Inside stunning London hotel with luxurious rooms & lavish afternoon tea fit for a royal

Scottish Sun

17 hours ago

THE Rubens welcomes you not just with style and luxury, but with genuine warmth.
From manager Leo Forte to Emmanuele and Elliott behind the New York Bar to Kamal in the tea salon to Andy in his top hat on the front door, the welcome at this high-end hotel is authentic.
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The King's Suite had a canopied four-poster bed
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Rubens At The Palace sits in central London overlooking Buckingham Palace
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The afternoon tea was fit for a royal
See, if you can find a way to fuse five-star standards with the personal touch of a family-run B&B, well you've won a watch.
And a Cartier, at that.
Other makes are of course available. I mention this one, though, because when we booked, they asked if we had plans for our stay in London and I mentioned that my wife Sonia was desperate to see the Cartier jewellery exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
When we checked into our room — more of which wowness in a moment — there on the table was a beautifully-presented folder with highlights of what we could expect from it.
This is just the kind of thing The Rubens likes to do for its visitors, just as when we returned from the V&A for afternoon tea the next day, they brought us two gorgeous, handmade chocolate bonbons designed as Cartier emeralds.
Sonia was knocked sideways by it all. By the time we checked out, she was hunting down manager Leo to tell him it had been the greatest experience of her life.
His reply was typical of how The Rubens operates. He tapped his right hand on his heart and said: 'Thank you. We encourage everyone to speak and act from here.'
Now, you might think he WOULD say that, but the smiles are real from all Leo's team. Their conversations are casual, they take a genuine interest and pay forensic attention to the small details that make a big difference.
For me, that means pillows that enable a perfect night's sleep, big chunky chips that are light as air, a fantastic Negroni made in a bar-top still and outstanding coffee with breakfast.
But most of all, the very way the staff go about their jobs from early until late.
We were overjoyed to stay in the King's Suite, with its canopied four-poster bed, two bathrooms and separate living and dining room. It seriously was bigger than my first flat. It's more understated than flash, but that's The Rubens to its foundations; more about comfort and discretion than look-at-us pizzazz.
After 113 years in an area which is in a constant flux of change, owners Red Carnations Hotels have resisted the temptation to rip out the original elevators, to go all glass and chrome, the way so many competitors have.
This Hotel is Home to the UK's Only Swim-Up Bar
Everything has the impression of having been there since the first bricks were laid, of having been lovingly maintained.
Well, almost everything, because if you're staying there, or even just in the Victoria area, go and see the modern addition of the Living Wall on the hotel's gable — ten tonnes in weight, 21 metres high, with 10,000 plants attracting butterflies, bees and birds and acting as natural air conditioning for the entire building come summer.
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The welcome at this high-end hotel is authentic
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Handmade chocolate bonbons designed as Cartier emeralds
When it comes to tradition, however, afternoon tea is the perfect example. One which continues regardless at its same, elegant pace, in the same air of calm.
Not to mention with the same end result for those fortunate to enjoy; that of needing a lie down after working their way through all those sandwiches, pastries, and scones.
GO: LONDON
STAYING THERE: Standard King Rooms at The Rubens At The Palace Hotel in London cost from £330 per night, not including breakfast. Afternoon tea is from £70 per person. For more info or to make a booking see rubenshotel.com.
There was a Royal Garden Party on the day we were there, so all afternoon proud invitees came across from their date at the Palace to treat themselves to a majestic tea.
As for dinner? We shared an amuse-bouche plate of tuna, chicken and mashed potato, before Sonia the lobster bisque, I had the gravadlax then we both had what we agreed was the best ribeye in the history of cows. Never forgetting those feather-light chips.
So, in the end, my far better half was as right as she always is.
Rubens At The Palace really WAS one for the scrapbook, a stay never to be forgotten.