One of London’s few remaining privately owned hotels, Durrants has been in the Miller family for four generations, since 1921, but its first guests arrived even earlier, in 1790, when it opened as a coaching inn. Today, the hotel is an English classic, whose gentle charms extend from the venerable panelled entrance, complete with Edwardian postbox and uniformed staff, to the cosy George Bar, with its leather tub chairs and original cast-iron open fireplace. In the dignified restaurant you’ll find polished wood panelling, leather banquettes and a stately silver trolley, wheeled to your table for the joint to be carved. A seasonal menu features traditional favourites, alongside contemporary dishes. A long white hall, lined with pictures, links several intimate private dining and sitting rooms, including the convivial Spy Lounge and elegant Wallace Room, perfect for reading, working or meeting friends. Upstairs are 92 enveloping rooms and suites, furnished in country house style with a sleek townhouse edge.
The Wallace Collection, guests only have to cross the road from the hotel to take in one of the finest art collections in the world, built over the 18th and 19th centuries by the Marquesses of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace.
Durrants’ double baked parmesan cheese soufflé with Gruyère sauce – either in the hotel’s main restaurant or in The George Bar.
Shoppers staying at Durrants are spoiled for choice with the nearby boutiques of Marylebone Village to Selfridges and other big names along Oxford Street and Regent Street.
Nota Bene
Durrants prides itself on the English ritual of afternoon tea with freshly-made cakes – and champagne if you’re in the mood.
