Dukes, St James's Place, London
When the press release described Dukes Hotel as ‘one of Mayfair’s hidden gems', I hadn’t thought to take the word ‘hidden’ quite so literally. But the truth is that my husband and I must have walked the entire length of St James’s Street three times over before locating the 100-year old town house, tucked away in a quiet gas-lit courtyard.
Luckily, no sooner had we entered the hotel lobby — all wood panelling and traditional Edwardian furniture — our journey stresses were dispelled. The staff were friendly and the intimate ambience was comparable to a discreet gentleman’s club instead of a 90-room hotel.
Taking the old fashioned lift to the fourth floor, we were shown to our room which, with its draped floral curtains and framed landscape paintings, had a classic charm to it. I liked that it was understated while still managing to incorporate everything you‘d want from a five-star room. Luxurious bathroom with Ren products, tick. Huge bed with big fluffy pillows, tick. iPod docking station, tick. Flat-screen Panasonic TV, tick. The only downside was the view - I don’t know what I was expecting but it possibly wasn’t several dozen office workers tapping away at their computers less than a few metres away. Still, the upside was that they were gone by 5.30pm.
Any stay at Dukes wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the hotel bar - it’s where the Bond author Ian Fleming found the inspiration for the double agent’s most famous line: 'shaken not stirred'. Surely, it would have been rude not to have ordered pre-dinner classic martinis in his honour? We thought so. Bar manager Alessandro Palazzi wheeled a trolley up to our table to make them in front of us. Extra dry vermouth was sprayed from a crystal atomiser into our chilled martini glasses, the rims were swiped with fresh slice of lemon and the glasses then filled with frozen Belvedere vodka. Ten minutes later, we were half cut. It's no wonder Dukes has a strict 2 martinis per customer rule.
Still, there was no time to lose — we had a 9pm dinner sitting to attend. Apparently, at Dukes, Thursdays are the new Fridays and the restaurant was buzzing. On the menu was a variety of seasonal British dishes. I had a seared scallop starter, followed by roasted and grilled beef. Dessert was a delicious gingerbread soufflé.
Checking out of Dukes the next morning, we couldn’t agree more that our stay had been wonderful - even taking into account the small matter of getting lost on the way there. We never did make it to the health spa — or indeed to the state of the art 24-hour gym — but we’ll be back. If only for another one of those lethal martinis.
Dukes, St James’s Place, London (+ 44 020 7491 4840; campbellgrayhotels.com/dukes-london.html)
