Claridge's - London

100   Recommended
Deluxe King
March 5, 2010 by EXPERT

 Map | 1 Review | 100% Recommended
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Claridge's
 Map | 1 Review | 100% Recommended

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Deluxe King

Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
Stats
Room
Deluxe King

Claridge’s in London proved to be a very nice experience overall. Typically, we like to stay in more modern hotels, but Claridge’s proved to be a nice mix of tradition, as well as more contemporary art deco. We had also considered staying at The Connaught, The Berkeley, and Brown’s, but were pleased with our choice. The hotel has a grand, yet smaller feel and is in a superb location in Mayfair, arguably one of the best neighborhoods in London (close to shopping and a good base for accessing the city). Having booked through the Virtuoso program, the included amenities are worthwhile and well-delivered, although no upgrade was available at check-in.

Hotel Exterior:

Lobby:

Hallways - 7th floor is much nicer:

Hallways - Lower Floors:

Room

We stayed in what I believe is one of the nicest “Deluxe King" rooms overlooking the inner part of the hotel. The room itself was located on the 7th floor (top floor), which is accessible via stairs or elevator from the 6th floor. This 7th floor is more up-to-date and has nicer finishings in the hallway as compared to the lower floors. The room was extremely spacious and Claridge’s has some of the largest rooms in London. As you can see from the pictures, there is a sizeable entry foyer, sitting area, small dressing room, as well as a nice art deco bathroom with double sinks, tub, and rainhead shower. The room was fairly well maintained, although the large king bed is actually two mattresses pushed together and one mattress seemed much older than the other. We were brought fresh fruit each day during our stay, as well as fresh flowers on arrival – a nice touch and these small amenities truly distinguish this hotel from others. One note on the housekeeping staff (both on making up the room and evening turndown): I believe this hotel has the best housekeeping staff/procedures in place – each day and evening, the staff went through a rigorous room cleaning and turndown and replaced every towel, toiletry, garbage, folded all the robes, etc. Pratesi bed linens proved very comfortable and were ironed or replaced with fresh linens each day. Overnight complimentary shoe shine was well executed and shoes were delivered in a nice wicker basket and wrapped – would have been nice to have shoe trees (even plastic) placed in the shoes like I have seen at some other properties.

Room (Notice the nice entry foyer and sitting area):

Welcome Amenity:

Fresh Fruit each day:

Dining

We ate in the Foyer Restaurant for our daily breakfast as well as Afternoon Tea. The Foyer is a very nice, traditional room full of history and people watching. A full English breakfast was included in our rate. Starting off with juice, tea, and freshly baked croissants/pastries, breakfast also included choice of egg, mushroom and tomato, bacon or ham, and choice of toast. I must say the first part of the meal with the baked goods was the highlight. The eggs were just ok. The china is of nice quality/color and adds to the art deco feel of the room. My wife was able to substitute a healthier set breakfast option from the menu in lieu of the Full English breakfast. We had booked Afternoon Tea during our stay and it was fully booked each day during our stay. It is worth experiencing Afternoon Tea in London, although I must admit that it did not fully live up to our expectations (albeit typically high standards). Service felt rushed and overall a bit institutional. The sandwiches were just mediocre, although the rest of the food, including scones and sweets, were excellent. Our server hardly checked on us. We had to ask for steamed milk, as the milk they first brought out was ice cold and was not appropriate for tea service. This should be standard and it was a bit disappointing that we had to ask. One point/recommendation – the service in the Foyer during breakfast and Afternoon Tea could have been a bit more friendly and attentive. The staff is helpful when asked, but I feel that they should do more to proactively check on each guest multiple times during their meal to ensure everything is ok and if anything is needed. Note we did not try the Gordon Ramsay restaurant.

Foyer Restaurant & Afternoon Tea:

Bar

We spent quite some time in the Claridge’s Bar on various nights, as well as the Fumoir Bar. Both serve excellent cocktails with a variety of snacks. The Claridge’s Bar is a lively place to gather in the evenings. It can get quite hectic, although tables do become free throughout the evening. The wait staff can get a bit frenetic when there are crowds, so be prepared to wait for your drink. Perhaps a better system can be implemented with the bartenders and waitresses/waiters. It seemed that the bartenders were too busy preparing the orders from the waitresses/waiters and had no time to serve the guests waiting at the bar/seated at the bar. This should be an easy fix and would really make a difference in service. We also had a quick lunch in the bar and the food was quite good.

Gym

The gym and spa are located on the 6th floor. The gym was excellent with new equipment featuring individual televisions. Water, juice, and towels are all included and the staff was very friendly.

Service

While the staff is extremely nice and efficient, my only comment is they be even more proactive and outgoing in terms of interacting with guests. Being fairly outgoing when we travel, I got to know a few of the staff during our stay. If it had not been for my reaching out, I do not think we would have had the same relationship with certain employees. We did not use the concierge team as we had done plenty of research on our own prior to arrival and made our own reservations. The elevator attendants were all extremely helpful and friendly, as well as providing us with helpful tips and recommendations. The one flaw I did find is that after a certain hour in the evening (after about 11:30pm), the hotel does seem deserted and there was no bellman outside the main entrance and the main elevator cannot be used (there is a side elevator that guests use that does not have an attendant). I did briefly think this was not very secure and there should be a 24-hour bellman for a hotel of this caliber.

Overall

Overall, this proved to be a great stay and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. I believe there will be 10 rooms that will be designed by DVF in the upcoming months and should be quite nice. Claridge’s should definitely be considered for a trip to London.

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