London Luxury Hotel
Sep 20, 2017, 11:28 am
.Too many meals at numerous amazing restaurants in London & beyond
..Food wise pretty decent , similar to his NYC & COMO Cookhouse Dempsey , Singapore , etc ones .
Service was patchy but I am hopeful , teething issues .
FYI , JG the man himself , was in Singapore last week & over the weekend to oversee F1 meals trackside , etc ..
So we know he was not at the helm in person in London
Cannot fault him
Was about to do a mini TR but gathering thoughts . Also despite help from Aventine & Kage , have not figured out how to post photos except with a TR ( which you now see a start of below ) .
Last edited by FlyerEC; Sep 20, 2017 at 12:22 pm Reason: Typo , add info
Sep 20, 2017, 12:08 pm
The Connaught
Carlos Place London, GB W1K 2AL
The Connaught ; Aman Spa ; Jean Georges (7 Photos)
The Connaught
Dawn , Carlos Place
Some Aman Spa offerings , not the usual Aman ones
Traditional Wing , Fifth Floor , grand staircase & glass dome ceiling
Check In
Welcomed by the FOM who must have alerted the GM who showed up about immediately .
Coming from Buckingham Palace , least they could do ;)
.. so much for being " under cover " ..
Room
Stayed in a contemporary suite pre LMAQS - Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons ( LMAQS )
Had large enough bathroom with good fairly generous shower area - same level for easy stroll in :)
Wonder why only one vanity though .
In traditional room post LMAQS
Smallish bathroom with tiny step up shower " cubicle "
The welcome champagne along with what LMAQS gave me on departure - the delicious & pretty chocolate cake ( I hear very expensive too ) and lemon loaf
Service
The concierge team was very good - accommodating & patient - securing tickets for a musical , making numerous changes to restaurant reserve , etc
Housekeeping was uneven ; definitely no Aman , just because there is an Aman Spa on the premises does not mean it is all " Aman " standard .
One night , turn down came at 10 pm after we had dined downstairs ! We were looking at the bed wondering if Connaught was " 5 stars " , when housekeeping came a knocking ..
Jean Georges ' too was somewhat patchy .
Dining
Peach Candy Floss , Jean Georges
Delicious dessert !
We enjoyed Espelette and were disappointed that it is no more .
Thought Jean Georges was an addition not replacement .
We had most breakfasts there . While the food and menu was refreshing and quite excellent , the servings were rather inconsistent . Like one of us had portobello along with champignons , the other serving only had champignons . One morning saw us with 2 sausages, while the next day we got only one .
To compare with the his other new restaurant in Singapore , we ordered the fontina cheese and black truffle pizza .
Think we prefer the Singapore ones & cheaper too , even after price adjustments ( upwards of course ) since opening earlier in spring .
Really enjoyed the peach candy floss besides the presentation . Will order it again , fun eat too .
Were at the bar a few times and like it , felt quite at home . Made our drinks as we requested
We did not have time to try Hélène Darroze , also another FTer had told us it wasn't up to expectations .
Location
We like the location which is close to other restaurants we wanted to dine at .
The shops too .
For this visit , it was rather convenient but often prefer a quieter area .
Aman Spa
We thought as Amanjunkies we ought to at least visit the Aman Spa here once since we have not since its opening .
Having been to many other spas including the rather new Nemu ' s or numerous times at Puri , we wondered how we would receive this city one .
Well , we ended returning to this rather small spa and enjoyed treatments twice with 3 therapists . We declined the male specialists .
Down side was that non Aman products are now being used as posted earlier on another thread too .
Shall not go on about this .. perhaps should have stayed at Connaught in earlier years .
More of my photos posted here by Kagehitokiri #120
Luxury spa news, chitchat and review thread ...
[QUOTE=Kagehitokiri;28811761][/QUOTE]
Sep 20, 2017, 12:20 pm
The biggest win has not been the new restaurant, but The Connaught managing to steal The Lanesborough's pastry chef. The afternoon tea cakes are divine, and we now get them as part of our arrival.
Sep 20, 2017, 12:28 pm
Did get to enjoy some but not at tea ..
Even ended up having a breakfast and lounging in the bar by the entrance , not the famous Connaught Bar .
Seems I chose the HM ' s " corner " .
Just been eating at many , too many meals , restaurants .
Glad we listened to your suggestion about staying here .
Occupancy was running at 100 % so did not get preferred room on second stay , but at least they made a room available for us
. Seems quite normal to be busy even without LFW (We could not extend our stay here further and moved to The Halkin ) .Lobby was perpetually buzzing !
I somehow cannot edit my hotel review above , perhaps a glitch with the system .
Didn't realise that the Connaught Bar we enjoyed is one of the top bars in the world ! Not surprised
Hope it won't be swarmed now , it was just about full most of the time we were there with short waits for some at times .
Last edited by FlyerEC; Oct 8, 2017 at 3:48 pm
Oct 27, 2017, 10:40 am
Now it looks like that Waldorf Astoria returns to London in 2022....
Waldorf Astoria Tasked to Operate London's Admiralty Arch Hotel
Admiralty Arch Waldorf Astoria will house 96 hotel rooms and suites, and three high-end restaurants. There are also plans to build a rooftop bar, private meetings and event spaces, and spa. Luxury private residences and an exclusive private members club and other exclusive components will join the hotel within the building.
Work is already underway to restore the building's original features, and an experienced design team is in place, led by Michael Blair and David Mlinaric. Blair's work includes the restoration and extension of The Ritz, The Connaught and Claridge's hotels. Mlinaric's work includes The Royal Opera House, The Victoria & Albert Museum, The National Gallery and the British Residences in London and Paris.
http://www.luxurytraveladvisor.com/h...astoria-london
including:
http://news.waldorfastoria.com/index...oria-to-london
Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
Last edited by uggboy; Oct 27, 2017 at 11:07 am Reason: Clarity and added some details which might be of interest
Oct 27, 2017, 10:45 am
Oct 27, 2017, 10:53 am
We have stayed at The Bentley when it was part of WA and enjoyed our stay at the time, but this was around a decade ago. The Bentley today is run independently as a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts.
Interesting times for London in terms of new hotel openings ahead in the luxury space incl. the Peninsula, the 2nd Rosewood and the future Waldorf Astoria.
Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
Oct 27, 2017, 12:08 pm
Oct 27, 2017, 12:25 pm
Oct 28, 2017, 5:46 pm
Oct 28, 2017, 7:51 pm
cpp-luxury.com/en/why-so-many-of-the-announced-luxury-hotels-are-delayed_1185.html
ritz london/paris(/madrid?) exclusive trademarks expire 2018?
presume after MO madrid renovations complete theyll drop "ritz"
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Oct 29, 2017 at 8:24 am
Oct 28, 2017, 8:24 pm
Oct 29, 2017, 4:59 pm
Oct 29, 2017, 5:08 pm
https://hotel-development.marriott.com/brands/bulgari/