Tweet
I thought a brief review of The Garden Room at The Lanesborough Hotel, London, might be of interest to some forum members.
Myself and hubby visited on Wednesday evening, arriving about 6.00 p.m. There are plenty of doormen, staff and security around to point you in the right direction. The Garden Room is down the stairs at the end of a long corridor and is very claustrophobic. I'm not entirely sure how the outdoor area actually qualifies legally as there is no roof area open to the sky, and the garden walls are in line with the edge of the roof. However, I'm sure it suits the London Chamber of Commerce to have such a gathering point for businessmen and a blind eye is turned?
The actual smoking area is not very large, but is extremely comfortable. The humidor is well stocked and the staff member who showed us the cigars was very proud of the collection. I can't recall seeing any non-Cubans, and the cigars are laid out into three distinct areas, normal 'every day' Cubans (hubby chose a Partagas No. 2 at ?25), the limited edition and aged Cubans which from memory were between ?75 up to the hundreds, and a very fine box of Behikes which looked fabulous.
Drinks were good quality without being outstanding, and I guess prices are similar to other 5* hotels in the area. Unfortunately not very imaginative for those having to avoid alcohol, though the staff did make me a very pleasant juice mix. There is also a minimum spend of ?25 per head which isn't hard to achieve. The neighbouring table had not cottoned on to the minimum spend and decided to have another drink rather than pay ?25 each for one drink - handled very discreetly by the staff.
Clientele seemed to be mostly foreign businessmen.
Overall, pleasant enough and it's great to have somewhere to sit and enjoy a cigar in fine surroundings. However, my favourite place to relax with a drink and cigar remains The Hemingway Terrace bar in Paris and value-wise in the UK I prefer the Hotel du Vin cigar shacks, though of course, perhaps one should not judge such venues on 'value' as it is a relative score.
We would probably return if we find ourselves with an hour or so spare in central London.
Rhiannon
Myself and hubby visited on Wednesday evening, arriving about 6.00 p.m. There are plenty of doormen, staff and security around to point you in the right direction. The Garden Room is down the stairs at the end of a long corridor and is very claustrophobic. I'm not entirely sure how the outdoor area actually qualifies legally as there is no roof area open to the sky, and the garden walls are in line with the edge of the roof. However, I'm sure it suits the London Chamber of Commerce to have such a gathering point for businessmen and a blind eye is turned?
The actual smoking area is not very large, but is extremely comfortable. The humidor is well stocked and the staff member who showed us the cigars was very proud of the collection. I can't recall seeing any non-Cubans, and the cigars are laid out into three distinct areas, normal 'every day' Cubans (hubby chose a Partagas No. 2 at ?25), the limited edition and aged Cubans which from memory were between ?75 up to the hundreds, and a very fine box of Behikes which looked fabulous.
Drinks were good quality without being outstanding, and I guess prices are similar to other 5* hotels in the area. Unfortunately not very imaginative for those having to avoid alcohol, though the staff did make me a very pleasant juice mix. There is also a minimum spend of ?25 per head which isn't hard to achieve. The neighbouring table had not cottoned on to the minimum spend and decided to have another drink rather than pay ?25 each for one drink - handled very discreetly by the staff.
Clientele seemed to be mostly foreign businessmen.
Overall, pleasant enough and it's great to have somewhere to sit and enjoy a cigar in fine surroundings. However, my favourite place to relax with a drink and cigar remains The Hemingway Terrace bar in Paris and value-wise in the UK I prefer the Hotel du Vin cigar shacks, though of course, perhaps one should not judge such venues on 'value' as it is a relative score.
We would probably return if we find ourselves with an hour or so spare in central London.
Rhiannon
Comment