Big Ben is ticking down to the coronation of King Charles III on May 6 and royal watchers and supporters or simply those who love a great spectacle will be converging on London for the big day.
At the classy Beaumont”¯ in Mayfair, which still has rooms available at the time of this writing, guests overnighting on Friday, May 5, will be offered an in-room “coronation pack,” including a map of the big day”™s events, Union Jack flags, a Union Jack hat and a commemorative mug.
This striking, independent five-star luxury hotel is a wonderful blend of British tradition and America pizzazz. There”™s a very stylish bar, called Le Magritte, for some of London”™s best cocktails and scrumptious food, (including an exceptional salt beef hash for breakfast), in the hotel”™s Colony Grill Room, which takes its inspiration from New York Clubs”™ supper clubs of old. And in Gatsby”™s lounge, for the entire month”¯of May, the Beaumont”™s afternoon tea will give a nod to the extraordinary precious and semiprecious stones found in the Crown Jewels, with gemstone-hued pastries. Think currants for rubies and green elderflowers for emeralds.
The Beaumont”™s guest rooms, meanwhile, feature herringbone parquet floors, superb original art, Art Deco lamps and eclectic collections of British books. In the bathrooms, with their exquisite black-and-white mosaic floors, expect gleaming chrome faucets and bathroom products by Dr. Harris (the good doctor being “by appointment to his Majesty the King” ”“ meaning the King uses these products himself). On the hotel”™s ground floor, you”™ll find a 24-hour gym and luxury spa with steam room, sauna and plunge pool.
The Beaumont is also right for you if you value simple, old-fashioned brass light switches, (dolly switches, as they are known), which go on and off with a flick and are located in logical places; a TV that doesn”™t require an Eintein-like brain to operate; and a mini-bar full of the things you want to drink and snack on throughout the day. Supremely comfortable, never flash, The Beaumont coddles you with every conceivable comfort and exudes a marvelous sense of well-being.
Located in South Kensington in London”™s “royal borough,” only minutes away from Kensington Palace, the Victoria & Albert Museum and Hyde Park, The Kensington is an unsung hero of the London luxury hotel scene. The area is typified by wide streets of handsome, white stucco-fronted houses, garden squares and bakeries and cafés reflecting the large, local European ex-pat community. A French/European sensibility is apparent, too, in the hotel”™s guest rooms, with their rich velvets and brocades, painted wood four-poster beds and 19th-century landscapes in gilt frames.
But it”™s the public, or “drawing,” rooms at The Kensington that are its real glory. They are stunning, bathed in natural daylight, twinkly at night, highly decorated with sumptuous sofas, deep armchairs and eclectic art modernists, British impressionists, Scottish colorists, you name it. The elegant stone staircase is hung with 19th century landscapes and portraits.
The hotel also has a very stylish restaurant, too, Townhouse, where whole Dover sole à la meunière and a hazelnut Paris-Brest with chocolate sauce are among the chef”™s star dishes. In the hotel”™s intimate “K” Bar, meanwhile, along with its large collection of Scotch, Irish and Japanese whiskeys, The Kensington”¯has created a”¯“zero-waste cocktail,””¯using British spirits and sustainably sourced produce, channeling the English countryside. Think herbaceous Cornish gin, English strawberries, (which will just be coming into season), and fragrant local elderflower. It”™s a fitting drink to toast the king, who has been championing eco-awareness and sustainability for more than 50 years, long before most people even knew what it was.
Part of the Doyle Collection, The Kensington sister”™s London properties, The Bloomsbury and”¯The trendy Marylebone, will also be offering zero-waste cocktails over the festive period.
Still indubitably royal but a long way from London, The Fife Arms in Braemar, Scotland, in the heart of Royal Deeside an area of outstanding natural beauty in Aberdeenshire is the perfect location to mark the historic event, if you fancy peace and solitude while still staying very much connected to the action.”¯That”™s because Balmoral Castle, built by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and a favorite home of the royals for generations, is just nine miles from The Fife Arms.”¯Over the coronation weekend, guests at this charming, typically Scottish property, with its atmospheric guest and public rooms, Scottish antiques and period wallpapers, will enjoy a special afternoon tea, including enduring British classics, such as “Victoria sponge” and “coronation chicken.” There will also be the opportunity to picnic at the Highland Games Centre nearby and enjoy a right”¯royal whisky tasting notice the absence of an “e” to denote Scotch, as distinct from Irish and American, whiskeys ”“in Bertie”™s Whisky Bar, featuring a flight of”¯King Charles”™s favorite drams.”¯
Enjoy the big day wherever you are and, if you”™re not a royalist, ignore it completely while remembering Mark Twain”™s famous quote: “Too much of anything is bad, but too much whiskey is barely enough.”
For more, visit thebeaumont.com, doylecollection.com and thefifearms.com.
