Not a port person? Prepare for a rethink. Port is having a revival - sales are up 11.5 per cent since the start of 2020 and became a new hit with millennials over lockdown - and nowhere does it quite like the sommeliers at St James’s Hotel & Club, who claim to serve the widest variety of port in any London bar - including the oldest wine in the UK to be sold by the glass.
Truly, it would be rude (and irresponsible) not to make a night of it and roll into a four-poster bed upstairs afterwards. Especially when there are Michelin-star scallops on the menu for dinner and a heavenly breakfast buffet in the morning.
Here’s what to expect at this five-star boutique hotel right in the heart of the capital.
Where is it?
Right in the heart of Piccadilly, just a few doors down from The Ritz (but away from the throngs of Mayfair tourists). St James’s Hotel and Club is a five minute walk from almost all of Mayfair’s most prestigious hotspots - Fortnums, Buckingham Palace, and Burlington Arcade are all a five-minute walk away - but the best part is you’d never know it’s there.
It’s more discreet than many of its Mayfair neighbours and for many guests, that’s exactly the hotel’s magic. You’ll find it tucked down a secret side-street in a quiet cul-de-sac - perfect for a late-night nose around Piccadilly’s historic alleyways and trails of blue plaques before bed.
Style
Contemporary chic meets Victorian charm. You won’t get trendy Soho House interiors or the buzzy informal atmosphere of The Pig, but you will get a homely nostalgia, polite smiling staff and touches of history: grand stone steps and chandeliers, velvet sofas, marble furnishings and historic portraits all over the walls.
Which room?
Each of the hotel’s 60 rooms and suites has its own character and personality, with many featuring their own terrace or event space (visitors from America are common, as are business travellers and guests booking in for weddings).
Berlin-based designer AMJ Design was behind the hotel’s recent refurb, with bespoke furnishings in each of the rooms, king-size or four-poster beds and Penhaligon toiletries. Executive suites come with an LCD television above the bath (with your name on it - fancy) and a lounge area off the bedroom for kicking back in your slippers and white robe afterwards.
There are family rooms and interconnecting rooms for guests with kids, or you can upgrade to the penthouse, The Westminster Suite, for your very own rooftop terrace overlooking central London.
Food & drink
The hotel’s Executive Head Chef, William Drabble, is one of the capital’s most admired chefs, combining French cooking techniques with the very best seasonal British produce at St James’s Michelin-starred in-house (and recently refurbed) restaurant Seven Park Place. Drabble’s menu is creative and seasonal, from hand-dived scallops with champagne and salsify to butter-roasted chicken wing with potato gnocchi and wild mushrooms.
The lunch menu costs £75 with matching wines for an additional £50, or there’s the seven-course Gourmand menu for £105. Opt for the Once in a Lifetime wine pairing for £300 if you want to go all-out.
And you should. The hotel is famous for its wine selection, with the newly-relaunched port-speciality bar, 1857 The Bar (named after the year the club was established), offers some of the capital’s oldest and most legendary wines by the glass (including the oldest to be sold by the glass in the UK, from 1882). It also has the widest selection of port wine of any bar in London, including limited, rare, and unusual wines, aged tawnies, single quintas, and vintage ports.
Staff are proud but far from snobby about their port - just tell them you’re a newbie and they’re happy to talk you through the bottles, histories and flavours. Ask for a white port if you’ve not tried one already - you’ll rethink everything you ever thought about port.
The next morning, tuck into freshly baked pastries, berries, yoghurt and mueslis from the buffet bar in the hotel’s subterranean basement. The hotel also serves a traditional full English breakfast with all the trimmings from bacon to black pudding.
Facilities
There’s no subterranean spa or luxury rooftop gym, but the upside is you can go one better and order a spa or beauty treatment straight to your room. The hotel has partnered with Black Label by Perfect 10 to offer a range of spa packages designed exclusively for guests, from massages and facials to waxing, tanning and mani-pedis. The hotel also offers personalised PT sessions 24/7 if you ask ahead.
St James’s is popular with business travellers, with private function rooms and a corporate events team on hand to draw up itineraries. Meanwhile foreign visitors (staff say the hotel is popular with Americans) can combine their visit to St James’s with a second night at the Great Fosters Estate near Windsor as part of the hotel’s 48-hour Queen & Country staycation package. Ask at the desk or check the website for details.
What to Instagram
A glass of Graham’s 1882 Ne Oublie port, at the hotel’s bar, 1857. It’s the oldest wine to be sold by the glass in the UK and is presented in a hand-made crystal decanter within a Smythson leather presentation box for guests to oggle at.
Best for?
Foodies (and drinkies) with a taste for port. The hotel is famous for its port selection and staff are some of the most passionate in London.
Take your dad or even your mum for mother’s day - staff are determined to bust any stuffy gender stereotypes about port being an after-dinner drink for men (if you’re not normally into port, try the lighter white port, which tastes like a dangerously drinkable white wine).
How to get there
Hop on the Tube to Green Park or Piccadilly Circus and the hotel is just a four-minute walk at the other end.
When should I go?
All year round, depending on the reason for your visit (stick to summer if you’re opting for The Penthouse, but book fast).
