London Hotels

• his grand 1890s building is a five-minute walk from Harrods and the fashionable shops of Kings Road.
  
  
• Each of the 35 guestrooms is named after theatrical or literary characters and individually furnished with Victorian antiques.
  
  
• In the drawing room, guests are served with complimentary tea, champagne and nightcaps.
  
  

GENERAL INFORMATION:
What to expect: Built by Lord Cadogan in the 1890s, the hotel is made up of three red-brick houses. Tucked away in an exclusive residential street between Chelsea and Knightsbridge, a small oak door leads to a quiet reception lounge and drawing room dressed with antique furniture and valuable 19th-century paintings. The hotel provides a discreet hideaway for visiting businesspeople and well-heeled leisure travelers.

Amenity highlights: In a meticulous overhaul in 1995, the original architectural features, such as cornices, decorative ceilings, and fireplaces, were carefully renovated to their original standard. These are complemented with antiques, ornaments, and artwork. As well as having the use of the Donald Wolfit Meeting Room, guests can relax with a drink in the library and drawing room, or take a leisurely stroll around the back garden.

Insider tip: Chelsea Pensioners, veteran soldiers who reside at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, can be seen walking up and down the Kings Road, easily recognizable by their black hats and long red dress coats adorned with medals.

PROPERTY AMENITIES:
The Draycott Hotel's oak-paneled Donald Wolfit Meeting Room provides corporate guests with an intimate environment to host professional meetings. It is dressed with an oak table with mahogany carver chairs, mahogany tea tables, oak writing desk and upholstered sofa for informal breaks. Other amenities include an oak cabinet with TV and VCR, and a two-tier table for an overhead projector. The meeting can also adjourn to the Peter O'Toole Room for a pre-arranged lunch from a selection of cooked and buffet menus.

Guests of the Draycott Hotel are invited to don their smoking jackets and sit in the library at the mahogany table or on one of the upholstered sofas, while browsing through the vintage books or admiring the reproduction Sir Joshua Reynolds painting.

The non-smoking drawing room is a large room with padded salon chairs, upholstered sofas and easy chairs, mahogany tables and 19th-century watercolors. Complimentary tea is served at 3 PM and champagne at 6 PM with an honesty bar for post-theater drinks and nightcaps. Guests can relax here with a good view of the large back garden.

ROOMS:
The Draycott Hotel, London, has 35 guestrooms, all of which are named after famous theatrical or literary personalities. On the desks in each room, there is a small biography and picture of the person the room is named after. The rooms are decorated with Victorian antiques, while cushions, framed prints, and ornaments all complement the individually decorated walls. All rooms have fireplaces, gilded mirrors, plenty of wardrobe space, upholstered armchairs, cabinets with TV and minibar inside, woolen rugs, desks inlaid with leather, brass table lamps, leather-bound complimentary stationery, as well as a selection of books including some by the room's named personality. Bathrooms are also in a period style. Facilities include Penhaligan's toiletries, telephone, heated towel rail, bathrobe and slippers, and bath with power shower.

DINING:
Breakfast Room / Peter O'Toole Room - Decorated with gold-patterned wallpaper, full-length brown velvet curtains, mahogany dining tables, high padded upholstered chairs, and polished brass candelabra. Walls enlivened with five masks decorated by renowned conductors; collection of framed vintage theater programs. Full English or Continental breakfast offered. After breakfast, this becomes the Peter O'Toole Room, available for corporate and pre-arranged lunches. Selection of cooked and buffet menus offered.

The hotel does not have its own restaurant, but there are several dining options within the surrounding area.

Nearby restaurants:
The English Garden
Daphney's
Bibendum