London offers a dazzling range of hotels for
every taste and temperament. There are shiny mega hotels, mini
boutique hotels, and swanky business hotels, all catering to the
fussiest of travelers. Hundreds of hotels
promise something special -- perhaps the best location, acclaimed
restaurants, a superb spa, or maybe some whiz-bang technology in
the rooms. But when you're jetlagged, lost, and dragging luggage
through the rain at 7:30AM after a red-eye, there's nothing more
important than prompt and intuitive service in a peacful place
designed to be as much like a home as like a hotel.
51 Buckingham
Gate, a discreet ”˜townhouse' property in Westminster, just a three-minute
walk from Buckingham Palace, happens to be an excellent
place to recover from jetlag. At this extended stay property, I
was happy to avoid the usual post red-eye frustrations - long
queues at the front desk, set times when I must check-in (and
check-out), or cut off times for room service. Owned and managed
by the legendary Taj Hotels since 2000, it delivers all the amenities
of a fine hotel, yet all of the timelines of a hotel are merely
guidelines.
Formerly known as St
James Court hotel, 51 Buckingham Gate originally opened in 1902,
seeking to be “fashionably smart, exclusive, modern without being
vulgar - and quiet.” It's amazing how after all this time, the
hotel manages to match up to the original ideal. It's no wonder
why it continues to hosts visiting dignitaries, travelling
executives and celebrities in its private townhouse ”“ everyone
from the Prime Minister of India to Donald
Trump.
Despite the formidable wrought iron gate, the
entrance at 51 Buckingham Gate is so discreet, that I actually
nearly missed it. Upon entering the courtyard,
though, I was charmed by its concealment. Built by an unknown
royal engineer at the turn of the century, the property was
designed as an exclusive set of houses, each with a porched
entrance opening onto the central
courtyard.
Upon walking into
the main building that morning, I was whisked to my
room, Apartment 1012, by the butler and checked-in
from the sofa in the living room. Why doesn't every hotel offer
this for guests? Most hotels rooms are too small for hanging out
with a front desk clerk (each of the 86 suites and apartments at
51 Buckingham Gate are a minimum of 51m²,
or 550 sq.ft - the largest suites and serviced apartments in
London).
My butler inquired
if I needed help with unpacking, but I wasn't carrying much. It
was a shame that I was staying at 51 Buckingham Gate for only one
night. Had I stayed for a week, I would gladly
have cooked elaborate meals in the very modern and fully equipped
kitchen or have worked feverishly at the desk equipped with a
printer/fax machine. I'd even have done
loads and loads of laundry with the
washer/dryer! (I have guilty pleasure when
travelling: I am a sucker for any hotel room
with a washer and dryer, because I love going home with a load of
fresh laundry. I wish I'd checked-in to 51
Buckingham Gate at the end of a long
trip.)
Even if I didn't have a chance to use all of
the home-like amenities in my enormous apartment, I felt better
just knowing that they were there. That night,
I had dinner reservations, but I seriously considered inviting
with my friends May and Jenny, whom live in
London, to a dinner
party in my suite instead. May might have enjoyed a delivery from
the nearby Lebanese restaurant Noura, and have liked the animal touches in
my bedroom ”“ a leopard print upholstered chair, a furry overthrow
for the bed. Jenny would have been envious of the walk-in closet.
They would also
have been green with envy if they saw the award-winning master
bath. One of the most important amenities for
jetlagged travelers is an enormous bathroom ”“ for me, it's the
ultimate reprieve from the compact bathrooms on an
airplane. Apartment
1012 in fact had two
bathrooms: a half-bath for guests, and a truly oversize bathroom
loaded with Molton Brown toiletries and a soaking tub.
Of course, 51 Buckingham Gate is not for
everyone. If you're looking for a hotel with, say, an expansive
lobby with big swinging doors to check out who's coming to and
fro, or maybe nightly live piano music, you might be
disappointed. A stay at 51 Buckingham Gate is more like shacking
up at a friends' house while they're out of town, rather than
staying in a hotel where you can shimmy up and down the elevators
to get to the pool, restaurant, or spa. At 51 Buckingham Gate,
you'll have to leave your townhouse to use the fitness club
(which, to the dismay of jetlagged travellers, closes at
10:30 pm). There are also three on-site
restaurants: Quilon,
Bank Westminster, and Bistro 51, serving modern British, Indian
and bistro fare.
Nevertheless,
there's a good chance that you'll be perfectly content staying
in, stretching out on the sofa to watch a DVD, possibly having
dinner come to you (room service arrived in 25 minutes flat.) If
you do step out, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the excellent
turndown service --I returned from dinner to find a plate of
chocolates, and little bottles of port and
cognac.
Every hot hotelier
could benefit from a stay at 51 Buckingham Gate, even if for just
one night. 51 Buckingham Gate remains as “fashionably smart,
exclusive, modern without being vulgar - and quiet” as a hotel
could be. It might remind some silly hoteliers that hotels are
intended for rest, not just for noisy bars, wild ceiling
hangings, or complicated telephone systems that are too hard to
figure out how to work when you're jetlagged.
Rates start at £385.
51 Buckingham Gate
London
SW1E 6AF
Phone: +44 20 7769 7766
www.51-buckinghamgate.co.uk
www.tajhotels.com
Hyon Jung Lee is a New York-based
freelancer who has also written for Forbes and
Fodors.com.
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for 51 Buckingham Gate's London recommendations.
