Hotel 41

One year ago I married my best friend. To mark this wonderful occasion, we knew we wanted to do something very special, and being in London makes it all the more exciting. Back home when looking at accommodation options for when we first moved here, I discovered Hotel 41 on Tripadvisor. It is marked as the #1 hotel for London, so of course I had to have a look. The information on their website immediately had me hooked - 5-star, in-room skylights, champagne on arrival, 'plunder the pantry'. I knew I had to experience this wonderland at some point, and what better excuse than our first wedding anniversary!

We arrived a few hours before check-in time because we had a lunch booking and wanted to store our bags at the hotel. The entrance to the hotel is rather unobtrusive, a simple glass doorway along the front of Rubens at the Palace. We were a little unsure what to do when the door wouldn't open, but the staff quickly opened it for us and welcomed us very warmly to their hotel. We gave our name and were asked to wait until another staff member could come and escort us upstairs. Sitting in the tiny lobby, we were offered a drink from a range of iced and flavoured waters and tea (I had the raspberry and blackberry water, and Mr had the orange-slice iced tea). Before we'd had a chance to finish our drinks, an extremely happy and polite man came to take our luggage and escort us upstairs via a small and beautiful elevator.

Contrary to most hotels, the heart of the hotel isn't the lobby. Rather, we wound our way past hotel rooms and through to the lounge. In the lounge is the concierge desk, food and drinks, TV's, a fireplace, bookshelves full of very old books, tables and couches. The whole set-up was so comfortable we could have spent all day there. 

The Lounge

These books were published before Australia was colonised by the British

We were escorted to the concierge desk to check-in, and were told our room would be ready in an hour. We were offered the use of a day room to freshen up as our lunch booking wasn't for another couple of hours, but because we liked the lounge so much we decided to just relax there until the room was ready. While checking-in, a champagne trolley was wheeled over with a range for us to choose from. As I'd never had rosé champagne before we went with the Gosset Grand Rosé, which may very well be the nicest thing I have ever drunk. 

Once the check-in process was complete, we settled ourselves at a chess table, thinking it a perfect way to while away the wait. Before we'd made more than a few moves each, we were offered snacks - olives, cheese twists and egg dip, to accompany our champagne. It was very satisfying to relax in this way after a hectic week at work, and not too long after we'd finished our game (with me losing of course), we were told our room was ready.

First order of business was explaining our stay - we would get breakfast the following day as per our booking, and we had full access to the pantry (this is their 'plunder the pantry', which is free for all guests). At this point in the afternoon the pantry was stocked with bags of chips and popcorn, individually wrapped chocolates, little bags of sweets or nuts or dried fruit, and a few baked goods. We were also welcome to help ourselves to bottles of water, though other drinks were charged in an honesty system, and little tubs of complementary ice cream were found in a little fridge. Those who know me best will understand how exciting it was for me to have unlimited snacks available, and the best part was they were available day and night, with different offerings depending on the time of day. After this exciting explanation, we followed the staff member with eager anticipation, and to our absolute surprise and delight we found we'd been upgraded to a junior suite. I almost cried, it was so beautiful and thoughtful. 

On the chest in the entry-way was a cake, card, and little petit-fours, arranged for us by the staff to celebrate our special day. Leading on from here was a little sitting room, complete with writing desk, fireplace, TV and mini-bar. Up the stairs was a loft bedroom, with a railing over which you could see down into the sitting room. In here was an absolutely enormous bed, another writing desk, TV and wardrobe. And a skylight. I almost cried again - I'd seen on their website that one of the rooms had the entire roof as a window to the sky, but had no idea any of the other rooms had smaller versions. The sun was streaming through in such a glorious way, but it could of course be closed off if you'd rather. Through the bedroom and into the biggest bathroom I've ever seen. I had never really understood the desire for large bathrooms, but now I do. The shower was like a little room on its own, with enough water gushing out of the shower head that it felt like being in a monsoon. The tissues on the bench were arranged as a rose. The toiletries smelled and felt divine, and every need was thought of. There was another skylight in here, just as big as in the bedroom and making the whole room feel all that more luxurious. But the shining glory of this room was the bath. The bath was so large I could lie our straight with just my head above the water, and there would be room for Mr to do the same thing at the same time. I want (need) this bath.  

As we had our lunch booking at Dinner by Heston, we decided to save our cake for when we returned, and managed to squeeze it into the mini bar. We headed out to enjoy our lunch, being just as excited to return and relax in this wonderful hotel.

Unfortunately, something at lunch made me feel very ill, so relaxing in the room after lunch was a necessity more than a choice. I knew that having some sort of mint sweet would help me feel better (it always does when I feel nauseous), so Mr went to ask the staff if they had any available while I went to lie down. They didn't have any on site, except mint tea which I knew would make me feel worse, so they sent Mr back to our room with the promise of obtaining what we needed shortly. As per their promise, a short while later we were presented with a bowl full of what seemed to be Kool Mints - exactly what I needed. I was so grateful and impressed that they went out of their way to help me out. It is such a nice feeling to be looked after.

When I was feeling a bit better, we went back out to the lounge to relax there. We settled into a lounge and read through some books - I was hooked for some reason by a book all about Wedgewood, and found it fascinating to learn the history, even though I own none of their pieces. Food seems to be just as important to this hotel as it is to me - while reading, we were presented with a tiny platter of canapés. We were still full from lunch, so this was a perfect amount of food for a simple dinner, knowing we could plunder the pantry later if we got hungry.

Soon it was time for Dr Who. The prospect of relaxing on the huge bed and watching one of our favourite shows was very enticing. On our way back to our room I asked if we could have a couple of cups of tea sent to our room. Below is what was delivered. If I could have this every time I asked for tea, I would be a very happy girl indeed. The teapot was so full of steaming loose leaf tea that we had three cups each. The taller pot was full of hot water, I assume so we could either water down the tea if it was too strong, or top up the pot for even more tea. Sugar cubes of white and brown varieties were provided in the little pot, and the cookies were of three different flavours. 

Unfortunately for us the TV refused to work properly - the sound would cut in and out exactly every two seconds. We called the concierge desk, and a technician was promptly sent to investigate. To our dismay, after almost half an hour of investigation he could not work out what was wrong, let alone fix the problem, so we missed the show. Disappointing from a 5-star hotel, but we chose to not let it dampen the weekend. 

To lighten our moods, we decided to go back out to the lounge and see what was on offer in the pantry. We made ourselves little cheese, cold meat and fruit platters, and turned down the offers of more champagne. They really like champagne here, and I can see why! After we decided we were well and truly full, and tired of the lounge, we retreated back to our room for the night. Of course that included a bath! The bath gel was so bubbly and smelled so good, and it was so satisfying to relax and look out through the skylight. 

The next morning Mr worked out how to use the coffee machine, and I regret not ordering up another pot of tea. We got ready for the day and headed down to the lounge for breakfast. Sitting at a table with fresh flowers, a white tablecloth, and tiny pots of marmalade, honey and jam was a lovely start to the day. I ordered French toast complete with maple syrup and berried, and Mr had the breakfast burger of bacon, egg and chorizo with hash-brown chips on the side. He was very amused to be offered a choice of sauces to accompany his meal, and again offered more champagne. We instead went with cloudy apple juice.

Back to our room to regretfully pack away our things and get ready to leave. We had time though to sit in our little sitting room and flick through the magazines while enjoying our anniversary cake. This was accompanied by a glass of champagne that was offered to us in lieu of the romantic turn down service they'd forgotten to do the night before. Perhaps not quite a fair trade, but it was very nice champagne. 

Overall, it was the best hotel experience I've ever had, and probably ever likely to have. If possible we will go back again someday. I could not recommend this hotel enough, it was absolute bliss for a weekend that I wish lasted a year.