excellent mayfair hotel

[tartangal]

We stayed at the Chesterfield Mayfair, former home of the Earl of Chesterfield pre May 21 Baltic cruise. It was the perfect place to arrive weary from travelling 9000 miles and without a grounding in British money. The head concierge, with whom I had corresponded via email in advance, couldn't have been kinder and more helpful. I found out that English pounds I had saved from a previous (1997) trip were no longer viable English currency as all the money had been recalled about a year ago. I had been tipping with this money and was horrified when I found out. The staff smoothed and soothed during our stay, providing a big enough car (new Mercedes van) for a family of 5 with cruise luggage to collect us from the airport, arranging for the Hop-0n, Hop-Off bus tour, even theater tickets to the hottest show.

Rooms were small as is expected in London but charmingly furnished, with luxurious afghans placed on the beds for catnaps. Breakfast at 18 GBP was terribly expensive and we found a reasonable and good little cafe in nearby Shepherd's Market the second day (I think about 5 GBP) Dined at an 18th century tavern there one evening and thoroughly enjoyed it.

[azoria]

I LOVE the Chesterfield Mayfair. When I took my mom to London a few years ago, I wanted to stay at a luxurious yet quaint boutique type hotel that was full of British charm. We stayed there and you are right, the head concierge is wonderful!! The year before, my husband and I stayed at the Four Seasons and I hated it. It felt more like a business hotel and lacked the charm that the Chesterfield has. I spotted the hotel when my husband and I were walking to dinner. I wrote it down and took my mom there the next year. Since we only ate breakfast there, we thought the buffet was reasonable for British prices. The food was really good in the mornings..especially the fruit salad.

[gopackgo]

Tartangal,

 

I am so glad to read your input on the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel because we will be staying there for 3 nights in early August. I spent hours and hours comparing London hotels so I am glad to hear your report.

 

How did you get to the hotel from the airport? Did you have a car pick you up and did you arrange this via the hotel? Do you remember what the cost was?

 

What show or shows did you see while in London? Which would you recommend?

 

Any other details on the hotel or area that you think would be of interest, please just let us know. Thanks, again.

 

Ginny

[brigidfreeman]

Ginny: I'm thinking of booking that hotel next May 2006. Very interested in your opinion after your visit. Thanks, brigid-

[tartangal]

Tartangal,

 

I am so glad to read your input on the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel because we will be staying there for 3 nights in early August. I spent hours and hours comparing London hotels so I am glad to hear your report.

 

How did you get to the hotel from the airport? Did you have a car pick you up and did you arrange this via the hotel? Do you remember what the cost was?

 

What show or shows did you see while in London? Which would you recommend?

 

Any other details on the hotel or area that you think would be of interest, please just let us know. Thanks, again.

 

Ginny[/quote

 

Ginny

I, too, spent many many hours comparing hotels in advance and am so happy to be able to give you a good report on the Chesterfield. After having checked out other forms of transporation from Heathrow to the hotel I ultimately opted to use a van that the hotel arranged for us since there were 5 of us with cruise luggage. It was SO wonderful after a tiring trip (took the early a.m. Virgin Atlantic flight from NY) to see our driver waiting for us with a sign. It was 80 GBP plus tip, which was very close to what the other limo companies I had checked were charging. (Now, however, I have read on this site about Eddie Manning's limo service which is a real bargain.) The rooms at the Chesterfield are small, so be prepared. Two of us girls rooming together could barely find room to lay out our suitcases and walk around them. But the decor is utterly charming and cozy, and the size didn't bother us. I really wanted to experience tea in the conservatory once but it was not open for tea the day that we had time for it. I believe we were told it was going to be used for a private function that afternoon. We did enjoy the breakfast there, and opted for a la carte when we saw the price of the buffet. Glad to read the buffet was very good. Shepherd's Market is nearby-about 5 minutes walk, with numerous interesting shops of all kinds and a plethora of restaurants. One that merited a photo was the Polish-Mexican bistro! We ate at the 18th century Shepherd's Tavern, upstairs in their panelled dining room and had a nice pub-style meal. Even though it was advertised (with a sign on the wall when we entered) as a smoke-free dining room, the smoke filtered up from the bar below. (In the U.S. it would never have been called smoke free, but I was prepared for lots of smokers in the U.K. from previous visits.) I heard the concierge tell one nattily dressed elderly guest that for a good haircut he should go just around the corner to Geo. Trumper-only the most famous barber in London! We saw it when we walked back from a tube station, and I wish I'd gone in as their products are world famous. Also I should have realized from previous visits that Fortnum and Mason wasn't far, and I dearly wanted to shop and have tea there. With a large extended family group in tow it wasn't easy to get to all my favorite places.

We did get lost on the way back from the Bond Street tube one night, but turned out to have ultimately taken the most direct route back to the hotel. I thought Green Park tube would have been closer, but someone later said Bond St. was indeed the closest. It was a pretty long walk, but my memory of the time it took was probably affected by the walk we had to and through Monument Station from the Tower of London after the Ceremony of the Keys at night before getting to Bond St.

As for shows, the night we returned from the cruise I took my Dad, an Andrew Lloyd Weber fan, to Woman in White for which I'd been told we'd never be able to get tickets the day we wanted to go. (By the way, the concierge had tickets available when we first arrived in London before the cruise but was candid in saying the ticket agency they use charges a hefty premium and we'd do better to get them at the theater.) We used the half price booth at Leicester Square, and the second kiosk I tried had tickets. But be careful, as I have posted elsewhere, and ask to see a diagram of the theater to check that your seats won't be up near the ceiling as our were. (You can rent opera glasses at your seat-at least at the Palace Theater-if you have 50p.) We enjoyed it very much, although I was initially surprised they used film to create the backgrounds. It was effective, though. In retrospect I think my elderly father would have preferred a show with spectacular sets and costumes and special effects. Performances were top notch, and I enjoyed seeing Anthony Andrews even though he was unrecognizable in the role of the portly Italian Count Fosco. I also enjoyed seeing Edward Petherbridge in a smaller role. He played Lord Peter Wimsey on a BBC series in the 1980's. My niece and sister also went to the Far Pavilions, but said it didn't measure up to the Weber musical and my sister left after the first act. We ran across our ship tablemates after they came out from seeing Mary Poppins. They said it was terrific and I know the lead actress won an award as best actress in a musical. Someone else posted on this board that Woman in Black, a ghost story, I believe, is superior to the Weber musical, and has been playing for years.

Hope this helps. Have a fabulous trip!

[gopackgo]

Tartangal,

 

Thanks again for the detailed reply to my questions! I think our room price includes a buffet breakfast, but I may be wrong. Will have to check it out. I opted for a junior suite eventhough the cost was a little higher. We would go nuts in a really small room for 3 days with all our "stuff"!!

 

Glad to hear there are lots of dining and drinking options nearby at Shephard's Market!

 

Brigid,

 

I will try to remember to post my impressions on this board when we get back.

 

Ginny

[tartangal]

Glad to be of help. I think the junior suite is an excellent idea. Great if you managed to get a buffet breakfast included in your room rate! Wish I'd really studied a detailed map of that area of Mayfair before leaving so that I would know where we were in relation to places like Fortnum and Mason. We weren't far from Trumpers which I know is on Jermyn Street. And I thought Fortnums was down the street from Trumpers, but I still don't know for sure how close it was. We had a 12 city itinerary including our cruise ports and I just wasn't able to devote that much time to researching everything I would have liked.

[kinghw]

Hi tartangal!

 

 

Well Pat and I are the tablemates you ran into as you were coming out of Woman in White and we were exiting Mary Poppins- it really was a great production and the sets were fantastic. I can't remember a musical in our (admitedly limited) West End/Broadway experience where the cast connected with the audience so thoroughly. The actress who plays the title role, whose name unfortunately escapes me now, deserves any awards she might have received.

 

We very much enjoyed dining with you and your family for two weeks and hope everyone returned home fine and is doing well. We stayed at the Park Lane Hilton (used some old Hilton points) after the cruise, Its a functional business oriented hotel without much charm but was well located. We made it to Fortnum and Mason Saturday afternoon-Pat was on a mission to find some cute charms to hang on wine glasses-the location is at the other end of New Bond Street from Bond St station on Piccadilly roughly midway between the Piccadilly and Green Park tube stations. Its close to being across the street from the Piccadilly entrance to the Burlington Aecade,

 

We had tea at the Dorchester on Park Lane on Saturday afternoon before heading to the play--they do a great tea comparable and perhaps even a little better experience than the Ritz, where we took tea last time we were in London about 3 years ago.

 

Take care and many more great cruises for you and your family!

[tartangal]

Henry and Pat,

What a nice surprise! We enjoyed travelling with you also and comparing notes about our tours each day. Fun to hear the details of your London stay. Tea at the Dorchester is justly renowned from your description, and seems the ideal way to fortify ones self prior to a show. I will share your posting with rest of the family. Thanks to you I now frequent the Fodors forum also!

Diane