With an intriguing and glamorous past, the eclectic styling, gorgeous rooms and suites, plus award winning signature restaurant The Caxton Grill, the four-star deluxe St. Ermin’s Hotel in London’s St James’s Park is a distinctly individual and welcoming offering for London visitors.
DESIGN
A gem of hotel which has recently undergone an extensive £30m refurbishment makeover with beautifully restored period plasterwork including intricate Victorian sculpting with Art Deco influences.
LOCATION
The hotel is just a hop from St James’s Park and a short walk from Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey and offers very good value for money for this part of town making it a first class choice for tourists and business travellers. The room we had was a huge, expansive space with separate living area and large en-suite.
The hotel dates from 1899 and it remains a friendly and traditional place to stay offering a quintessentially London experience, while the bar and restaurant staff were welcoming and efficient, which definitely helped in the strange semi-lockdown and mostly tourist free time we stayed there.
FOOD AND DRINK
Caxton Grill is modern and minimal, with a colour palette of neutrals and orange and black. It serves modern European cuisine and we tried the baked soft eve goat’s cheese with figs to share, the 24 hour slow cooked pork belly and the roast and crunch halibut. Even though delicious and completely full we were tempted in to trying the chocolate and salted peanut ice cream which completely finished off (and resulted in a late night walk around the hotels neighbouring sights just to make ourselves feel better from the sheer over-indulgence).
HISTORY
St. Ermin’s Hotel has a rich history in espionage. It was the headquarters of the Special Operations Executive, formed by Winston Churchill in 1940 – an elite undercover unit that carried out clandestine operations during World War II, and was also the site agent Guy Burgess handed over secret documents to his Russian counterpart in the hotel bar.
SUSTAINABILITY
As part of a sustainability effort, the hotel houses 200,000 resident bees in hives installed on its rooftop which produce the in-house honey supply. We even had a jar left in our room on arrival (but unfortunately it vanished the next day).
LONDON CALLING
From £279 per night, the London Calling offer includes one night in a Superior Double Room, breakfast, a bottle of champagne per stay, a jar of St Ermin’s honey made from the hotel’s own hives, an unlimited prosecco Afternoon Tea for two, and a 3pm late-check out. Up to two dogs per room can also stay for free and visitors can take advantage of the hotel’s new Canine Concierge Service.
With an intriguing and glamorous past, the eclectic styling, gorgeous rooms and suites, plus award winning signature restaurant The Caxton Grill, the four-star deluxe St. Ermin’s Hotel in London’s St James’s Park is a distinctly individual and welcoming offering for London visitors.
