LONDON -- Choosing a hotel where I come from in central New Jersey
is easy: You've got the Days Inn or the Ramada, both within walking
distance of a 7-Eleven and a fortune-telling shop.
Spread your wings and move one exit north off the New Jersey
Turnpike, and you've got a Marriott Courtyard, new and nice but, as
I said, off the turnpike.
As a result, when I book a room for a visiting friend or
relative, I don't have to crack Star Service, troll the Internet or
bother the local visitor's bureau, if there even is one. I take the
best price and hope my guest doesn't end up in a room adjacent to
one of those rowdy all-night parties I sometimes read about in my
local weekly.
But when taking in a city like London, as I did recently, the
hotel lottery game gets tougher -- and the stakes get higher, too
-- as the price of a night's lodging begins to exceed the cost of
transatlantic air transportation.
Where to stay, then, when the galaxy of star-studded properties
seems as hazy -- and as undifferentiated -- as "a thousand points
of light" over foggy London town?
Well, here's a rule of thumb that might help: Pick a top-rated
property as much for the neighborhood in which it is located as for
the creature comforts and service that enhance its ambience.
Two such venues here where the local street scenes augment a
guest's in-room experience are the 151-room Radisson Edwardian
Mountbatten Hotel, a charming retreat in the city's raffish Covent
Garden area, and the classy, 230-room De Vere St. James's London,
located in the heart of the Mayfair district on Jermyn Street.
Both properties are more than up to the task of cosseting even
the most demanding guest in the lap of luxury, what with a
plenitude of stylish amenities, attention to detail and upscale
accommodations.
But I want to zero in on the respective geographies that should
place these two properties square on any traveler's London
itinerary.
The Radisson Edwardian Mountbatten, for starters, is located in the
Seven Dials neighborhood of Covent Garden, a throwback cluster of
seven streets -- Mercer, St. Giles, Earlham, Monmouth, Upper St.
Martin's Lane and Shorts Gardens -- radiating from a roundabout
island dominated by a majestic sundial monument.
The sundial, incidentally, tells the correct time to within 10
seconds and requires no batteries.
Declared a conservation area in 1974, Seven Dials, which also
encompasses the twists and turns of Neal Street and Neals Yard,
maintains the essence of a thriving urban village holding out
against the hustle and bustle of the big city.
Here trendy boutiques, food shops, chic restaurants and bars
(not the least of which is the Mountbatten's strategically located
Dial) line the streets.
If the goal is to go where the locals go, shop where the locals
shop and eat where the locals eat, Seven Dials is the place.
For cosmetics, visitors might be well served to check out Unit
11, the Piazza for hard-to-find cosmetics, or the pricey Kiehl's
for an assortment of creams and emoluments that promise to make a
frog beautiful.
Other stops: Neals Yard Dairy, for specialty cheeses, olive
oils, breads and picnic supplies; Neals Yard Remedies, for all that
ails you; the Tea House on Neal Street, for a break from Starbucks;
and Belgo Central, haute cuisine with a Continental accent.
And if no visit to London is complete without a night at the
theater, there is the Cambridge on Earlham, where smash hit "Jerry
Springer -- the Opera" threatens to run forever.
As for the De Vere Cavendish St. James's London, which recently
completed a major refurbishment, it is located across from the
enticing Fortnum & Mason.
Fashion-conscious male guests, in particular, will find a lot to
be said for staying close to home, as it were, on Jermyn Street,
where skilled craftsmen, tailors, haberdashers, hatmakers and
shoemakers have catered to distinguished gentlemen since 1701.
Once the stomping grounds of residents such as Isaac Newton,
William Pitt, Sir Walter Scott, William Gladstone and Lord Byron,
Jermyn Street is a destination unto itself, especially for Wal-Mart
shoppers such as I eager to spring for something of a sartorial
upgrade.
One afternoon, after window-shopping at shirtmakers Turnbull
& Asser, Harvie & Hudson, Budd Ltd., Hawes & Curtis,
Hilditch & Key and Charles Tyrwhitt -- decisions, decisions:
Ready-made or bespoke? Pima cotton or silk, French cuffs or button
sleeves? -- I took the easy way and opted to purchase, for 40
pounds (about $70), a simple, but elegant and warm, tweed cap from
the vast collection at Bates.
No smalls, mediums or larges there. All the caps and hats, many
of them of Scottish, Irish and English tweed, are precisely
measured and then fitted by the eponymous Mr. Bates or his son.
For those less concerned with body than with soul, there is the
nearby Royal Academy of Arts museum, built as the home of the Earl
of Burlington in 1720 and one of the few mansions of that area
still extant, as well as St. James's Church, completed in 1664 as
the last of architect Christopher Wren's monumental London
churches. Lectures, concerts and fairs are held here regularly.
To contact Executive Editor Joe Rosen, send e-mail to [email protected].
Package rates around London
LONDON -- The Let Loose in London rate at the Radisson Edwardian
Mountbatten runs $248, per room -guaranteed in dollars -- through
early September.
This rate, about 50% off rack, is based double occupancy and
includes full English breakfast for two.
Also, Business Class rates at 10 Radisson Edwardian Hotels in
central London available until Dec. 31 offer with early check-in
and late checkout. The rate at the Mountbatten is about $375 a
night. For more, visit www.radissonedwardian.com.
Rooms at the De Vere St. James's London cost upward of $400 a
night, with taxes. For more, visit www.thecavendish.co.uk. -- J.R.
Room Key: RADISSON EDWARDIAN MOUNTBATTEN
Address: 20 Monmouth St., Covent Garden, London WC2 9HD
England
Phone: (011) 44-207 836-4300
Fax: (011) 44-207 240-3540
Reservations: (800) 333-3333
E-mail:[email protected]
Web:www.radissonedwardian.com
Manager: Johan Scheepers
Rates: From $310-$375 per night, single, w/
breakfast, VAT.
Commission: 10%
Rooms/Suites: 143/8
Facilities: Dial bar/restaurant; fitness, meetings
rooms
Review: Smack dab on Seven Dials, the stylish
Mountbatten is a chain hotel with a hip, boutique vibe that jibes
with its trendy neighborhood of theaters, shops and galleries. West
End showgoers, club hoppers and fashion-addicted shopaholics
couldn't ask for a better locale, mere steps from still-swinging
SoHo and Covent Garden. Dial lounge and resto are "places to be
seen," with good eats to boot. Staff is friendly, professional;
concierges particularly good.