After spending a few days in Wales, a few days in the Cotswolds, and a few days enjoying the real life locations of Downton Abbey, it was time to head into my favorite city – London! I can’t even count how many times I have been to London in the last 5 years. It’s one of those cities I make sure we stop at no matter what whenever we are in Europe.
On this trip, I was continuing to find royal connections since it was the weekend of the royal wedding. We not only found royal connections at the stunning Milestone Hotel, but we also found our new favorite spot that exudes luxury in London.
OUR STAY
We arrived on a Sunday, the day after the royal wedding. The library and parlor rooms were completely filled with Londoners and hotel guests indulging in delicious afternoon tea to cap off a royal filled weekend. We had other plans. One amenity of the Milestone Hotel that I knew we had to experience to indulge in a new kind of luxury in London was a picnic in the park. It’s been a long time since we last had enjoyed a picnic, but getting to experience a luxury picnic on the lawns across from Kensington Palace needed to be enjoyed to believe!
With the Milestone Hotel conveniently located across from Kensington Gardens, we had three very strong porters carrying elegant baskets of food and drinks escort us to the perfect tree to enjoy our afternoon picnic. With Kensington Palace directly behind us, our picnic was quickly set up and filled with enough food to feed about 6 people, such as four different types of sandwiches, shrimp cocktail, vegetables, breads, cakes, and champagne (yes you can drink in the park!). Looking back, we totally could have invited William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan to join us!
On our second day after some business meetings in town, we headed to the Stables Bar since we heard so much about one royal themed cocktail that needed to be tried. It’s called the Duchess Hourglass. This variation of a Negroni is made with Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite liqueur combined into one of Meghan Markle’s favorite drinks (who knew she liked Negroni’s?). But it’s not just the drink that’s the star, it’s also the bartender Angelo’s performance as he puts the drink together, which takes about 5-7 minutes. It all starts with a huge block of ice that Angelo had to cut and chop by hand on the bar. He then took a chunk of that ice and placed it in a very heavy copper tower, which uses kinetic energy to shape the ice into a ball.
When he lifted the lid, there was the perfect icy sphere labeled “M” for Milestone just waiting to be placed in a glass. From there, Angelo continued to do his magic by mixing Campari and gin, the queen’s favorite liqueur combination. The drink has hints of coffee in it, which sparked Tor’s already high interest. After Angelo poured the liquor into the glass over the ice ball (seriously, it was like a ballet of alcohol), he had one final step in his dance. He took a perfume spray bottle filled with hints of clove, coffee, and Campari and sprayed a few puffs onto the drink as a delicate finishing touch. What a drink!
Stables Bar is also famous for it’s take on an Old Fashioned, which happens to be Tor’s favorite drink. It’s not every day you get to watch the bartender take your favorite drink, place it under a glass dome, and watch as it becomes filled with smoke to give your Old Fashioned drink anything but an old fashioned taste. I was so mesmerized by the smoke effect that I tried to convince Angelo to smoke up my glass of rosé!
In all, this place quickly skyrocketed to one of our favorite places to stay in London. I have stayed in many different parts of London, but we always seem to keep coming back to Kensington. This time, we found a true gem in the Milestone Hotel. Immediately after departing for France, we already missed the staff. They were so, so kind and very eager to help us out with anything we needed.
We also got to joke around with them a bunch, with the doorman even enjoying getting the chance to photobomb our blog photos here and there! If you’re looking to experience something “royal” as well as modern, old-world luxury in London, I highly recommend the Milestone Hotel. We cannot wait to be back!
Thank you to the Milestone Hotel for hosting our stay. Although we were guests of the Milestone Hotel, all opinions are my own.
Photos by Torrance Coombs.
Looks like an incredible place to stay 🙂 Did you actually see Harry and Meghan go by?? If so I am incredibly jealous! What are your thoughts on her wedding look? I personally loved her tiara.
It’s an amazing place to stay!
I actually liked her look and it was exactly what I expected her to wear. I told my husband weeks before the wedding that I was expecting her to be in something super classy and simple, no lace, and long sleeves. And that’s what she wore! I like that she let the veil be longer than her gown’s train (I did that too at my own wedding!).