Sofitel London St James, 6 Waterloo Place, London Review

Sofitel London St James Afternoon Tea Revealed Picasso

Sofitel London St James Afternoon Tea Revealed PicassoThe Hotel Sofitel London St James was originally built in 1923 to house the headquarters of the army banking agency, Cox and Company, later Cox’s and King’s, which was subsequently taken over by Lloyd’s Bank. It remained in the hands of bankers until Sofitel converted the grade II listed building into a 125,000 sq ft luxury 5-star hotel with 186 rooms.

We were invited along to try out their “Revealed” package for the night – An overnight stay at Sofitel London St James including breakfast, afternoon tea for two in the Rose Lounge as well as a “Revealed” cocktail for two in St James Bar.

“Revealed” pays homage to a selection of artists, revealing intimate moments when inspiration comes to life through their everyday situations, be it over lunch or simply walking about.  The images, from Paris Match, have been selected by Olivier Widmaier Picasso, the grandson of Pablo Picasso.

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Hotel lobby

On entering the Sofitel St James, you can’t help but be impressed by its former life.  The grandeur of days gone by is embraced, with pockets of information about banking as well as tasteful portraits of the previous owners on the walls.  With the cycling “Tour of Britain” happening just outside, the lobby was surprisingly tranquil and no cheering could be heard.

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Revealed feature in lobby

A LCD display shows highlights from the exhibition – a glimpse of what is to come within The Rose Lounge, however first it was time for a “Revealed” cocktail, a sumptuous combination of St Germain elderflower liqueur and Bombay Sapphire Gin, the fragrant spirits are mixed with fresh fruit and a cleansing green oolong tea served from a teapot.  The cocktail was deliciously light, fruity and perfect for the St James Bar with its Coco Chanel boudoir-inspired interior.

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Revealed cocktail being poured by our server
accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
The delicate Revealed cocktail

It would have been very easy to spend the afternoon sampling all of the cocktails from the bar! However, it was time to check out the “Revealed” exhibition and have afternoon tea!

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealedThe exhibition runs within The Rose Lounge as well as at the side of the lobby.  Afternoon tea within an art gallery setting is a first for me, and it was pretty interesting wandering around and getting the chance to chat to fellow “tea-ers” as they enjoyed their sandwiches!

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealedAfternoon tea at The Rose Lounge consists of a vast choice of teas, scones with lemon curd, jam and clotted cream as well as finger sandwiches finished off with mouth-watering Parisien pastries. I also love cast iron teapots!

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealedIt would have been rude not to have had some light & fragrant rose tea in The Rose Lounge. It suited the room perfectly.

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Afternoon tea finger sandwiches

Beetroot-coloured bread brightened up the sandwich selection with a heavenly selection of fillings which were light enough to leave room for scones and pastries!

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Afternoon tea pastries

A choice of two delights each from a large selection.  It was the hardest decision of the day!  Delicate morsels filled with cream, coulis and more. And after all that we headed up to our room for a quick peek at the “Tour of Britain” which was practically on our doorstep.

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
View onto Pall Mall, Tour of Britain visiting
accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
King-sized bed

The room had everything we needed: Coffee-maker, TV, internet, air-conditioning and the view onto Pall Mall topped it off.
The best bit for me however was the bathroom…

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Perfect bathroom

A huge bath with a separate shower – sometimes you just want to have a long soak in a bath you can almost swim in!  Robes, slippers, Hermès toiletries and even a skin scrubber were provided.  A good night’s sleep for me was just about guaranteed!

The following morning breakfast was served in The Balcon restaurant, which is worth a peek at night for the balcony itself (and the charcuterie plates). There was a large buffet selection of fruits, pastries, hot and cold dishes as well as dishes to order.

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Breakfast Menu
accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Breakfast buffet
accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Breakfast from buffet within The Balcon restaurant

The scrambled eggs were almost as good as mine (that’s praise – it’s taken years to perfect my art!) with herby chipolatas and tasty non-fatty black pudding.  This buffet would definitely set you up for a full day exploring London.

But all too soon it was time to head homeward. We had a lovely night at Sofitel St James and enjoyed the “Revealed” exhibition (and cocktail!).  The “Revealed” package is  available at the Sofitel St James websitewith  room prices starting from £545 for stays until 30th October 2015, subject to availability.  This would be an ideal package for a special occasion visit to London (birthday, anniversary etc).

accor sofitel st james london five star hotel review afternoon tea revealed
Exterior of hotel

Many thanks to Sofitel London St James for the opportunity to visit and review, we received the stay for free but this did not influence our review, paws up honest.

fred purr of honour

Emma

Emma

Hello!

I am Emma and with my husband Mark write Foodie Explorers, which is a food and travel website.

I am a member of the Guild of Food Writers and British Guild of Travel Writers.

We have a wide range of judging experience covering products, hotels and have judged, for example, for Great Taste Awards and Scottish Baker of the Year.

Along the way Mark gained WSET Level 2 in Wine and I have WSET Level 2 in Spirits as well as picking up an award with The Scotsman Food and Drink Awards.    

Usually I can be found sleeping beside a cat.

Recommended Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.