Why stay in a five-star hotel when you can have your own fully-functioning apartment with kitchen, dining table and access to a huge, beautiful garden? Not a single reason we can think of off the top of our heads.
And it’s not even like the five-star hotel isn’t totally gorgeous. Because it is, with all the Relais & Châteaux and Iconic seals of approval you could want. 11 Cadogan Gardens is its name and it’s one of those huge red-brick buildings just around the back of Sloane Square, so handy for the Saatchi, Kings Road and all the new shopping loveliness of Duke of York’s HQ and Peter Jones. The Royal Court Theatre is just across the square and there’s a new pedestrianised little road with loads of eateries, including the hotel’s own Hans’ Bar and Grill.
Inside the hotel, you’ll find Edwardian grandeur… and lots of it. The atmosphere is dark and snooky – refreshing on a hot day, cosy on a chilly one – with open fires and club chairs and antique stairways lined with gold-framed paintings and parquet floors and libraries lined with books and all the right colours on the walls.
But there is usually a twist, whether it’s a striking tropical wallpaper popping over there or an unexpectedly modern restaurant through there. The rooms come with or without twists: some seem costume-drama perfect with huge golden beds with canopies while others are fresher and more contemporary. There’s even a semi-secret mirrored ballroom. But of course there is!
But while we get to enjoy all that’s on offer in that hotel – newspapers in front of the fire, drinks at The Chelsea Bar, where the martinis are perfection – we are at an entirely different address just around the corner. Oh they’ll bring room service (they even brought over a cork screw!) but you’re totally independent with no one watching any of your comings or your goings.
Again, the grandeur of the building is tempered by clean, modern interiors with even the parquet looking fresh and almost Scandi. Slapping you in the face as you walk into the main lounge area – with its fireplace and sofas and dining area – is the view of the private shared garden out the back. Down some steps and you have the run of a huge bit of green with trees and lawns and flower beds… perfect for a cocktail party or for your guests to wander around in while you’re getting the dinner ready.
Because, with a small but perfectly formed kitchen with all the mod-cons, there’s no reason in the world you can’t throw a party. Fridges, an oven, freezer, work surfaces, pots, pans, utensils… it’s all here, ready for you to work your magic. And while you can have your breakfast basket delivered, the restaurant is less than two minutes away so why boil your own kettle, right?
Our bathroom is a funny little corridor thing but perfectly lovely – other apartments have stand-alone baths – while the bedroom, down some carpeted steps, is halfway between classic and modern and very comfy, looking out onto the street. And it does feel like your own place: you can imagine the coats on the bed when you have guests round and the chatting in the bathroom while new lipstick goes on and people crowding in the kitchen with glasses of wine while you’re trying to get things out of the oven, goddammit!
With all the tech of today – Bluetooth speakers, huge TVs – and all the charm of yesterday, the freedom to go about your business without having to say hello to anyone (we can all get a bit unsociable) and a huge M&S food hall about ten minutes’ walk away, this is the perfect apartment you’re never going to be able to afford… except for a weekend, that is.
