W1J 8LT Travel Guide
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The May Fair Was a Hit With the Celebs Last Night
Last night was quite the starfest for the May Fair Hotel last night. 50 Cent was staying there, in between driving round London in a Rolls Royce and racking up £75k bar bills.
Footballers Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand were there as well – they produced the film Fiddy was there to promote. And so was Mel B, who was in town for the launch party of British Airways’ direct London-Vegas flights.
Looks like Mel is on the hotel’s ambassador scheme which lets celebs stay at hugely reduced rates in return for plugging it and being photographed at it. And boy does this woman give them their money’s worth. Not only did she step out in two spangly dresses (she hit the film premiere before the BA party), but last time she was there, she was photographed groping her friend in the bar. Nice work lady! Something tells us she’s got a free bed for life there. We like to think it’s the pink Schiaparelli suite.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Services / Private Dining / Luxury Hotels / London Hotels / → All Tags
The May Fair Has Private Nobu Dining, But It Will Cost You
Just in case you were worried that its trendy crown might be slipping since Fashion Week ended, the May Fair London has come up with a rather swanky restaurant partnership: getting Nobu to do in-room catering.
It’s probably out of the budget for most people – it’s Nobu, for a start, and it's being done privately, after all. But if you do have a spare £1500 to swing for the cheapest suite, plus £70pp for the food (that's the lunch menu - it goes up to £120 for dinner), you’ll get a “bespoke private dining experience” as it’s made for you and up to 120 of your friends in one of the May Fair’s signature suites (our favourite is the pink Schiaparelli).
Tags: Fashion Week Hotels / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
The May Fair Has A Mystery Gift For Fashionistas
Another six months, another London Fashion Week – in fact, it’s the LFW 25th anniversary. This time, as last, we’re going to be hoping the May Fair Hotel throws up some real celeb sightings over the next few days. Let’s hope that, unlike last time, this round we won’t be disappointed – because we’re getting pretty bored of Peaches Geldof by now.
We’ll let you know next week who’s around – but until then, it’s not too late to book your own Fash Week stay – the hotel is running a London Fashion Week Experience package for us mortals. That gets you a King Superior room, breakfast, a free cocktail, a copy of The File (to you and me, that’s the official LFW guide) and a mystery “gift from the hotel”, which we’re hoping isn’t the chance to share the bar with Ms Geldof.
The package costs £249, and seeing as rooms start at £220 anyway, that doesn’t sound like a rip-off to us. Though it probably depends what the mystery gift is. Us, we’re crossing our fingers it’s a visit from David Gandy.
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Fashion Week Celebs Thin On the Ground at the May Fair
You may not have noticed (we barely have, to be honest) but London Fashion Week is on at the moment. But while the May Fair has been designated the official LFW hotel, it doesn't seem to be blasting the rest of the capital when it comes to celeb stakes. Erin O’Connor was spotted in the bar on Monday (good call) but Nicola Roberts (the ginger one from Girls Aloud) was the only other big (ahem) name the hotel could come up with.
Tags: Hotel Videos / London Hotels / YouTube / → All Tags
The May Fair's Youtube Channel is Actually Watchable
In their everlasting, always admirable and at times embarrassing quests to reach out to the "Facebook Generation," hotels often venture onto the interwebs to create blogs and Twitters and what have you. On occasion, we rip on them when they're done poorly -- who wants to read a blog full of lame plugs for a hotel or watch a YouTube channel full of commercials? -- but sometimes they do it up right and warm our hearts.
The latter is the case with the May Fair Hotel's YouTube Channel (hooray! We're saying nice things!) You'll find all kinds of vids that a potential guest of the hotel might want to watch: an awesome foray into the penthouse suite, a one-on-one sesh with the hotel's personal trainer, and even an exclusive interview with the mindnumbingly boring Paris Hilton (fun to watch if you want to get a taste of the friendliness of the staff; exceptionally lovely even when faced with a Hilton sister).
We especially dug the video footage of the rooms -- like the Bamboo Suite, above.
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This Leap Year, Ladies Can Utilize the Proposal Butler
To celebrate the tradition of women being "allowed" to propose on February 29th (as it is not recognized by the British legal calendar), London's May Fair Hotel is offering a "Leap Year Proposal Package" encouraging young ladies to take the romantic reins this year.
This is very similar to the proposal package that Kimpton Hotels is offering stateside, only a tad bit pricier and well, that one doesn't come with the services of a Proposal Butler. Yes, we said Proposal Butler.
Tags: London Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Another Reviewer Enjoys Luxury at the May Fair London
While the UK Times reviewer might've enjoyed a stay at the newly refurbished Radisson May Fair Hotel just a couple of months ago, rival paper the Guardian had to have a go this time. And rather than complaining about dry scrambled eggs at breakfast, reviewer Tom Robbins had a small rave about one of the most well-known (expensive) hotels in London. He was plenty pleased just with the view inside his own rom:
There's the marble floor, winged pink leather chair, an entire wall covered in pink cowhide, a fire that comes on at the touch of a remote control, and a huge freestanding bath with waterproof TV.
Furthering our suspicion that Robbins doesn't get out much, he only almost complains about the lobby design (it's Asian-influence style is a bit unoriginal) but everything redeems itself simply by appearing luxurious enough. And who are we to complain anyway: the May Fair will definitely look fancier than our own pad. Robbins does reiterate that the latest Radisson overhaul has made a 400-room slightly decaying monster into a nearly boutique style place--if you can say that when there are 400 room-keys hanging behind reception--but the prices still match the traditional May Fair image, especially for a "signature suite" like the one Robbins scored.
He also gives the tip that their website occasionally offers double rooms from as low as 155 pounds ($300) which is definitely a bargain for the most expensive property on the British Monopoly gameboard.
[Photo: TripAdvisor]
Related Stories:
· May Fair Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]
· May Fair London Gets a New $140 Million Look [HotelChatter]
· Checking In: The Mayfair [Guardian UK]
Tags: London Hotel Reviews / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Breakfast Not So Fair at the May Fair
To us, May Fair means the most expensive property on the British edition of Monopoly. And with this in mind, we'd be expecting big things from the May Fair Hotel in London, especially since we know it's just been given a $140 million renovation after being taken over by Radisson.
This week the UK times saw fit to review the May Fair and the results sound pretty positive. As we'd expect, they gave the thumbs up to the swish new style and décor, and were particularly impressed at the framed antique kimono hanging in their room. The convenient location and the popular bars within the hotel were also much appreciated. Where the May Fair fell down for this reviewer was at breakfast:
My dry, lukewarm scrambled egg was served on a plate that was splattered with a brown liquid on the underside. The orange juice was not freshly squeezed and we had to order tea twice.
Nobody's perfect; even the reviewer was kind enough to suggest that it could be first-month-open teething problems. But then again, is it ever really possible to get a good breakfast in England?
[Photo: Onama]
Related Stories:
· May Fair London Gets a New $140 Million Look [HotelChatter]
· May Fair Hotel review [Times UK]
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· May Fair Hotel reviews
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