Detailed Review
If you’re in search of a small elegant five star hotel in London that’s replete with luxurious finishes, grand interiors and staff on hand to satisfy your every whim, look no further than the Draycott, a luxury London Hotel situated between Chelsea and Knightsbridge.
With understated elegance and authentic English grandness, the Draycott is more than just a five star town house hotel in London. Formerly known as Cliveden Town House, it occupies three red-brick Edwardian homes just around the corner from Chelsea’s Sloane Square. Staying in this elegant town house will evoke a sense of old world charm and elegance for which the city of London is so famous.
As a guest at the Draycott, you’ll enjoy rest and respite in luxurious, tastefully decorated suites. Most of the rooms also have their own cosy fireplace and some have a bay window that overlooks the peaceful and private garden below. As with any five star hotel, London’s Draycott provides impeccable service: discreet staff will ensure that as a guest, the Draycott Hotel becomes your London home.
Press Quotes
"Once inside, the Draycott is rather like the splendid home of a rich uncle. It’s three Edwardian houses knocked together to create a very English hotel: all antique prints, squashy sofas, silk pleated lampshades and real fires." The Times 05
Independent Reviews
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"Comfortable and quintessentially English, the five-star townhouse borders a leafy garden square in the heart of the capital city."
The Draycott
By Angela Moore
The Draycott is tricky to find, as it’s tucked away in the maze of roads behind Sloane Square that are all called Cadogan Gardens. It’s a relief, then, to open the door to a hotel that’s as welcoming as the fatly overstuffed sofas in the sitting room, which opens into a green and lovely garden square. This room is a wonderful place to come for tea, which the hotel serves free to all residents at four every day. Tea comes in pretty china pots, with biscuits, and without any ridiculous tail-coated Ritz-esque formality. The hotel follows this up with champagne, served to residents at drinks time, and hot chocolate, served before bedtime. How thoughtful!
Like teatime, the tone at the Draycott is traditional English with an emphasis on comfort and affable, personal service. Sofas come in Laura Ashley prints, washed satin and velvet; there are pleasantly indifferent landscapes on the walls. There are occasional touches of fun – a riding hat on the hatstand, urns full of apples at the doors. There are also beautiful pieces of furniture scattered through the hotel – here an enormous polished walnut dresser, there a leather wing chair.
The hotel offers a full concierge desk (run by an employee of 15 years’ standing!) and prides itself on personal, ‘bespoke’ service.
The rooms
The hotel has 36 rooms, of which 11 are suites and six are singles. Rooms are named after famous British characters connected with the stage, from Sheridan to Carroll via Gilbert and Sullivan. (Each room has a biography of the personality in question, or their collected works, among the collection of immensely readable books).
Suites are spacious, high-ceilinged and extremely well-appointed in traditional style and soothing colours and fabrics. Some have separate sitting rooms, some come with kitchenettes; many have fireplaces. Amenities are five-star, from classy marble bathrooms to in-room aircon. Beds are ziplock, though clients can request ‘proper’ doubles and kings; there are also half-testers and four-posters. There are beautiful Edwardian features in ceiling decorations and high, handsome windows. Some rooms have tiny balconies overlooking the gardens. Standard double rooms are on the lower ground floor but manage not to be too gloomy.
The Draycott is an excellent choice for families, not only because of the gardens and kitchenettes but because it offers single rooms with bunkbeds, adjoining doubles and suites. The hotel also offers some excellent children’s packages with good rates and add-ons such as playstations and baby-sitting. It is also worth checking for other imaginative package deals, such as the Shopping Package, which involves a private car, a personal shopper and a five-hour spending spree in London’s best.
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