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In the final countdown to the wedding of the year, many luxury hotels in London report they still have plenty of space for last-minute visitors. Prince William, second in line to the throne, will be marrying his student sweetheart Kate Middleton on Friday April 29th , but unless you’re a hermit I guess I’m not telling you anything new. What is a surprise is that luxury hotels in London are not fully booked for the event.

As always for travelers, this is good news as the hotels are now throwing in all manner of extras to fill their rooms. Many London hotels have resisted the urge to hike the prices, although London is never a cheap place to stay. What guests will find is that staying two nights or more will net them all sorts of goodies.

Champagne is a popular freebie, but a Champagne Flight on the London Eye looking out over the rooftops of the city is even better. Those staying in the Cadogan Hotel junior suite get afternoon tea and a Royal Wedding dinner thrown in. One Aldwych, a cool boutique hotel in London, still has rooms available along with the classy Bermondsey Square Hotel and the Lancaster London. The May Fair is reportedly dishing out souvenir crystal champagne flutes to its guests. Even the well-located Athenaeum which is just a stroll across St James Park from Buckingham Palace still has availability, as do various Hilton hotels.

The spokesperson for the British Hospitality Association put out an upbeat message saying that London hotels still expect many visitors to arrive at the last minute to celebrate. He explained away the disappointing bookings as being because people are taking long Easter breaks which means they may find themselves at other destinations rather than London for the celebrations.

by Gillian at Luxique Luxury Hotels

If you’ve got something to celebrate, then consider inviting a few friends to share the occasion at a champagne party at the May Fair luxury hotel in London. This is the newest offering for oenophiles from the 150 bar, named after the magnum-sized 150cl bottles of bubbly which are served at this exclusive bar. The focal point is the floor-to-ceiling glass magnum fridge holding one of Europe’s finest collections of premium magnums, among them a limited edition set of Dom Pérignon bottles in vivid colours.

The 150’s latest indulgent offering is a series of semi-private magnum champagne parties which include vintage champagnes paired with a delectable menu of small plates which are prepared to complement the champagne by head chef, Silvena Rowe. The packages come in all tastes and sizes but the most decadent has to be the Dom Pérignon Vintage Rose 1998 Experience. Designed for 12 discerning guests and priced at £4,400 (approx. $6,800), the package includes four magnums of Dom Pérignon Vintage Rose 1998, paired with four delicate canapés for each guest. They include seared diver-caught scallops and sevruga caviar remoulade; crispy spiced jumbo prawns with avocado and tahini; West Mersea native oysters with sevruga caviar and finally, pomegranate glazed foie gras.

If you want to participate in the Moët & Chandon Imperial Experience, make sure you take the empty bottle home with you – it is personalized with Swarovski crystals!

Finish the party in the May Fair’s Palm Beach Casino in the Grand Art Deco Ballroom which has one of the largest gaming rooms in London. And after all that fun and bubbly you may want to book a night so you can stumble into bed in one of this luxury five star hotel’s signature suites.

by Gillian at Luxique luxury hotels

Hotels in London have begun cashing in on next year’s royal wedding by raising their prices for a room on April 29th.

Demand for accommodation has surged since the date was announced – there’s said to have been a trebling of hotel bookings. Some hotels in the capital are down to their last few rooms on the big day.

One industry source said: “Demand is extremely high, and where demand catches up with supply, prices go up. There are still some very good deals available, though people who want to be part of the celebrations need to book as soon as possible or risk missing out.”

The wedding is expected to help provide Britain with a two-year tourism boost, with
some experts believing the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be more popular than the Olympic Games in 2012.

by Andy Moreton

Book now to avoid disappointment! Luxique offers a regal selection of luxury hotels in London.

The American credited with founding the concept of the boutique hotel, Ian Schrager, is returning to London for his next project.

In a joint venture with Marriott International, Schrager is to redevelop Berners Hotel – a stalled development north of Oxford Street in the heart of the West End.

Media reports say Marriott International bought the site of the 193-bedroom hotel for more than £60 million ($97 million). It was put up for sale when the company that owned the business went into administration in August. More than 40 bids were received.

Schrager made his name with Studio 54 in New York and went on to open luxury and boutique hotels in New York such as Morgans and Gramercy Park and the Sanderson boutique hotel in London. He said: “I’m thrilled to be returning to London for an incredibly special and historic building like Berners Hotel.”

Schrager and Marriott teamed up in 2008 to create a new boutique design hotel brand called Edition and have plans to roll it out globally.

The ‘London Edition’ development on Berners Street will take up to two years. The hotel had been part refurbished, with planning permission in place. The building has been covered in scaffolding and hoardings for nearly four years.

The site dates back to 1835 when it was built as five classic houses. These were then converted into one hotel in the early 1990s, before closing in January 2006 for the proposed redevelopment and upgrade.

by Andy Moreton

Boutique or grand – Luxique has a comprehensive selection of luxury hotels in London.

A luxury hotel in London is offering the chance to sample some (but certainly not all!) of the pleasures enjoyed by the controversial writer, Oscar Wilde.

It was at the Cadogan Hotel in fashionable Knightsbridge that Wilde was arrested in 1895 and charged with gross indecency. After a notorious trial, he ended up doing two years’ hard labour in jail.

The hotel has created the ‘Green Carnation’ package, named after the dyed buttonhole Wilde was fond of wearing. Guests can stay in Room 118 (where the half-drunken writer awaited his arrest), sample a bottle of his favourite pink Perrier-Jouet champagne and choose from a menu containing some of his favourite food, which includes, oddly, Victoria sponge cake.

As a complement to the luxury hotel’s package, London Walks (www.walks.com) have organised a stroll round some of the haunts favoured by Wilde, including the sites of shops, restaurants, clubs and theatres.

by Andy Moreton

Book the Cadogan and other luxury hotels in London through Luxique.

Plans have been approved for a £40m ($61m) luxury hotel in London’s Mayfair, which has been designed in collaboration with the sculptor, Antony Gormley.

The 75-room hotel will feature a bedroom suite enclosed in a huge Gormley sculpture of a crouching man. The artist described the work, called Habitat, as ‘both playful and serious, both pragmatic and idealistic’.

One of the developers, Jeremy King, said: “Too many of London’s hotels have become homogenised, chain driven, luxury bed-factories lacking in character, individuality or, indeed, charm. This is not the plan for 8, Balderton Street.”

It’s thought the luxury hotel will open in 2013.

Gormley has become one of Britain’s most celebrated and controversial sculptors, with almost all his work taking the human body as the subject. His most famous structure is the huge Angel of The North on top of a hill in Gateshead in north-east England.

by Andy Moreton

We like to think the luxury hotels in London offered by Luxique are a bit more than bed-factories. Check out our unrivalled selection and see for yourself!

Dress codes in luxury hotels continue to make the news. Earlier this year, I reported that the Ritz in London had started turning a blind eye to jeans at breakfast time.

However, the iconic London luxury hotel Claridge’s drew the line at a retired (Scottish) doctor showing up at one of its bars in a pair of traditional German lederhosen. It was pointed out to Dr Lewis Dickinson that the hotel’s dress code did not allow shorts.

Dr Dickinson’s leather shorts were worn with the traditional jacket, hat with feather, plus shoes and long socks. “The amount of bare flesh I was showing was only my hands and head, yet there were women in the hotel wearing short skirts and exposing lots of flesh,” he said.

Dr Dickinson added that if he’d decided to wear a traditional Scottish kilt, he would probably have been allowed in. “I had just decided that this [the lederhosen] was what I wanted to wear that night and cannot see what was wrong with it. Most of the time I wear normal clothes, like suits, jeans and so forth.”

A spokeswoman at Claridges said: “This is nothing to do with nationality, but we simply have a policy of not allowing shorts to be worn in the hotel bars after 6pm. And that includes lederhosen, despite the fact that they seem to be making something of a comeback.”

by Andy Moreton, with acknowledgements to the Daily Mail

Get dressed up and have a night (or three) at Claridge’s, the art deco jewel in London’s Mayfair. Luxique can get you the best available rates.

There are many reasons for visiting the Capital and staying in one of the the top luxury hotels in London – the world-class shows, theatre, opera and ballet; the unrivalled opportunities to truly shop ‘till you drop, even at London prices; the museums and art galleries, many of which are now free to enter, and the legendary gourmet dining. There are at least 5570 restaurants in London, according to the Yellow Pages, and many more pubs and coffee houses, snack bars and take-aways so you should be able to dine somewhere different every night for the next 27 years without having to repeat yourself.

However, in reality, we are creatures of habit, and having found somewhere good to dine out, we would rather return there than risk disappointment elsewhere. Many of London’s finest restaurants are an integral part of the luxury hotels in London which are found in Capital’s most prestigious areas. With expensive taxi fares and impossible parking, it makes sense to dine where you are staying. Here are some of London’s very best restaurants, complete with adjoining luxury hotel accommodation.

One of the city’s best restaurants is tucked inside the five star Connaught Hotel in Mayfair. Although you may feel out of place without a jacket and tie, Hélène Darroze, one of France’s most distinguished chefs has brought her Michelin-star cuisine to London for a gastronomic experience to savor. The more informal Espelette restaurant also offers signature dishes by Hélène, along with delectable afternoon teas.

Equally Michelin star-studded is the Foliage restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental. Nestled in one of the top luxury hotels in London, the restaurant enjoys a Royal Park on either side hotel and al fresco dining on the terrace in the warm summer evenings is an unrivalled experience. Attention to detail includes the waiting staff collecting leaves from Hyde Park and placing them beneath the bespoke glass plates to truly set the scene for an amazing experience.

The five star luxury Berkeley Hotel in London boasts possibly the finest dining with not one but two award-winning restaurants. Gordon Ramsay takes on New York’s café scene with his Boxwood Café whilst Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley presents a total food euphoria.

Finally, be prepared to be dazzled by an exciting international restaurant set in one of the premier luxury hotels in London. Nobu offers a delectable Peruvian-Japanese menu in the Metropolitan Hotel. Founded by world-renowned chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa and presided over by Executive Chef Mark Edwards, this specialty cuisine cannot fail to impress. Coupled with the legendary service and contemporary interior design, this luxury hotel in London’s Park Lane makes a truly refreshing place to dine and to stay.

by Luxique - A Unique Collection of Luxury Hotels in London

London is a fabulous place to visit for a weekend, a week or a month. There is so much to see and do, and the key to a great London experience is to stay right in the heart of the action. Ideally you want everything to be just a stone’s throw from your door. Here are a few suggestions for luxury hotels in London which are perfectly located to enhance your visit, whatever you want to do.

Durley House, Knightsbridge
This chic boutique hotel is the perfect pick for Shopaholics. Smack-bang in the middle of Knightsbridge, it is just steps from Sloane Square, the mecca for all fashionistas. Harvey Nich’s and Harrod’s are just along the road, so you don’t have to carry those bags too far.

Covent Garden Hotel, Soho
Interior designer types will adore any of Kit Kemp’s stylish makeovers. Covent Garden Hotel is just one of her superb creations in London. The rooms all have the trademarks of this designer legend; English country fabrics and four-poster beds enhance the richly decorated rooms. Antiques mix with contemporary artwork and look wonderful whilst breaking all the rules. Request one of the rooms with oversized windows and views over the rooftops – a great sight to wake up to.

One Aldwych, Covent Garden
Perfectly located for West End theatres, entertainment and nightlife, this Condé Nast Gold List star is within easy staggering distance of all the major theatres, the Royal Opera House and the National Gallery. One of the most exciting contemporary luxury hotels in London, One Aldwych is more than just a bed for the night.

Dukes, Westminster
This fine boutique hotel makes you a close neighbour of HRH at Buckingham Palace, which is just around the corner. Whitehall, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye are all nearby making this a great choice for sightseeing guests. This ‘Leading Small Hotels of the World’ member is a thoroughly British institution from the clubby bar to the garden conservatory.

Threadneedles Hotel, City
Appropriately located in a former bank building, Threadneedles Hotel is right on the edge of the City, mixing business beautifully with pleasure. This unique luxury hotel is considered by Condé Nast to be one of the top 50 luxury hotels in the world, with its the refined atmosphere and fabulous stained glass dome in the former banking hall. The Penthouse has fabulous views of the City and St Paul’s Cathedral from the fifty-foot long terrace.

by Luxique Luxury Travel

A hotel with rooms as small as 50 sq ft. (15 sq m) is to be built as part of the redevelopment of a famous London tourist spot.

Plans have been approved for the 495–room hotel at the Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus. It will take its inspiration from Japanese ‘pod’ hotels, which have capsules for rooms to make use of space in crowded cities.

The Trocadero, originally built as a restaurant, is an entertainment space with shops and a cinema. The hotel will be located over seven floors behind its Grade II listed facade. Corridors will run round the building and rooms grouped around internal courtyards. Rates are expected to be £20–40 ($32–65) a night.

Wan Yau, director of architects Dexter Moren Associates, said:

“The lighting, temperature and even TV channels can be pre-programmed, enabling every guest to have a personalised ‘pod’ experience. We wanted to create an oasis away from the bustling activity [of London].”

When work starts on the site later this year, two neighbouring theatres – the Apollo and the Lyric – have asked for extra soundproofing so their productions aren’t ruined. It’s hoped to have the Trocadero Hotel ready in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique has a hand-picked selection of the finest luxury London hotels – some large and traditional, some small and chic (but not that small!)