Christmas at Claridge’s
Claridge’s is one of those iconic hotels associated with London and Christmas. With its quintessentially British air, it might actually be THE London Christmas hotel. When Mr E and I decided to go out for a Christmas lunch this year, I knew it was time to have a Claridge’s Christmas lunch. The booking was pretty easy because I knew what I wanted and had a few dates I could choose from. Let me tell you, Christmas at Claridge’s is pretty special.
We wanted a weekend early lunch – early so we could see all the decorations in daylight, I wanted the Foyer & Reading Room so I went directly to the Claridges site and booked 3 of us a lunch spot on Sunday 8th December, 12.30pm. This reservation was made about a month prior and I noticed that most weekends were already fully booked. For the few weekends which had available slots, these time slots were sparse so we were probably quite lucky to snag one.
The main attraction for me was the Christian Louboutin newly designed Christmas tree. You see, with Claridge’s, every year, they hire a designer to design their Christmas tree. In 2014, it was Mr Domenico Dolce and Mr Stefano Gabbana of Dolce and Gabbana, 2015 was Mr Christopher Bailey for Burberry, 2016 was Sir Jony Ive and Mr Marc Newson, 2017 was Mr Karl Lagerfeld (RIP) and in 2018 it was Ms Diane von Furstenberg. When my Christian Louboutin newsletter arrived in November and I saw that Mr Louboutin would be designing this year, I was very interested.
GETTING THERE
Claridge’s is on Brook Street Mayfair W1K 4HR and in true Mr E fashion, we drove down. I knew it was an early Sunday afternoon so chances were that we would find parking or if we had to, we would pay to park anyway. We had driven around the area for about 10 minutes without finding anywhere to park and as we were circling for the 3rd time, a space on Brook street became available so we parked there. Lucky us : )
AMBIANCE
Oh so lovely! Claridge’s at Christmas is everything you could think of and even more. It was just all so Christmassy and beautiful and happy and perfect. I had only been to Claridge’s once before, for Afternoon tea but this was about 5 years ago and I think I had forgotten just how grand the whole atmosphere was; but this reminder was just mind blowing.
We were ushered to the Foyer and Reading room for our 12.30pm reservation and I was speechless. The ever so classic Foyer and Reading room was as striking as I remembered. In the middle of the room was a grande chandelier and the back drop was art deco mirrors. If you appreciate art and classical vibes, you would love this room.
I was hesitant about taking pictures because privacy of private citizens is important and all that jazz but it was impressive.
The Loubi Express
Christian Louboutin’s red locomotive is set in this enchanting winter forest and if you are there Tuesdays to Saturdays 3-11pm, you can get in the train too. There is no prior reservation, just first come first serve and kids are allowed on it as well. The menu has champagne, canapés and sharing dishes all inspired by Mr Louboutin and the romance of train travel. How cool is that?!
MENU
There was the festive menu and the Foyer All Day dining. If you fancy Afternoon tea, you would be in for a treat too! We picked from the all-day dining menu as it had more interesting choices.
Mr E and I had the Lobster Wellington with sauce Américaine which came with green salad with avocado and truffle french fries. This served 2 so was perfect for both of us. We knew we had to try Claridge’s famous Lobster Wellington and it was actually surprisingly filling. Bobo had the Claridge’s club with egg, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise grilled chicken and bacon on toasted pain de mie.
To drink, I had a glass of champagne (Laurent-Perrier, Brut Rosé), Mr E had a glass of red wine (Bierzo “Petalos” 2017) and Bobo had a glass of mango juice! At the end of our meal we had a mini tower of complimentary petit fours.
Everything was so yum.
THE STAFF
Special shoutout to the staff. I don’t know what was going on; perhaps the Christmas spirit was in the air because the waiters were extra friendly with us, had us tasting different wines before we settled on our final choices; the chef came out and shared a joke with us about the Lobster Wellington and even the doorman offered to take my pictures for me. One of the highlights was the children’s choir who sang Christmas carols in the drawing room. They were just so cute with the most beautiful voices and added that lush festive air to the room.
We really had the best Sunday afternoon.
Claridge’s is pricey but very dreamy. It is definitely not an everyday dining experience; well unless you’re rich rich. However, we like to treat ourselves once in a while; although I have a feeling that this will now be one of our Christmas traditions – that’s how much we enjoyed it.
It could definitely be a once in a lifetime experience where you go all out, have the boujeest meal at the fanciest dining room in one of the most exclusive hotels in London. Who knows?!
Hashtag live your best fancy life.
Until my next festive post…
…Bisous, Bugo x
