Read article : The Westbury Hotel, Mayfair - five star luxury in the heart of London
A Mayfair Staycation – The Westbury Hotel:
If only…
There are parts of London, like Mayfair, where most of us can only aspire to live. Even if you shop on Bond Street and take tea at Sketch, actually living in Mayfair is out of reach for most Londoners. So, why not live the dream and staycation at The Westbury Hotel in the heart of Mayfair, just around the corner from many of London’s designer boutiques. Perfectly located for those who want to indulge in some top-end shopping, The Westbury is a classic five-star hotel with features that put it above many of the luxury hotel offering in London.
As London’s first 5-star American hotel, you might expect a few difference – the Westbury London was opened in 1955, the sister hotel of the original Westbury in New York City. The design still has an American luxury feel to it, with lots of dark wood and mirrors, larger than average London hotel rooms and marble lined ensuite bathrooms with tubs.
I was lucky enough to be offered an upgrade to a Corner Suite for my stay – something the same size as a London flat, with a living room complete with dining table to seat four and a large bedroom. Enough wardrobe space to encourage me to shop until I dropped and a stunning bathroom with a second powder room.
I didn’t really want to leave. At all.
Especially as the hotel had thoughtfully provided a bottle of wine, water, fresh fruit, a platter of cold meats, cheeses and pickles and a truly tempting plate of macarons and petits fours.
The wine obviously needed to be tried and you should never eat on an empty stomach. Most of the cheese and cold meats vanished…
And I can never resist a macaron or two.
My room came equipped with a Nespresso machine and pods. There wasn’t a kettle that I could see, though that may have been simply down to lack of looking on my part. I did, however, have a personal butler on call who I am sure would have obliged had I wanted tea, champagne or even caviar. And the Westbury offers a full room service from all three of their restaurants so if I hadn’t had a table already reserved at Tsukiji, the small but perfectly formed Japanese restaurant, I’d have indulged myself and just stayed in the room all evening. More of that experience in a separate post – there is far too much to cover to include details here. And, I’ve already tried the Polo Bar (and been back a couple of times). That leaves Alyn Williams at the Westbury – the hotel’s Michelin star fine dining restaurant – which I definitely want to try.
I was particularly impressed by the toiletries in the bathroom of the suite. Asprey’s Purple Water is probably my favourite of the luxury toiletries provided by hotels. With classic and restrained packaging, it’s something of a special secret. I love the light, citrussy scent and am always impressed by the overall quality of the products.
Turn down arrived promptly at 6pm and provided a comprehensive service, drawing the floor to ceiling curtains and packing away the decor cushions and throws. And, my guest for dinner turned up early enough to enjoy a glass of wine with me before we went downstairs.
There is something altogether luxurious about having dinner and just having to take the lift upstairs afterward. I slept like a baby in the large bed. Beautiful white cotton bed linen, fluffy pillows and a soft yet firm mattress all conspired to ensure the perfect night’s sleep.
Breakfast is served in the dining room used by Alyn Williams in the evenings. It’s a large and comfortable space with contemporary touches. There are neat pots of cereals, fruits, and yoghurts to one side. But, of course, it’s the a la carte breakfast that I look forward to when I am staying in a hotel.
Here there’s a good range of teas and coffees brought to you by waiter service, together with individual baskets of breakfast pastries so you don’t have to search out the last pain au chocolat!
The cooked breakfast was immaculate – I have to admit that since I was alone, I ordered a full English with eggs, just to check they were properly prepared. Of course they were.
After I’d eaten more than enough for the whole day I went back to my suite to pack up and (regretfully) go home.
But not without doing more than a little window shopping on my walk back to Green Park tube.
The Westbury is discrete and quiet. Tucked away off New Bond Street, it is somewhere I’d recommend to anyone wanting to stay in central London. Good size rooms, immaculate service and a level of comfort that is well above average combine to make this a great base. Suites like the one I stayed in would be perfect for a small family or for someone wanting to use the hotel as a base for business as the sitting room can be completely zoned off from the bedroom.
But, if you simply want the best of London’s shops on your doorstep I’d look no further than The Westbury.
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The Westbury Hotel
37 Conduit Street,
Mayfair,
London,
W1S 2YF,
United Kingdom
