Whether it’s a cucumber sandwich afternoon tea in honour of the King, a majestic cocktail menu, or the full pomp and ceremony coronation-themed experience, London’s hotels are getting into the regal groove for May 6.
Establishments with royal connections have been particularly busy, temporarily dousing their restaurant menus, off-the-beaten-track tours, and even boudoirs in dynastical fairy dust.
There’s simply never been a better time for a city staycation. Here are the best...
Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge
With Buckingham Palace’s Changing of the Guard right on its doorstep, and as a favourite afternoon tea spot for our future King when he was a boy, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park has serious royal caché to work with.
And they haven’t held back, with a walking tour curating His Majesty King Charles III’s favourite city haunts (where Jermyn Street’s heritage brands make a star appearance), a Rosebery Coronation Afternoon Tea brimming with Highgrove organic goodies (The King’s Coronation Chicken being our firm favourite), and three whisky cocktails for the Royal Toast at The Aubrey and Mandarin Bar in partnership with Laphroaig.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal has added a zany spin on historical dishes served at British Coronation banquets over the centuries, and those wishing to go the whole hog can scoop all these divine experiences up into a ‘Royal Retreat’ stay (May 1 to June 1), leaving no semi-precious stone unturned.
Regal fever has even reached the spa, where guests are promised ‘The Royal Glow’ with the ‘English Rose’ pummelling.
The Dorchester, Mayfair
A refuge for Hollywood royalty and the divinely appointed since opening its doors in 1931, the Dorchester can dine off a regal-laced history situated in an area that dates back to William the Conqueror, with the hotel featuring post-war charity balls attended by the British Royal Family.
Its standard-bearing façade decor, by British stage set designer Oliver Messel, even celebrates the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. In celebration of the King’s coronation, along with a predictably elaborate afternoon tea — with themed cakes, quintessentially British sandwiches, and a cold glass of Champagne — head bartender Lucia Montanelli will be whipping up Sovereign Martinis in the lavishly bronzed, coppered, and velveted Vesper Bar, inspired by the King’s favourite tipple (including Wessex gin, Royal Garden mead, dry vermouth, and lavender bitter).
In-house designer florist Philip Hammond has dialled-up the volume on his delightful floral arrangements scattered throughout the hotel, cleverly bunching together the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales, and the shamrock of Northern Ireland.
For those camping out at ‘The Dorch’ during the Coronation, rooms are fittingly palatial (and expensive) with chandeliers, ebony and gold pillars, and powder-blue boudoirs.
Hotel Café Royal, Piccadilly
This resplendent, creamy stone oasis just off frenetic Piccadilly Circus has whipped up two all-singing, all-dancing experiences for royal enthusiasts, both tying in top-drawer cultural elements and exclusive passes to royal hotspots around London.
The first — the King Charles III Experience — includes a night’s stay in one of the lavishly pared-down rooms, a Champagne afternoon tea in the hotel’s historic (and wildly resplendent) Grill Room, and a full English (of course) for two in The Gallery. The highlight has to be a chauffeur-driven tour of London in the Queen Mother’s Daimler, rolling past Clarence House, St James’s Palace, and Buckingham Palace in stately style.
The Crown Jewels Experience is similarly cultural in flavour, though with breakfast fit for a king, served in the Royal Suite and with a jaunt to the Tower of London in a chauffeur-driven limousine, for a private viewing of the Crown Jewels and Royal Collection, and even a Beefeater’s tour of the grounds.
The Goring, Belgravia
Decked in Gainsborough silk wallpaper and thick draped curtains, with marble bathrooms, this Belgravia traditionalist is well-known for its royal pedigree. The Princess of Wales was coiffed, polished, and readied for her wedding day in The Royal Suite (where a life-sized painting of Queen Victoria is fixed into aircraft safety glass in the walk-in shower).
Meanwhile, the Queen Mother was partial to the Eggs Drumkilbo, and The Goring is famously the only London hotel to be granted a Royal Warrant from the late Queen Elizabeth II.
In light of these close links to the Royal Family, the hotel is celebrating the King’s accession to the bejewelled throne with all the expected frills and flamboyancy. Take the (April 24 - May 28) Coronation-themed afternoon tea, curated around King Charles III’s favourites, such as coronation Cotswold chicken sandwiches, and including warmed scones tracing the profile of our King, and crown-shaped pastries), all washed down with a glass of Bollinger Brut.
Then there’s the Coronation Tasting Menu (May 1 - 7), channelling the King’s organic eco-passion with a foraged or kitchen garden-plucked menu featuring coddled Clarence Court egg with fine herb garden salad, and organic lamb with asparagus and English broad bean (the latter including a donation to the King’s charities).
The Mitre, Hampton Court
Combining the regal history of King Henry VIII history with the modern style of the queen of bold colours, Nicola Harding’s playful wicker-clad spaces, The Mitre is a fringes-of-London favourite for a Coronation knees-up.
This is particularly the case as the Thameside hotel will be throwing a dawn-till-dusk Quintessential English Garden Party on May 6-7, with tunes pumping from the royal decks, Whispering Angel rosé flowing, and chefs cooking up some British classics.
Those taking the dusk note seriously can lay their Pimms-fuelled heads on plump duck-feather pillows in one of The Mitre’s rooms, where English eccentricity and bright pops of colour are tamed with a modern edge. Expect busy wallpaper, photogenic woodwork, and roll-top baths with views over the riviera scenes below.
11 Cadogan Gardens, Chelsea
While one of the original Sloane Rangers rises to his monarchic duties, the more modern iteration can head to 11 Cadogan Gardens (deep in the Sloaney thickets) for the Live Like A King Package. Really, it does what it says on the tin — chauffeur transfers to and from any London airport, personalised bath-time goodies, and a bottle of Laurent Perrier on-ice waiting in the rooms, an unapologetically traditional afternoon tea, and bells-and-whistles English breakfast.
What’s more, this redbrick Cadogan Garden stalwart, painted in brooding strokes as a nod to its gents’ club days, is a pretty Chelsea saunter away from Buckingham Palace, should guests wish to be at the centre of the action.
One Aldwych, Covent Garden
One Aldwych’s imposing and slightly trippy façade, tracing a thin triangle along the Strand, is a fine piece of Edwardian architecture with powder-fresh boudoirs inside and surprisingly pared-down, Art Nouveau spaces.
This landmark, wholly under-rated hotel (famous for its fantastic afternoon teas) is embracing the royal celebrations with an experience-focused Coronation stay. The royal treatment, including a two-night stay, begins with a Champagne breakfast along the Thames aboard private charter Silver Darling (seating up to 12), gliding the city’s most famous landmarks before hopping off at the Tower of London for a personalised tour of the Crown Jewels. Having marvelled at centuries of regal bling, guests can either head for coronation cocktails in the bar or put their feet up in one of the wood-panelled, tech-savvy, seriously stylish rooms with a cup of Early Grey and some live coronation content.
Claridge’s, Mayfair
Claridge’s is no stranger to royals. In fact, the hotel was an Art Deco sanctuary for exiled royalty during the Second World War, famed for the tale of a harassed diplomat telephoning Claridge’s asking to speak to the King, to which the response was, “Certainly, sir, but which one?”
Churchill even declared suite 212 Yugoslavian territory for a day, with a chunk of Yugoslavian earth laid under the bed, warranting Crown Prince Alexander II’s claim that he was, in fact, born on his country’s own soil.
So it comes as no surprise that the storied Brook Street hotel (fresh from a staggering refurbishment) is pulling out all the stops for the Coronation. First up is Claridge’s Coronation Archive Windows on the hotel’s ground floor, where archivist Kate Hudson has trawled through decades of royal connections to showcase the most precious. These include pages from Queen Victoria’s diary and Claridge’s menus and cocktail cards created for King George VI’s and later Queen Elizabeth II’s coronations.
Then there’s the hotel’s signature Claridge’s Crest Cake, which will receive the royal treatment (a gold-leaf coating), and botanical coronation cocktails such as Highgrove Gardens gin and tonic with fresh herbs at The Painter’s Room (nodding to King Charles’s own artistic streak and his horticultural dedication).
The Standard, Kings Cross
Ever the contrarian, The Standard has taken a less botanical-cocktails-and-bunting approach to the whole affair, with a special edition of the cultural series TheirStories on May 3.
Celebrating the Kings of the UK, TheirStories: King Culture will shine a light on Britain’s drag king scene. Along with host Prinx Silver, the Library Lounge event is shaping up to be both a thought-provoking conversation and edge-of-your-seat performance. And with TheirStories’ ambition to peel back and celebrate the diverse narratives and stories of the city’s vibrant LGBTIQA+ community, it’s a progressive, inclusive environment where “queer creatives, artists and humxns” can exchange knowledge (and enjoy The Standard’s superlative cocktails and small bites menus as they do).
The free-entry talk will begin at 6.30pm on May 3, with doors closing at 6pm.
Bulgari Hotel, Knightsbridge
And finally, one for the sprogs. No doubt coronation day will print itself indelibly in their minds for years to come — mainly from memories of crown-making workshops and warm, butter-lathered hot-cross buns.
Bulgari London has partnered with renowned children’s entertainers Sharky & George for a May 6 coronation bonanza in the hotel’s sleek Italian restaurant, Sette. This mix of British royal fever with a heavy dose of la dolce vita translates as set menus of slow-cooked lamb shoulder with courgette scapece, seared scallops with pea purée, and ovis mollis biscuit with lashings of mascarpone cream and raspberry sorbet.
Parents can look forward to free-flowing Champagne while their broods get stuck into coronation-themed crafts and games, led by Sharky & George’s enthusiastic team. Open to children up to 10 years old.
