Detailed Review
The Capital is a unique townhouse hotel that offers luxury accommodation and personal service in the heart of Knightsbridge. Created by its Scottish proprietor, David Levin, 34 years ago, it is, to this day, a family-run hotel. With 49 suites and rooms, David Levin’s vision was to create a grand hotel in miniature. It is for this reason that every piece of furniture, work of art and accoutrement in the hotel is hand-picked by, or from the private collection of the Levin family. The exquisite interiors incorporate the work of some of Britain’s best-known designers. The beds were specially commissioned from Savoir, the mattresses hand-made and the sheets the finest Egyptian cotton.
The Capital Restaurant is legendary. From its opening in 1971, it became one of the first hotel restaurants in Britain to be awarded a Michelin star. In 2001 the restaurant and Head Chef Eric Chavot were awarded a second Michelin star which is retained to this day. M. Chavot’s critically acclaimed, French-inspired cuisine is perfectly complimented by the renowned, extensive and diverse wine list and the exemplary service. The restaurant and bar have recently undergone major re-design and now sport a suave, elegant, luxurious yet understated look inspired by the 1940s. Regularly attracting discriminating gourmets from around the world, both are a favourite meeting place. The Capital offers three private function rooms accommodating up to 24 people for any occasion at breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The Capital is situated in a quiet, yet central, residential street just a few steps from Harrods, Harvey Nichols and the designer shops and stylish boutiques of Sloane Street and Beauchamp Place. The Royal Parks, including Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens and St. James’s, plus the renowned South Kensington Museums are on the doorstop. Guests have access to a local exclusive health and beauty spa or the afternoons can be spent relaxing in the comfortable sitting room with a traditional English afternoon tea. On-site covered parking is also available.
Press Quotes
"The Capital provides an unfogettable dining experience in its two-Michelin-starred restaurant." Conde Nast Johansens 07
Independent Reviews
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“Around the corner from Harrods is this luxuriously intimate address, with a great restaurant and friendly, efficient staff.”
The Capital Hotel
By Jenny Pidgeon
The Capital is a small but perfectly formed example of elegant English luxury. Although it has 48 rooms and suites, it retains an intimate atmosphere and one is immediately made to feel at home by the courteous and smiling staff. The service they provide is faultless, from the moment the doorman greets you as you round the corner from Harrods after another busy day shopping at Harvey Nicks and Sloane Street. The Concierge will wangle you tables at top restaurants and tickets at sold-out shows, nothing being too much trouble for the Capital staff. They will even find you a jogging partner should the need arise. This hotel is geared to those seeking a gracious and opulent refuge from the rigours of Knightsbridge life anyone seeking trendy minimalism and a DVD player in every room should look elsewhere.
As you enter the small, wooden-floored lobby, your shopping bags will be whisked away, leaving you to choose between relaxing with a cup of tea and the paper in the cosy sitting room or heading up to your room and collapsing on the fantastically comfortable super-kingsize beds. The rooms are all thoughtfully designed, with fabric from Ralph Lauren and personally chosen original paintings and antique furniture. Some of the rooms feature cool blue and cream stripes, whilst others are rather overwhelmingly floral with chairs, curtains and bed covers all competing for ones attention. The brown carpet struck the only wrong note in the reviewers room, and this was forgiven as soon as she had tested the handmade mattress on the bed, enclosed in pure Egyptian cotton sheets. The bathrooms are small, even in the suites, but they are lavishly marble-clad and glistening, featuring Swedish toiletries and plump bathrobes.
Attention to detail is clear throughout the hotel in the little touches such as the complimentary umbrella that you will find tucked away in one of the many cupboards in the bedrooms. If you can, reserve one of the six rooms in the older Edwardian wing with its lovely oval staircase which creaks reassuringly as you climb and is decorated with wooden carvings. The newer wing is not quite so characterful, but similar designs and the same luxurious feel in the rooms serve to unify the two parts of the hotel. Ask for a room at the front, looking out onto the quiet residential street, as those at the back unfortunately give onto scaffolding and noisy generators which whirr their way through the thick curtains through the night.
The beds are not the only reason to come to the Capital it also boasts a 2 Michelin starred restaurant. Book well ahead for dinner here as the word has spread that it is one of the best places to eat in London, small and relaxed but retaining the elegant formality seen throughout. The furniture is by David Linley, the room decorated by Nina Campbell (look out for the intriguing turned-wooden pieces on the large mirrors which face each other across the room), the fantastic food by the famed Eric Crouillere-Chavot and the wine chosen by Sommelier of the Year 2002 Matt Wilkin. Dinner costs around 50 excluding wine, which is produced on the family vineyard in the Loire. The Capital also makes its own preserves which can be purchased at exorbitant prices from the lobby. Although you can order prompt and delicious food on room service, eating in the dining room is well worth it for the chance to watch the chefs at work, your morning croissants aptly accompanied by subdued French chatter from the kitchen.
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