We had a fabulous stay in London 2 weeks before Christmas last year. Staying at the 5 star Beaumont hotel it was very luxurious and the staff couldn’t do enough for the guests. We felt very spoilt from arrival to departure. We stayed for 2 nights in a suite room , bed and breakfast. The room was immaculate and had a chez lounge at the bottom of the king size bed I’ve not stopped saying ‘I want one’ since I arrived home. The bathroom was very elegant with marble decor , under floor heating, his and hers wash basins, bath robes, slippers I could go on. Our room overlooked Brown Hart Gardens which is a raised terraced garden in Mayfair with close vicinity to Oxford street. The hotel menu was varied and we enjoyed our evening meals in the Colony Grill on both nights of our stay, followed by a drink in Le Magritte Bar , the hotel’s ‘American bar’which serves cocktails, other drinks are available too. Afternoon tea is also available at the hotel. There is a spa and gym too. All floors and rooms in the hotel are easily accessible for disabled and non disabled guests.
We couldn’t have chosen a better time to travel to the Capital as it was fabulous to see Oxford street and other areas of London lit up with so many festive glittering Christmas lights.
We visited the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, tickets had to be pre-booked and entry (with tickets) was free during off-peak times. We paid £5 per ticket because we wanted to visit earlier in the afternoon. There was a huge funfair for those brave enough to venture on the rides some which were not for the faint hearted, circus, ice rink , stalls, food outlets and much more. Hubby and I preferred to have a look around the many stalls and particularly enjoyed the live music to sing along to in the Bavarian Village, it was great fun. I couldn’t miss out on trying a mulled wine which I had tried once before and hadn’t been too keen on the taste, and to this day I’m still not sure maybe I’ll have to try another some time, it certainly seems to be an acquired taste.
It wouldn’t seem right to visit London especially at Christmas without a look around Harrod’s so this is what we did. Oh my goodness it was like a maze in there and was quite manic , I always love to see the food halls and I felt like Willy Wonka surveying the vast amounts of mouth watering chocolate treats available. We spent quite a while in Harrods getting a little lost but did keep walking past some very expensive looking handbags. I always remember someone saying to me many years ago that if you have to ask how much something is that hasn’t got a price tag on as was the case with the handbags then you can’t afford it, how right he was . I made myself look silly by asking and the particular handbag was priced at £1,300. ‘Would you like to have a look Madam’ I was asked . ‘No thankyou ‘I replied politely ‘I’ll have to save some money up first ‘ . I felt so embarrassed.
The Natural History Museum in South Kensington was last on our list of places to see. We booked tickets online and had a specific time slot for our visit. Entry to the museum is free but people are asked for a donation if at all possible as the museum lost vital income during closure due to the pandemic. The building is very grand inside and out. The Hintze Hall is the largest public gallery in the museum and at the moment there hangs a blue whale skeleton from the ceiling, it looks amazing. Visitors can also see Guy the gorilla who lived at London zoo until his death in 1978. There are millions of objects of interest to see many different bones and species and it would take hours to look around and not miss something. We spent half a day looking around , my favourite moment which made me and many others smile was when we came across T-rex wearing a Christmas jumper I feel sure it was the most photographed exhibit. Outside the museum was a beautiful Christmas tree which was at the centre of the annual Christmas ice rink. It truly did look magical with many people enjoying a skate , just like a picture you’d see on the front of a Christmas card. Well, sadly all good things come to an end as did our short break in London which we thoroughly enjoyed.
