WHEN Winston Churchill lives two doors down (perhaps he pops in occasionally to borrow a cigar or a magnum of Pol Roger) you know you are Belgravia upper crust. But that was taken for granted back in the day when the likes of Lord Louis Mountbatten frequented the royal residence that was No 37 Eccleston Square. Built in 1835 this stuccoed townhouse had once been home to a young Princess Victoria, while later Oscar Wilde used to picnic with his louche pals in the gorgeous private gardens opposite.
I handed in my 3D glasses with a sense of shame – I had failed the boutique cool test
Post-war No.37 went down in the world as a low-cost lodging until in 2011 Parisian siblings Olivia and James Byrne waved their magic wand and Eccleston Square Hotel emerged, £6.5m later, as a bijou hi-tech butterfly, blending discreet style with every kind of in-room gadget (I coped with the electrically operated £12,000 Swedish Hästens bed with vibrating massage features but failed to switch the telly on to get the benefit of Ratatouille in 3D).
Ratatouille, that animated homage to French haute cuisine (albeit rodent-led), had seemed appropriate in a hotel boasting a new restaurant, Tapas 37, serving French, not Spanish, small plates. Our room – on the small side, very Parisian – felt like a discreet Rive Gauche retreat. It opened through French windows onto a balcony, overlooking ‘Oscar’s garden’. Guests have access to this award-winning green lung and its tennis court. Amazing to think Victoria Station is a five-minute walk away.
So easy access, all the better to make use of the complimentary smartphone each guests gets, which is loaded with a comprehensive digital guide to London’s attractions as well as allowing free local and international calls, too, plus unlimited mobile internet throughout your stay, all included in the room tariff. An in-room tablet controls your concierge service, too.
Below you’ll find our Top Ten Things to Do In London this spring/summer, which we researched personally, ascending The Shard, discovering historic Sicily, rather than downloaded, but you get the drift.
Back at base, each of Eccleston Square’s 39 rooms – split across three categories; City Queen, City King and Signature King – have either garden or city views; some have private courtyards, others beautiful balconies like ours.
Downstairs in a slightly narrow space (albeit equipped with every technical appurtenance) you take breakfast or check out the small-plate fine dining of Tapas 37. Head Chef is Matt Laville who trained at Arzak in San Sebastian and worked at with Gordon Ramsey at Claridge’s and Maze before helping Jason Atherton open one of my faourite London restaurants, Pollen Street Social.
It’s a track record recognisable immediately from the food on the (small) plate. Stand-out dishes from a leisurely lunch to check out the new spring menu included crispy stuffed courgette flower with truffle honey (£6), tuna ceviche Nicoise (£7) and a curious sticky pork beignet (£6.50), which had all the trappings of a sweet donuts but revealed dense tangle of what the French might call ‘le pulled pork’. All this was followed by a tarte tatin that vies with the best I’ve ever had, better than any I’ve essayed in France itself. The wine list is small and cannily chosen, far too tempting when a busy day lay ahead.
I’m so much more at home with this kind of thing than technology. I did appreciate the the bathroom’s see-through glass wall and door that frosted over at the push of a button to spare blushes or whatever, but on our departure I handed in my 3D glasses with a sense of shame. Somehow I had failed the boutique cool test.
10 THINGS TO DO IN LONDON THIS SPRING/SUMMER
The hot ticket
The Great Fire is one of London’s defining moments and to mark its 350th anniversary the Museum of London is staging Fire! Fire!, an interactive exhibition tracing what sparked it, leaving 100,000 homeless, and the city’s rise from the ashes. It is full of rarely seen 17th century artefacts and personal accounts. Early on the morning of September 3, 1666, Lord Mayor of London Thomas Bloodworth awoke to news of fire rampaging though the city. ‘Pish!’ he’s said to have reacted before dozing off again. Museum of London,150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN. Jul 23-Apr 2017. From £8 adults, £5 children online.
Live the Dream
While we are on anniversaries, celebrate Shakespeare 400 in the authentic surroundings of the Globe Theatre on the South Bank. Emma Rice’s first production as artistic director, the appropriately magical Midsummer Night’s Dream, runs until September 11. Note “this production contains naughtiness of a sexual nature”. Shakespeare’s Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, Bankside, SE1 9DT. Get tickets here.
Slide rules
Thrillseekers, get ready for the world’s longest helter skelter, 178m of transparent tunnel slide, due to open at the ArcelorMittal Orbit in the Olympic Park on June 24. This collaboration between Anish Kapoor and Carsten Höller is billed as the UK’s tallest work of public art, but don’t let that put you off – just shut your eyes and off you dizzily whizz. ArcelorMittal Orbit, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 3 Thornton St, E20 2AD. Adult £10, child £5, family tickets available. Buy them in advance here.
Stratospheric cocktails atop The Shard
You can, of course, get much higher in London by ascending The Shard and paying serious attention to The Circle of Life, a set of 18 original cocktails created by head bartender Christian Maspes at the Shangri-la Hotel’s GŌNG, the highest bar in Europe with views to match. The new cocktail menu is arranged within four themed sections, representing different stages of life, but life has never come so exotically garnished. Our later-in-life recommendation (while staring down at a tiny Tower Bridge): Remembering Grasshopper – cocoa washed Jensen’s dry, evergreen purée, yoghurt liqueur, lollipop. With a green-gem garnish of fossilized crickets.” GŌNG at Shangri-La Hotel, Level 52, The Shard, London. 31 St Thomas Street, SE1 9QU. www.gong-shangri-la.com. There is usually a £30 minimum spend per visitor, and tables are for 1.5 hours.
Wine, dine and be a merry Rotter
So many new places open in the capital it’s hard to keep up, but if we have to make one newcomer recommendation let it be Noble Rot in Bloomsbury, which combines a fantastic wine list (the owners edit iconoclastic wine mag Noble Rot) with, in the restaurant behind the chintz curtain, some sublimely simple food such as rabbit saddle or slip sole. Consultant is Stephen Harris chef/patron of the Michelin-starred Sportsman near Whitstable, where Noble Rot chef Paul Weaver once worked. Noble Rot Wine Bar and Restaurant, 51 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3NB. 0207 242 8963 http://noblerot.co.uk/
And if one place to eat isn’t enough...
The five-day Taste of London is an epic introduction to the capital’s food and drink scene. Sample signature small-plate dishes from over 40 of London’s most exciting restaurants, including Duck & Waffle, Club Gascon, Roka, The Cinnamon Club, Sea Containers. Savour chef demos from culinary superstars such as Pierre Koffman, Nathan Outlaw, Bruno Loubet, Vivel Singh and Jose Pizzaro. Factor in countless snacking windows, interactive masterclasses, gourmet shopping opportunities by the basketload and you may contemplate a lie-down in a corner of the beautiful park setting. Taste of London Festival June 15-19. Regent’s Park NW1 4NR. Prices for a 4-5 hour session start at £16 plus booking fee. Get tickets here.
Botticelli Reimagined. Picture: Victoria and Albert MuseumBotticelli Reimagined
It was a toss-up between this and another V&A blockbuster (on until March 12), Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear but ‘Venus’, who wasn’t big on lingerie, won out. Sandro Botticelli, acclaimed during his lifetime (1445-1510) fell out of fashion for 300 years but since his 19th century rediscovery his celebrated images have had an immense influence on art, design, fashion and film – all celebrated in this show, which includes over 50 original works by Botticelli and reinterpreations by the likes of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, René Magritte, Elsa Schiaparelli, Andy Warhol and Cindy Sherman. V&A, Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL. Free admission. Botticelli exhibition, £15. Book here.
Sicily: Culture and Conquest
We were lucky enough to make it to this landmark exhibition on its opening day (it closes on August 14). It’s an epic survey bringing 4,000 years of Sicily’s cosmopolitan history vividly to life, through everything from a glistering Greek libation bowl to a luminous Norman mosaic. It shows how the Mediterranean’s largest island was shaped by successive waves of invaders – Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, who forged a cultural identity unlike any other. Biggest eye-opener for us was the golden cultural age under Norman rule in the 11th to 13th centuries. Room 35, British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG. £10, members and under-16s free. Get tickets here.
Who needs The Jungle Book?
Land of the Lions is ZSL London Zoo’s newest and most breathtaking exhibit “transporting visitors from the heart of London to India’s vibrant Sasan Gir, where they can get closer than ever before to mighty Asiatic lions” (only 500 of which remain in the world). Three walkways cover the 2,500sqm space with immersive Indian-themed areas to explore – including a train station, crumbling temple clearing, high street and guard hut. Plus in an interactive Indian adventure help forest rangers deal with a ‘lion-emergency’ in the Gir Forest – and lend a hand to the veterinary team who come to the rescue. ZSL London Zoo, Outer Circle, Regent’s Park, NW1 4RY. Spring. https://www.zsl.org. Adults £24.25, children £17.60.Save up to 10 per cent on family tickets. Buy them here.
And another kind of wildlife park
Lovebox weekend is celebrating its 10th anniversary with its usual mixture of music and mayhem in Victoria Park. Founded 10 years ago by Groove Armada and still rooted in its dance heritage but this year’s line-up is pretty eclectic – headliners are Major Lazer on the Friday and LCD Soundsystem on the Saturday, when the special guest will be George Clinton (above), reconnecting to the funk mothership. Revellers, you have been warned: don’t attempt the Bump Roller Disco after over-appreciating Jose Cuervo’s Tequila Town. Lovebox, Victoria Park, E3 5TB. Buy tickets here.
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