BLAKES
Swish and seductive extravagance in SW3
FLAIR AND FLAMBOYANCE make atmospheric Blakes – designed by Anouska Hempel – a true couture hotel. The foyer in this swish London townhouse hotel is a throwback to days of the Raj, with retro-style Edwardian trunks and rattan chairs, while deliciously decadent bedrooms are designed to seduce the senses.
Choose one that’s white on white on white, or others in theatrical golds and blacks. Each is an original, and ravishing colour schemes range from the vivid and dramatic to the restful and soft. Trompe l’oeil and fabric covered walls are set off by exotic silks, velvets and swagged drapery. Sensuous colour palettes are ripe with cardinal reds, lavender, vanilla and tea rose.
The result melds the exquisite with the plush, mixing design opulence with 21st century comforts. Sip a cocktail in the atmospheric bar or surface for air in the hotel’s courtyard garden, before dining on beautifully presented east-west fusion cuisine in a heady and intoxicating setting. Blakes remains a sought-after lovers’ hideaway in chicest Kensington.
Hit the Spot
In tranquil, smartest Kensington.
Bedtime
The scarlet-walled Cardinal suite scores on sheer boudoir Wow. Take a Luxury suite for a softer French provençal feel, with gossamer nets, stencilled floor and white furnishings.
Be Savvy
It's a place for sensualists with cash to splash.
Be Smitten
Be swept away in SW3.
Seductive dining
Our quarters had black walls, gold lamps, colonial wooden blinds, an exquisite hand-painted floor and a vast bathtub you could almost set sail in. We snuggled into a palatial four-poster swathed in sumptuous silk folds and sipped champagne, feeling shamefully decadent.
Blakes’ glossy-black restaurant has been aptly described as being “like an opium den managed by Coco Chanel.” Start swooning – lots of other guests do, and proposals here are rife. Oriental screens and swish decor add to the expensively decadent feel.
Bedrooms invite you to choose between the pleasures of the Orient, a 1930s cruise liner, or a sultan’s harem. Some are more masculine in deep copper and brown, while the light and lovely 007 suite is all biscuit and white, with a huge four poster and French doors. All invite you to soak up the sheer extravagance of it all. “It's fabulousness personified,” as one visitor enthused.
Blakes Hotel was reviewed for Room for Romance by Mike North
Choose one that’s white on white on white, or others in theatrical golds and blacks. Each is an original, and ravishing colour schemes range from the vivid and dramatic to the restful and soft. Trompe l’oeil and fabric covered walls are set off by exotic silks, velvets and swagged drapery. Sensuous colour palettes are ripe with cardinal reds, lavender, vanilla and tea rose.
The result melds the exquisite with the plush, mixing design opulence with 21st century comforts. Sip a cocktail in the atmospheric bar or surface for air in the hotel’s courtyard garden, before dining on beautifully presented east-west fusion cuisine in a heady and intoxicating setting. Blakes remains a sought-after lovers’ hideaway in chicest Kensington.
Hit the Spot
In tranquil, smartest Kensington.
Bedtime
The scarlet-walled Cardinal suite scores on sheer boudoir Wow. Take a Luxury suite for a softer French provençal feel, with gossamer nets, stencilled floor and white furnishings.
Be Savvy
It's a place for sensualists with cash to splash.
Be Smitten
Be swept away in SW3.
Seductive dining
Our quarters had black walls, gold lamps, colonial wooden blinds, an exquisite hand-painted floor and a vast bathtub you could almost set sail in. We snuggled into a palatial four-poster swathed in sumptuous silk folds and sipped champagne, feeling shamefully decadent.
Blakes’ glossy-black restaurant has been aptly described as being “like an opium den managed by Coco Chanel.” Start swooning – lots of other guests do, and proposals here are rife. Oriental screens and swish decor add to the expensively decadent feel.
Bedrooms invite you to choose between the pleasures of the Orient, a 1930s cruise liner, or a sultan’s harem. Some are more masculine in deep copper and brown, while the light and lovely 007 suite is all biscuit and white, with a huge four poster and French doors. All invite you to soak up the sheer extravagance of it all. “It's fabulousness personified,” as one visitor enthused.
Blakes Hotel was reviewed for Room for Romance by Mike North
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Dining in
East meets West in Blakes' moodily dark restaurant, and there’s an eclectic range of dishes to try. Try the miso soup with silken tofu, honey spiced duck with coriander raita and chicken and pomelo salad. If it's too much bother to get dressed, there's 24 hour room service.
Dining out
You're just a stroll from the bars and brasseries of South Kensington and Fulham Road. Excellent eateries within close range include Bibendum (just the place for oysters and champagne) or Daphne's on Draycott Avenue.
Where?
Blakes restaurant
What’s cooking?
Try langoustine salad with basil aioli, crispy chicken with a ginger sauce or charred tuna with miso dijon drssing and green tea noodles.
Dress the part
The sleeker the better.
Top table?
Almost all are suitably intimate.
See & Do
What’s not to do around here? You’re minutes from London’s museum country (V&A, Natural History and Science museums) and a short tube ride from Hyde Park Corner, Buckingham Palace and the West End.
Spa
Blakes is currently building an exclusive spa and fitness club, due to open shortly. There is a small fitness room on site.
Shop
Give your plastic a workout at the glitzy stores of Knightsbridge and Kensington High Street. A mooch around the food hall at Harrod's or the boutiques of Beauchamp Place is a must.
After dark
Get your nightlife fix downstairs at expensively low-lit Blakes bar, where the champagne flows till late.
Dates
May
Take in the heady scents of the famous Chelsea Flower Show.
June
Fight for tickets to Wimbledon – even if it’s just for the strawberries and cream.
East meets West in Blakes' moodily dark restaurant, and there’s an eclectic range of dishes to try. Try the miso soup with silken tofu, honey spiced duck with coriander raita and chicken and pomelo salad. If it's too much bother to get dressed, there's 24 hour room service.
Dining out
You're just a stroll from the bars and brasseries of South Kensington and Fulham Road. Excellent eateries within close range include Bibendum (just the place for oysters and champagne) or Daphne's on Draycott Avenue.
Where?
Blakes restaurant
What’s cooking?
Try langoustine salad with basil aioli, crispy chicken with a ginger sauce or charred tuna with miso dijon drssing and green tea noodles.
Dress the part
The sleeker the better.
Top table?
Almost all are suitably intimate.
See & Do
What’s not to do around here? You’re minutes from London’s museum country (V&A, Natural History and Science museums) and a short tube ride from Hyde Park Corner, Buckingham Palace and the West End.
Spa
Blakes is currently building an exclusive spa and fitness club, due to open shortly. There is a small fitness room on site.
Shop
Give your plastic a workout at the glitzy stores of Knightsbridge and Kensington High Street. A mooch around the food hall at Harrod's or the boutiques of Beauchamp Place is a must.
After dark
Get your nightlife fix downstairs at expensively low-lit Blakes bar, where the champagne flows till late.
Dates
May
Take in the heady scents of the famous Chelsea Flower Show.
June
Fight for tickets to Wimbledon – even if it’s just for the strawberries and cream.
GETTING THERE
Location
Roland Gardens, London SW7 3PF
Parking
There is nearby garage parking and free street parking close by after 6.30pm.
Trains
Mainline: Victoria station – 15 minutes by cab
Underground: Gloucester Road (Piccadilly Line) and South Kensington (District/Circle lines) – five minutes.
Taxis
GBP 50 from London Heathrow. Private transfers can be arranged.
Airport
London Heathrow – 18 miles.
Rooms and suites
43 rooms and nine suites.
Special features
Signature rooms are four-poster fantasy trips.
Also…
Rooms have DVD and CD players, satellite television and wi-fi internet. There’s also private dining in suites, if you’re trying to keep the paparazzi at bay.
ESSENTIAL INFO
Rates guide
From GBP 350
Open/closed
Open all year
Check-in
2pm
Check-out
12 noon
Minimum night stay?
No
Breakfast
Breakfast is served until 11am.
Room service
Available 24 hours a day.
Children
No restrictions.
Pets
Small dogs are allowed but must not be left unattended.
Air conditioning
Yes
Languages
German, French, English, Japanese, Korean, Poruguese and Spanish.
Wedding license?
Yes – for up to 85 guests.
Coming soon
All rooms are currently being developed by Anouska Hempel and a new fitness and wellbeing centre is to be completed this year.
Your Contact
Steve Carrodus – general manager
Location
Roland Gardens, London SW7 3PF
Parking
There is nearby garage parking and free street parking close by after 6.30pm.
Trains
Mainline: Victoria station – 15 minutes by cab
Underground: Gloucester Road (Piccadilly Line) and South Kensington (District/Circle lines) – five minutes.
Taxis
GBP 50 from London Heathrow. Private transfers can be arranged.
Airport
London Heathrow – 18 miles.
Rooms and suites
43 rooms and nine suites.
Special features
Signature rooms are four-poster fantasy trips.
Also…
Rooms have DVD and CD players, satellite television and wi-fi internet. There’s also private dining in suites, if you’re trying to keep the paparazzi at bay.
ESSENTIAL INFO
Rates guide
From GBP 350
Open/closed
Open all year
Check-in
2pm
Check-out
12 noon
Minimum night stay?
No
Breakfast
Breakfast is served until 11am.
Room service
Available 24 hours a day.
Children
No restrictions.
Pets
Small dogs are allowed but must not be left unattended.
Air conditioning
Yes
Languages
German, French, English, Japanese, Korean, Poruguese and Spanish.
Wedding license?
Yes – for up to 85 guests.
Coming soon
All rooms are currently being developed by Anouska Hempel and a new fitness and wellbeing centre is to be completed this year.
Your Contact
Steve Carrodus – general manager