Courtesy of Gekko (more on them in a minute) I was invited along on a tour of the 5 star Langham Hotel opposite Broadcasting House on Portland Place earlier this evening.
Originally built in 1865, the hotel underwent its most recent refurbishment in April 2009 at the cost of a cool £80m… Along with complimentary champagne and canapes, and a potted history of the hotel (including the fact that the first lifts to be found in a hotel were installed here), the staff were very keen to give us a guided tour to introduce us to its delights, and I wasn’t going to say no…
The Artesian bar that we started the evening in was impressive enough but the Landau restaurant was absolutely magnificent, and required a walk through a temperature-controlled ‘wine corridor’ to reach it. Both of these rooms showed some very elegant design touches by architect David Collins, who is responsible for many of London’s most chic and exclusive bars and restaurants, and if that wasn’t enough, even more breathtaking was the enormous Palm Court lounge, This part of the hotel has what I can only describe as a 1920s feel, but with a very contemporary twist – its very unusual and unique, there’s no doubt about it. Apparently the aftenoon teas that they serve here are legendary (and not fantastically expensive) although I’m not sure that you could say the same about the accommodations! The single bedroom suite that we were invited to look around would require you to hand over about £1500 for a single night, and even the standard rooms come in at around £300. That being said, if you can afford it (I suppose that a very special occasion might make a standard room worth considering I guess…), you certainly get what you pay for in terms of ambience and style. The Langham just oozes understated and effortless elegance, and it makes the 4 star hotel chains that I regularly stay in look distinctly amateur by comparison.
So just to mention the people who invited me along – Gekko. Rather than having to scroll down through long lists of hotels, as you do on lastminute.com or laterooms.com, on the Gekko site you specify what you’re looking for in a hotel at your destination and they then try to find a close match that fits your budget. Although they do include hotels such as the Langham, it isn’t all high end, as there are a fair number of hostels and 2 and 3 star hotels in there, but the site does seem to work well in taking some of the effort out of choosing the right place to stay. They are price competitive too (I checked!) so on my next trip abroad I may well visit them first – it’s certainly worth having a look around the site if only to try out their ‘bespoke’ selection method, as I’ve certainly not seen this done online before.
About Pete Stean
