s ever-expanding empire has proved. It may have 91 rooms, but it also bears all the boutique hallmarks, thanks to the Kemps’ quirky and charming English-style design. Meanwhile, as the concept of luxury is ever de-valued by the ubiquity of Frette bed linen, pillow menus and Molton Brown toiletries, the top hotels are developing a gap in the luxury market: the personal touch – in décor (with, for example, Marilyn Monroe’s shoes in one room of San Domenico House) and service (Andaz has banished hand-tucked-behind-the-back formality entirely).
Another emerging trend is for self-contained apartments with 24-hour room service – perfect for private types who’d need a disguise just to get down the hotel corridor, or indeed who’d prefer to walk it naked. Apartments are available at The Hempel, but No. 5 Maddox Street, which pitches itself as a ‘hotel alternative’, offers the best value, location and flexibility in terms of length of stay.
London’s design hotels (The Sanderson, St Martin’s Lane, Andaz) – unfairly renowned for employing models for staff and (therefore) for lofty service – all clamour for the holy trinity of the hotel industry: the hottest restaurant, the coolest bar and the hippest guests. Not that the hip hotel bar is exclusive to contemporary hotels: the classics alike know a good branding exercise when they see one. London’s hotel bars are often more beautifully designed, and attract more beautiful people, than the rooms themselves – see and be seen at The Langham’s Artesian Bar, Claridge’s Bar, Soho Hotel’s Refuel and The Sanderson’s Long Bar. But to really generate a scene, the haute hotels are starting to throw wild parties, for example at St Martin’s Lane (with the arrival of members’ club Bungalow 8), Haymarket Hotel, right, (with their drag-queen pool parties), and Claridge’s and Andaz (with regular sceney parties). Londoners themselves have not been beyond temptation at four in the morning when they can’t remember where they live and there’s the promise of a fry-up breakfast in a crisp king-size bed. Benders in hotels are good for business.
The rates quoted here range from the price of a standard double in low season to a one-bedroom suite in high season (from May to September; Christmas and Easter are also peak times).
