For a traditionally British stay in London, look no further than Mayfair’s Chesterfield hotel.
Mayfair reigns supreme as the hotel capital of London. While it’s best known for its grand dames (The Ritz, The Connaught, Claridges), the neighbourhood also has a significant scattering of smaller more intimate hotels. They include Dukes, The Stafford, Flemings, and of course, the Chesterfield.
The first in hotelier Bea Tollman’s Red Carnation portfolio, the Chesterfield is a Mayfair stalwart that serves up an increasingly endangered blend of old school charm and members club style. Situated in a sweet spot between Curzon Street and Berkeley Square, the hotel’s location balances extreme convenience and a quiet, tucked-away feel. Doormen in top hats welcome patrons into a baby-grand lobby of wood panelling, marble, chesterfield sofas, and canine oil paintings. This décor continues through the hotel’s restaurant, bar, and library lounge. The obligatory afternoon tea is served in an airy conservatory, and until November 2017 is Willy Wonka themed.
By Mayfair standards this hotel is still a new kid on the block, having been open for just thirty years or so. Though in that time it has enticed a small army of loyal regulars who come time and again for the personalised service, sumptuous bedrooms, and what many have described as “the best dover sole in London”. The Chesterfield provides an affordable taste of Mayfair, and guests keep coming for its quintessentially British hospitality.
Sleep
The hotel’s rooms and suites (107 in total) are all individually designed using hand-selected furniture and high quality fabrics. Decorative inspirations include an English country garden, safaris and the savannah, and the smart tailoring of nearby Saville Row. Specific room styles can be requested at the time of booking.
Bathrooms are generally small but spotlessly clean and beautifully appointed. Most manage to fit in a bathtub for a proper relaxation session with the Elemis products. Though the Chesterfield has no spa, pampering can still be arranged with a number of in-room treatments available with prior arrangement.
Drink
Perfect for pre or post dinner drinks, the Terrace Bar improves on the typical bar offering with a gin experience menu as well as a selection of molecular cocktails. These curiously presented drinks include an Eton Mess cocktail accessed with a small hammer, and an amaretto sour encased in a bubble. They will please drinkers with a sweet tooth, and those bored of overly sophisticated (read boring) hotel cocktails.
Eat
Michelin-aspiring restaurants completely dominate Mayfair’s food scene. The Chesterfield’s dining room, Butlers, offers an antidote for when one tires of haute cuisine. An attractive space with oak lined walls, starched white table clothes, and deep red velvet chairs, it’s another tick for the hotel’s old school credentials.
The menu feels distinctly warm, almost homely. It is littered with recipes devised by the hotel’s founder Bea, including chicken noodle soup, Cobb salad, and honeycomb ice cream. To start we chose a smoked salmon dish and Orkney scallops. The butter soft salmon came from top London smokers H. Forman and was carved table side, then served with lemon, capers, and bread. Accompanying the scallops was a delicious pork bonbon and a pleasing tanginess from some slices of granny smith apple.
Main courses include various grill options and tempting classics such as roast of the day and stroganoff, but we were firmly set on the Dover Sole. Prepared either meuniere or grilled, and deboned at the table, it is the restaurant’s star dish and a pleasure to eat. The food here is by no means modern nor particularly inventive – and it’s not trying to be. Instead it provides a refined menu of comforting classics, served with the upmost of care.
Rooms from £195 per night.