Flemings is a pleasant discovery in the middle of Mayfair. Housed in five handsome Georgian townhouses dating from the 1780s, and first opened as a hotel in 1853, it’s on a quiet thoroughfare off Piccadilly, a short walk from the West End, the boutiques of Bond Street and the parks and palaces of St James’s.
The privately-owned hotel has recently undergone a 'soft' £1.2m redesign of its reception and public areas, restaurant, bar and 'front room', apparently to put it on a footing to challenge the better known May Fair hotel. Aimed at discerning British and international travelers (with an Eastern slant if the offer of a 'Japanese Breakfast' is anything to go by), Flemings has also played host to Ivana Trump, Misha Barton and TV stars from both Hustle and I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.
Behind the imposing frontage, Flemings offers a cosy rather than a flashy welcome. It doesn’t have a gym or spa (indeed, the building’s age leaves it decidedly short of elevators), and the emphasis is on comfort rather than dazzle: I counted five staff in reception offering to help with check-in, bags and so on. The revamped décor focuses on dark, rich colours and big mirrors, with the odd, tactfully muted design statement such as the illuminated glass wall dividing the 60-seat restaurant, now renamed Flemings Grill and under the sway of chef Simon Henbery.
Formerly head chef at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant 15, the talented Henbery has devised a new modern European menu. This is strong on British produce, much of it sourced from Flemings’ rural sister hotel Down House, and newly fashionable cheap cuts of meat and line-caught fish. Signatures include a rabbit dish using (almost) every part of the bunny, and a scotch egg made with black pudding rather than mincemeat. The latter can be ordered as part of the savoury martini afternoon tea in the deep banquettes in the front room, an alternative to the hotel’s new Champagne-and-cupcakes afternoon tea, where the fizz is Perrier Jouet and the delicacies come from the inimitable Primrose Hill Bakery. The wine list was under revision when I visited, with the promise of intriguing vintages, including Brazilian Champagne, to come. The owners hope the bar and restaurant, both almost underground and squirreled away at the rear of the hotel like a well-kept secret, will become destinations in their own right. Service on our visit was friendly and attentive, if a little erratic: perhaps attributable to teething troubles during the relaunch.
Flemings has 119 rooms and ten apartments, with colour schemes ranging from cream to powder blue to chocolate. Our second floor executive double was large, quiet and well-appointed, overlooking the street behind the hotel and equipped with everything you’d expect – Gilchrist and Soames toiletries, Sharp flatscreen TV, Grohe bathroom fittings, broadband access – but not much beyond the call of duty. What looks like a welcoming bottle of wine turns out to be chargeable to the minibar, the in-room coffee is Nescafe, and breakfast costs £18 extra. A few tweaks and the rooms at Flemings would live up to the hotel’s public face and its location, which is impeccable. During our stay we strolled through Green Park before shopping on Jermyn St and drank cocktails at the Criterion before taking in a show, ending with a late supper of oysters and lobster pasta at Bentley’s on Swallow St. It felt like a delightfully old-fashioned stay at a venerable hotel looking to the future.
Flemings Mayfair, Half Moon St, London W1J 7BH (+44 (0)207 499 2964; flemings-mayfair.co.uk).
