Tuesday, March 14, 2017

A Stay At Dukes Hotel

The Little Magpie Dukes London Hotel Review
Well hello there. Happy... Tuesday? That's not really a thing, is it. Anyway, today's post is brought to you from the beautiful Dukes Hotel in London, which we had the pleasure of staying in recently. I'd heard a lot about it so I was pretttty excited about the prospect of staying there, and I was not disappointed.

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We checked into the suite and it was one of those moments that make you do a little gasp. We were greeted with a beautiful big bed (complete with cuddly toy dog on top, which was genuinely one of my favourite parts of the room and now sits proudly on my bed at home) and then off of the bedroom was what can only be described as The Bathroom of Dreams. White marble everywhere. The kind of bathroom you want to spend all your time in but would never paint your toenails in. Beautiful. You're also given a little mobile phone that you can take out and about with you for calls and maps and the like, which is very, very handy, especially if you're there as a tourist. Oh, speaking of tourist, the hotel's only a 5 minute walk from Buckingham Palace! You could try and pop in for a cup of tea with the Queen, but she's normally quite busy.

Then - then - you head through to the living area and to find the above beautiful big suite, TV, dining table and big open windows with views onto the streets of London (I completely fell in love with the car you can see in the top left hand photo). Oh, and a plate of hot chocolate brownies. I was very much in my happy place.

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In the evening we headed down for a wander around the hotel - it's cosy, welcoming and beautifully decorated, kind of like a fancy version of your Nan's house - before being drawn towards the famous bar. 'Why is it famous?' I hear you ask. Well, James Bond author Ian Fleming often frequented the bar and it's said to be what inspired him to write the famous 'shaken, not stirred' line; there's even a framed and signed photo of Sean Connery hanging proudly at the entrance of the bar. So there's a bit of trivia for your next pub quiz. The bar is very sleek and sophisticated but, again, nice and welcoming at the same time and, of course, promises the best martini in the world.

Following on with the trivia, the little courtyard you see above has been traced right the way back to 1532 (!) when King Henry VIII built St James's Palace here. It's been the venue for seven royal weddings, it was where King Charles I lived prior to his execution and it was where Bloody Mary died. Oscar Wilde and Lord Byron also wrote in St James's Place, Chopin lived there while in London for his last performance... the list goes on. Definitely one for those of you who like a place with a bit of history.

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The next morning we woke up to the worst rain man has ever known, so stayed in and ordered a big breakfast up to the room - eggs, bacon, sauteed potatoes, fruit salad, you name it - and took our time with that before saying a sad goodbye to the room and heading back to the train station. 

And there we have it, a stay at the wonderful Dukes Hotel with a little taste of James Bond thrown in along the way. It's part of SLH group who look after a whole host of amazing independent hotels (I browse them almost every time I travel, sometimes just for fun when I'm not travelling) so you can also check them out here if you like.

Amy

Thank you to the Dukes Hotel for a truly lovely stay.