A London hotel refurbishment that’s more than just a lick of paint

When you hear about a hotel having a ‘refurbishment’ what do you think of…a new coat of paint? new curtains maybe? at a push new bedding? Well when I tell you about this particular hotel refurbishment forget all of that, I am talking about a FULL makeover…in fact pretty much a brand new hotel!

And what hotel is this? I hear you ask…well it’s the super, fantastic, amazing and downright wonderful St Ermin’s Hotel which is located right by St James Park in the desirable SW1 postcode. The beautiful, grade II listed building was closed for 4 months while teams of builders, architects and designers worked their magic behind the scenes to unveil a great 4 star deluxe product. This was credit crunch makeover either, they’ve spent a whopping £30 million taking care of every little detail from the magnificent ballroom to the fluffy white robes in every room.

The hotel already benefits from a great location, right by a St James Park underground station, many of London’s tourist attractions (Houses of Parliament/London Eye etc) are in walking distance and it’s right near our offices (ok so that’s probably not important to you). But now it is so much more than just a convenient location…

The first thing you can’t fail to notice when you walk up (if you’d been to the hotel before that is) is that there is no longer a car park greeting you, now there is a pretty garden area which is already starting to bloom. Worry not, if you are bring a car, they now have valet parking. The building itself is totally transformed with warm inviting creams, purples and greens…funky vases and pictures, comfy sofas and bouncy new carpets.

The rooms are spacious and comfortable, little touches make you feel a world away from the hustle and bustle of London from the robes and slippers in every room to the little bee shaped chocolate on your pillow to the White Company products in the powerful shower. All the rooms also have large flat screen TV’s, MP3 docking station, mini bar, 24 hour room service (with no tray charge…a rarity in London!) as well as all the usual hotel amenities. I doubt very much that you will be disappointed.

Whether you are staying at the hotel or not, you should try our their new restaurant, The Caxton Grill. The feeling of the restaurant is, like the rest of the hotel, very stylish. The food is modern European using locally sourced produce where possible, including fresh fish for the catch of the day which had been caught not 24 hours before serving. Look out for the kebabs…which are a far cry from your local take out, or try the very yummy strawberry desert, complete with Procesco and popping candy!

All in all you will be pleasantly surprised with this fantastic refurbishment, the service levels remain as high as they always were and the staff are very proud of their new hotel…as they should be!

Blond Boris’ Blue Barclays’ Bikes…

So… they have finally arrived, the much anticipated Boris Bikes are now joining forces with red buses and black cabs in completing the full spectrum of our colourful London Transport Network. Are you super excited? Can you simply not wait to hop on your bright blue bicycle complete with flashing front light and visit all your favourite sights across London? Or…are you a little more like me?

I, a London veteran, having lived here for almost three years and a devout cyclist am a tad skeptical. How can mere novices compete with the speed and agility of those of us who commute from south of the river every day? I’m not sure I fancy being stuck behind Maureen from Driving School’s cycling counterpart whilst they navigate their way through unchartered territory on TWO wheels.

Thankfully, I have a fellow hotel expert who IS an avid Boris Bike supporter and he was quick to shoot down my negativity with a list of all the amazing facts about BBs. Starting with the very basics, I was told not to look past how fantastic the nickname is – Boris Bike – (at this stage I wasn’t convinced), and how blue they are – a colour to be admired (umm…still not convinced). After further probing, we got down to the nitty gritty with little gems of insider knowledge such as: the BBs are very easy to use (as easy as an Oyster Card in fact) and very importantly, they provide that much needed escape from the depths of the London Underground at the same time as being cheaper than a gym membership on the exercise front. However, said fellow hotel expert’s favourite reason to love the Boris was that the BBs are soooo much better than the French ones (not that anyone has any intention of alienating our friends from o’er the channel, of course).

Armed with my new positive views on the Boris, I’m starting to see the fantastic benefits of being able to flash my little front light all the way from Westminster Cathedral, to the London Eye, over the Millennium Bridge to catch a glimpse of St Paul’s (stopping for a bite and maybe even a quick leg massage at The Grange St Paul’s), through Regent’s Park to admire Eros against the backdrop of bright lights at Piccadilly Circus before finishing the day with a spot of afternoon tea at Claridges. I can then place my blue Boris Bike back in its little docking station and get the tube back home sarff instead of negotiating the dark roads on my own Dawes Ladies’ Special. 

My positivity has now grown to such an extend that I think we should incorporate Boris Bikes into the London Hotel Experts Team as a kind of honorary member. Just imagine Dan, Alex, Nisha and Mr Duff touring around the capital saying hello to all the fabulous hotels this city has to offer.

Maybe we could even set a challenge to see who could Boris Bike it to the greatest number of hotels in a day. Who would be crowned victorious? Would it be Alex returning fresh at the end of a Marriott Marathon? Perhaps Dan would snatch victory after a scenic tour of a Hilton here and a Goring there? Maybe the sophisticated lady of the team, Ms Hirani, would be the deserving winner after countless quick hellos to her favourite classy venues?  Or would Mr Duff surprise us all with a chunky monkey charged surge across the finsh line?

I’ve laid down the gauntlet guys….who wins?….You decide!

The Great wheel of London’s yesteryear

Well, I’ve taken a leaf out of my colleague’s John’s book & have gone for a bit of an historical angle this morning! Strolling past the London Eye a couple of days back, I was suddenly reminded of London’s former ferris wheel…… What you say? A Ferris wheel in London before the London Eye? I don’t remember that, well, if you did you’d certainly have to be over a 100 years old sir.

Yes, a previous, and cruelly ignored piece of London history… back in 1894, as part of the Great Exhibition of London, the Earl’s Court great wheel stood 300 metres high (the London is 434m), and could carry over 1200 passengers at one time. Alas, the wheel, even though hugely popular at the beginning (queues all the way to brompton road squire), it became less popular and in 1907 took the last passenger before being demolished…. of course, it is the Earl’s Court exhibition centre which now proudly stands in its place.

A corker of a tale about the great wheel was that it was notoriously faulty. Passengers were always being victim to being stuck on the wheel, so much so that many a gentleman who would find themselves in the local pub until closing hours would often stumble home reporting to the missus that they ‘got stuck on the wheel’. On one particular night passengers were stuck in the upper cars of the wheel with no hope of the wheel moving! they spent the night there whilst coffee & sarnies were sent upwards – it wasn’t until the next morning that the fire brigade finally got the poor punters down!

So, next time you pass the majestical London eye, spare a thought for its former ferrisy friend! (although by the sounds of things the London eye is a tad more reliable!!

London runners from lastminute.com to cover 40 miles and visit 300-plus hotels for NSPCC fundraising event

London runners from lastminute.com to cover 40 miles and visit 300-plus hotels for NSPCC fundraising event

Two London hotel account managers for lastminute.com will run 40 miles and pass all of their 300-plus hotel partners on June 1st.

Martin Kleinman (35) and Dan Evans (30) hope to complete the mammoth run – starting near Scotland Yard at 7am – in under seven hours. Both are keen amateur runners and have completed other events for charity, including the London Marathon and the Royal Parks Half Marathon.

The pair are raising money for the NSPCC and have been joined by their hotel partners for sponsorship and support.
Fund-raising helpers from The Marriott Hotel group have created a money-cannot-buy auction package consisting of an unbelievable London luxury weekend, dining in Gordon Ramsay restaurants, staying in their luxury hotels, and trips to the London Eye and 25th anniversary show of Les Miserables included.

The package is to be auctioned on Ebay and similar auctions will follow once the Marriott package has been won.

The run will start in London’s Victoria Street opposite Scotland Yard near the Crowne Plaza St. James Hotel and the route will pass 300-plus hotels with staff and hoteliers cheering the guys on.

Radisson Edwardian hotels are providing ‘power breaks’, Hilton providing foot massages, and others organising “Mexican waves”. Some hoteliers have pledged to join them for part of the run – and there is even a stop scheduled for ice-cream in Park Lane!

Simultaneous events are taking place in both Paris and Amsterdam (by bicycle in Amsterdam!).

For more information: http://www.thelondonhotelexperts.com/june-1st-run/ 

EDITORIAL CONTACT: Mike Beardall, Oakfield Media on 01273 495619 or 07889 707807. E-mail: editor@mikebeardall.com

lastminute.com contact: Martin Kleinman on 0207 866 4212 (direct line) or 07824 691583. E-mail: mkleinman@lastminute.com