St. James's Hotel and Club ****
7-8 Park Place St. James's, London SW1, UK.

After extensive remodeling and marvelous interior design, the Grand Opening of the St. James’s Hotel and Club took place in September 2008 and what a joy it is! Discreet, tranquil and very comfortable, this luxurious 60 room hotel and club is tucked away on a small side street in the heart of Mayfair within walking distance of everything from the Palace to Fortnums, from Lock's to Green Park, from the Piccadilly Arcade to Berry Bros & Rudd Wine Merchants.

Working within the confines of smallish spaces, the designers have created a soothing grouping of rooms with excellent modern bathrooms, many suites some with outdoor terraces. Muted colors typify the rooms while the public areas feature whimsy in the bar, yellows and ochres in the intimate dining room, some Chinese touches in the bar/dining room and extending subtly to the main lounge with a fire place and a library feel.

Formerly open to just club members, the doors are open to non-members with the new management. Great place to crash at after a long flight, meet business colleagues or just enjoy as a base of operations for business or pleasure.

Part of the luxury Althoff Hotel Collection, whose Villa Belrose in St. Tropez we have written about in previous years, this charming new member exudes the fine tradition of classic British hostelry that seeps from it walls absorbed from the many generations of Britons who have used it as their "town digs". But, at the same time, it has woven into its new fabric a contemporary and international flavor as well. The cuisine is excellent and an added bonus.

The menu is filled with Mediterranean and Asian flavours and fresh and contemporary additions to the menus as the chef is inspired from the different seasons and what is especially fresh or interesting from his suppliers. So whether you are from the far East, Mid East, the US or Europe, you will find a dish that will please. Sadly, the kitchen was closed the one night we could be at the hotel, but the chef on duty prepared an extremely delicious dinner of organic chicken that was unsurpassed for flavor and tenderness. It was accompanied with perfectly cooked baby carrots and beans with golden roast potatoes. If this meal is anything to go by, not to mention the "Afternoon Tea (below)", then the main menu (click here) must be a delight.

Even that most British of afternoon scrumptiousness, the "afternoon tea" has been given a whole new life particular to St. James's. No cress or cucumber finger sandwiches with stale sweets here. Oh no! Each month the "tea" is created based on a theme of an event taking place in the kingdom. When we were there it was Ascot Racing with horse motifs and a burning candle in the form of a bottle of champagne gracing the top level of goodies. The next day it was Wimbledon.

This "tea" is really a meal in itself if you enjoy 3 courses of sinfully delicious desserts. I do. There is the full "tea" of 3 courses at £ 22.00 that starts with a light tray of palate teasers, then comes the 3 tier rack filled with cakes, scones and cream, biscuits and other goodies as well as a miniature Pimm's Cup. As you wonder where you can put the last of the cookies, another tray arrives with, in our case, a strawberry tart and strawberries on dipping sticks and more thick cream to douse them in. The tea is also available with a glass of champagne for an additional £ 7.00.

However, if you prefer something a bit smaller, they also offer a finger sandwich menu at £ 9.00 or a traditional Scones with clotted ream and jam for £ 8.00. After tea a good jog around Green park is probably in order or if the weather has taken a turn for the worse, a visit to the nearby Mayfair Hotels Gym! This tea puts all others to shame as we have on good authority from a friend who joined us who has "taken tea" at most of the top West End hotels. He was knocked over not only with the tea but the whole interior redesign. We think he will be a regular visitor with friends.

Despite the hotel's small foot print, it hosts 60 rooms and suites, every one decorated individually. Designed in harmony with the essence of the Victorian building, the rooms have an average size of 25 square metres and are perfect for the travellers coming to London from abroad or UK residents needing a city pied a terre. All rooms are exclusively finished with handmade silk wallpaper, black lacquered furniture, handcrafted Murano glass chandeliers and polished natural stone in the bathroom. In addition to a comfortable seating area, a working desk with WiFi High-speed internet access, laptop safes, mini bar, iPod docking station and flat screen TVs (some bathrooms feature build in LCD Television) complete the room’s standard facilities. The computer access is of prime importance in this day of on-line airport check in and boarding pass print out. Although the rooms do not have printers, if you save the boarding pass as a PDF, you can just email it to the front desk and they will print it out for you thus saving time and trouble at the airport. All rooms also include spacious built in wardrobes to allow a more spacious feel.

This is a "townhouse" hotel and so does not have the physical room for some of the feature or larger hotels, but all their guests have Complimentary Access to the nearby Mayfair Hotels Gym for those to whom walking or running Green Park does not quite do it.

As well as being a "townhouse" hotel, the St. James’s is also a club. It has had several incarnations for over the last 150 years, but it has always been associated with travellers, including the novelist and travel writer Evelyn Waugh. In his best-known book, "Brideshead Revisited", Waugh celebrated the opulence, class and style of the English upper classes.

These qualities have always been the hallmarks of London’s gentlemen’s clubs. Todays St. James's has blended this "club" tradition and history with the best of modern comforts and added features being a hotel as well provides..

That "gentleman's club" experience is once again available at St. James’s, for a club membership means not just a connection with a long and distinguished tradition, but also a VIP status that can be enjoyed not just in London, but at reciprocal clubs in cities across the world. The Club Room provides members with the discretion, comfort and privacy that they have the right to expect: an oasis of calm in the heart of the West End. Joining Fee £250 -Annual Fee £400. Membership includes priority on reservations, meals, events and discounts.

For how to find the hotel, its history and more, visit their web site linked below.

St. James's Hotel and Club
7-8 Park Place St. James's
London SW1A 1LP. UK
Tel.: +44 (0) 207 316 1600
www.stjameshotelandclub.com
Part of the Althoff Hotel Group
Web Site: www.stjameshotelandclub.com
Email: reservations@stjameshotelandclub.com