United Kingdom Travel Guide
Tags: Hotel Hype / London Hotels / → All Tags
A 'Whirlpool Hotel' is Coming to London
Here we were thinking that innovative hotel designs only work for the likes of Barcelona, but there’d be no chance of seeing them in hearty old London. And then we read this article about the latest hotel in the pipeline for the capital: the so-called "Whirlpool Hotel."
The Whirlpool Hotel is as yet unnamed but is being planned by US billionaire Stan Thomas, who's just won planning permission to build a £150m hotel in a vacant building in Trinity Square, opposite the Tower of London. And in the middle of the hotel, he’s going to build a courtyard, garden and a whopping glass atrium, which will look like a whirlpool from above.
Tags: Hotel Services / Hotel Openings / London Hotels / → All Tags
Authorities Ban Pillow Fights at the Bermondsey Square
Remember when we were all excited about the launch of the Bermondsey Square Hotel because it was promising pillow fights on its room service menu? Well stop getting excited, because the Nanny State of Great Britain has put a stop to that.
According to the hotel, they had one practice fight between consenting adults when the hotel was launched two weeks back, but then promptly got a call from Health & Safety telling them that they would have to stop the service. There were insurance issues too, apparently — to be sure, if some of those feathers had escaped the pillows, things could have gotten messy.
Of course, this could all be an elaborate PR stunt by the hotel; we say this because this photo which they just "happened to take" of the first-and-last fight looks a little staged (in fact, the room doesn't even look like one of the hotel rooms, which you can see here). But then again, we totally believe that H&S would put a stop to anything that looks like fun.
Tags: Hotel High Tea / London Hotels / → All Tags
Join the West End’s 1415th Birthday Party at the Westbury Mayfair
There's nothing like a nice afternoon tea at a London hotel. Nothing like a good cocktail, either. So we will be heading out next weekend to the Westbury Mayfair Hotel to partake in the West End Birthday Tea.
It's a bit of a tenuous celebration, to he honest: New West End Company, which runs the area around Oxford and Regent Streets, reckons it's the 1415th birthday of its retailers. There hasn't been a Selfridges since the Dark Ages, natch – they've just added together the ages of each of the shops (for those who really care, Hamley's is the oldest, at a grand 250 years old).
Tags: NYT Reviews / London Hotels / → All Tags
The New York Times Decides Sanctum Soho 'Looks Cheap'
Well, we went into London's brand new "rockstar hotel", The Sanctum Soho, and checked it out for ourselves — and we dug it. It was a cool concept, what with the teensy "Crash Pad" rooms meant to appeal to the just-here-for-the-night partiers, the always-open bar to appeal to the post-gig rockers, etc.
But the New York Times didn't really share our sentiments. To be exact, the Times writes in their The Moment blog:
When I stayed last week, I didn’t actually see any rock stars or groupies boozing in the roof garden. Instead, I saw a pair of older women with shiny leather purses the size of potato sacks checking in at the front desk.
Sigh. Yes, well, this happens. But the other big thing:
The real problem is that the hotel looks cheap. Maybe it was the diamante-studded door handles or the custard and rhubarb walls, the copper booths and red velvet chairs in Sanctum’s No. 20 Bar and Restaurant that had me thinking, “Two years of remodeling and this is rock-star luxury?” Some of the suites have white or black Rococo-inspired furniture that appears plastic, uninviting and uncomfortable. Other suites, most costing upwards of £350 per night, are dressed in gaudy mirror tiles and windows covered with curlicue decals for privacy.
Lovely. The only two things the reviewer did seem to like? The bathrooms — which are "superbly appointed," and the Crash Pads, the design and price (£175) of which the reviewer was diggin'.
Tags: Hotel Bars / London Hotels / Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Have Beer For Breakfast at London's Fox & Anchor
Boozing and hotels. They're both well up there on our list of things we love. But boozing in hotels isn't always as straightforward as it seems; sometimes it seems like a lot of effort to dress up and do it in a swish bar. And, frankly, most times we can't afford to do it from the minibar.
So the Fox & Anchor sounds like just our kind of place. It's a lovely old pub right in the heart of London (trendy/edgy Clerkenwell) that just happens to have six rooms above it.
And though it's "just" a pub, the rooms are a cut above; it's owned by Richard Balfour-Lynn, the man behind the Malmaison hotel chain. We could have worked this out, really, from the annoyingly chirpsy wordplay on the menu (ie, "Hops & Chops, Cuvees & Duvets").
Tags: Missoni Hotels / Edinburgh Hotels / Hotel Opening Dates / Scotland Hotels / Fashion Hotels / → All Tags
Get Psyched for the Debut of Missoni Hotels in June...in Scotland
Search the back of your closet for that Missoni piece you totally splurged on at a sale last year, because the first Missoni Hotels property is on the brink of throwing open its brightly-patterned doors in Edinburgh, Scotland.
It'll be all the colors and patterns your weary tourist eyes can handle in June, when the hotel opens and we finally get to see more than renderings of what looks to be a vibrant Italian fashion fantasyland plopped into Scotland.
The opening itself will be quite an imported spectacle, with Rosita Missoni herself cutting the ribbon to the 136-room property on the Scottish capital's historic Royal Mile. Not to mention that some of the furnishings are from her own home, and a majority of the rest are previews of the latest Missoni home lines, debuting at the hotel first.
So what's the nightly damage to your credit card for a room alone? A reasonable $268, considering that includes WiFi, laundering of 2 items of clothing, premium movies and a newspaper in the world's newest fashion hotel. Add another $22 if you'd like a Missoni breakfast delivered to your Missoni linen-otfitted bed. Here's hoping that even the room service features Missoni-branded toast and pats of butter.
[Photo: Hotel Missoni]
Tags: Britney Spears / Celebrity Scoop / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
What Britney Wants From The Dorchester Hotel in London
The Britney Spears comeback train will be taking its show across the pond next month for an eight-show stint at London's 02 Arena and someone at CBS News got a hold of the contract rider given to The Dorchester Hotel for when Brit checks in.
· A room that has "never" been smoked in at all.
· Humidifiers in all areas.
· A selection of the latest magazines.
· A fresh selection of flowers that she will then arrange herself.
· DVDs of her favorite Marilyn Monroe movies.
· Books. Ideally, topical chick lit novels.
· Lighting must be 100 watt bulbs - no low lighting.
· Running routes for nearby Hyde Park. Also, horse-riding opportunities.
· A list of different routes to the venue from the hotel to keep the paparazzi at bay.
Horse-riding opportunities? Flower-arranging? "Topical chick lit novels?" These are hysterical. Since Britney is planning on staying eight days and since the Dorchester is a legendary hotel for celeb breakdowns and panic attacks, we fully expect some drama to happen. Hopefully, for Britney's sake, it won't be too major.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Renovations / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Historic Hotels / → All Tags
Landmark London's Hip New Bar Keeps It a Bit Too Old-Fashioned
We've been wondering for the past couple of years why London appeared to have turned into a building site, and now the answer's clear: because every hotel in the capital seems to be going through a refurb, and every other landowner appears to be building a hotel.
The latest to unveil its new wares is the Landmark. It's spent £1m re-doing its restaurant and bar, and it opens tomorrow.
While the name has been sexed up (Cellars Restaurant has become the down-with-the-kids twotwentytwo), they've kept some of the original fittings — oak paneling and antique fireplaces — but, by the looks of things, tarted it up with chandeliers that look like jellyfish and rather dapper armchairs.
What we really like the sound of is the "Wine Library": a display case of wine running down one side of the bar. What we're less keen on is the sound of the cocktail menu which divides drinks up into those suitable "for him" and "for her." Chaps, we know you're a historic hotel and all, but some of us ladies like to choose our own drinks these days. Next thing we know, you'll be enforcing a dress code of tweed-n-pearls. And, um, no thanks.
Tags: Hotel Awards / London Hotels / Hyatt Hotels / Andaz Hotels / → All Tags
Why Andaz London Is the World's Best Hotel For 'Party People'
There's nothing quite like being right, is there? Since it opened, we've been loving Andaz London — and now, hotel booking website Trivago has joined the Andaz fanclub by naming it the best hotel in the world for "party people."
They reckon that Andaz has the best "design, atmosphere, location and style" for nightlife-minded visitors, as well as an "uncomplicated style and prime location." Meanwhile, the original Gansevoort in New York came in at a mere number 10.
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Join Samuel L. Jackson’s London Jaunt at The St. James's
Call us shallow, but we love staying in hotels where celebs have stayed, and we'd be even more excited if we were staying in one at the same time as a VIP. Imagine looking at Dita Von Teese over the brekkie table! That would rein in our buffet overindulgence if nothing else.
And although we wouldn’t advocate stalking or anything, there is one seriously cool celeb you could share the lift with if you book into the St. James's Hotel & Club in London during the second week of June. In fact, there's more than one, because said celeb, Samuel L Jackson, is proving said seriously cool credentials by booking up half the hotel for his mates — including Don Cheadle, Alice Cooper, Don Johnson, Natalie Cole, and the luscious Luke Wilson.
Tags: Deal or No Deal / London Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Rates Are Rosey at The Lanesborough For the Chelsea Flower Show
It's nearly time for the oh-so-English Chelsea Flower Show, "the ultimate event in the gardening calendar" as it so thrillingly self-defines. Lordy. How can we wait until May 19th, when it starts? And how will we survive when, four days later, it's all over?
Luckily, a couple of hotels in London are determined to assuage our pain and make the whole shebang a little more interesting. For the duration of the show (May 19-23), The Lanesborough is offering a "floral breakfast" complete with edible flowers, and "floral techniques" on offer throughout the premises (don't they usually have flowers and stuff anyway?). More excitingly, they're offering a special rate of £255 per night (minimum stay two nights, Friday to Sunday only, breakfast and VAT not included). At first we thought that was expensive. Then we looked up prices. That weekend, rooms start at £475. We soon shut up.
Meanwhile, just up Park Lane, Grosvenor House is offering two nights in a deluxe room, with breakfast, two tickets to the Flower Show and a rose-themed afternoon tea for two (to celebrate its 80th birthday, the hotel has created a rose which will be unveiled at the show). Rooms start from £605, including VAT, for the two nights. But seeing as you can get a room for £209 per night, that doesn't look like such a good deal to us. We'd go with the Lanesborough (if we weren’t skint and posing ourselves a totally academic question).
Tags: NYT Reviews / London Hotels / → All Tags
NYT 'Roughs It' at London's Rough Luxe
If you like your hotels with an oxymoronic twinge, London's Rough Luxe Hotel might be for you. The New York Times checked in to the buzzy boutique hotel for a review this weekend and, all things considered, seemed rather pleased with the property's unique flair.
If you'll recall, the hotel claims to be "half rough, half luxury," which translates into an "almost industrial" effect that's "like the interior of a guerrilla warehouse art gallery," explains the Times. Think distressed walls and salvaged furniture alongside posh linens and rainfall showerheads.
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