Why The Cavendish Hotel has a Monopoly on enjoying a trip to London

If the most important thing about a London hotel is the location, then The Cavendish Hotel wins Mayfair and square. Nestled on a backstreet in this old, posh district - famously the most expensive card in Monopoly - this four-star hotel is a short walk from Buckingham Palace, Leicester Square, the Royal Academy of Arts, Covent Garden and West End theatreland. Exclusive, independent shops and historic hamper specialist Fortnum and Mason are even closer.

Whatever your mission - we were here for the theatre - to get ‘home’ you exit the melee of tourists and traffic and stroll down quiet, one-way Jermyn Street. Free of the throng, it’s a chance to take in something other than world famous sights. The area is home to long-established tailors and art dealers, traditional pubs like The Red Lion and Chequers Tavern, and Grade I listed St James’s Church, designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. We went to a matinee performance of Standing at the Sky’s Edge, the smash hit musical about Sheffield’s Park Hill flats, at the Gillian Lynne theatre on Drury Lane.

It left us thrilled and moved by its story, its Richard Hawley-penned music, the acting and some genius staging. It deserves all of its many accolades and received a standing ovation from us and everyone there. It is on until August 3, and is the perfect excuse to visit London - and stay at The Cavendish Hotel. On arrival we were greeted warmly and handed keys to an Executive Room. Despite having a massive bed it still had space for a chaise longue - the epitome of elegant relaxation - although a bit lost on us.

From our eleventh floor window it was easier to list the landmarks we couldn’t see as we gazed from the BT Tower to Big Ben, via almost every other notable building including St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye and the Shard. All very swish, only a landline phone on the wall beside the loo hinted at an earlier time. Apparently, and I had to Google this, they were popular in the eighties and nineties as an indication of luxury. We ate in the hotel restaurant, Mayfair Lounge and Grill, where we were welcomed with offers of a bottomless prosecco, which I was happy to accept.

The only danger here was that staff were so attentive my glass was refilled before it was empty, making it increasingly difficult to keep track of consumption. We had truffle bread with our fried scallops and potato hash, asparagus and gribiche sauce starters. Sophisticated and delicious. The barbecue duck and wild garlic risotto mains redefined the term ‘moreish’ while the poached rhubarb pana cotta and lemon meringue pie proved the chef had mastered desserts too. If we had one criticism it was the lack of non-alcoholic drinks like gin or cider. A ‘mocktail,’ when it eventually arrived, was basically fruit juice, my wife judged. A second one never came.

Before checking out we had time to wander over to Buckingham Palace and join the literally thousands of people who had turned up for the Changing of the Guard. Do not get this low key four-times-a-week ceremony mixed up with the annual Trooping the Colour or you will be disappointed. Five minutes from The Cavendish Hotel, St James's Square is fascinating for those, like this nosy journalist, who wonder about power, history and money.

The East India Club, an exclusive membership organisation which harks back to the dubious days of empire, and still excludes women, has a grand hall here. The global headquarters of oil giant BP are behind an understated wooden door at number one. In World War Two the Supreme Allied Command, led by general Dwight D Eisenhower, was formed and based for a time at number 31, Norfolk House, a couple of plaques state.

I also stumbled on a memorial to PC Yvonne Fletcher who was gunned down from inside the Libyan embassy while policing a small demonstration on April 17 1984. It was a shock to stand on the spot after first seeing it on the news almost exactly 40 years ago. Leaving The Cavendish Hotel was easy, Piccadilly tube is five minutes’ walk and Kings Cross a few underground stops away.

We were back in Sheffield after a change in Doncaster after what seemed to be an indecently hassle-free journey that, along with all that went before, set us up for a return visit, fair and square. 

To book: www.thecavendish-london.co.uk - Call 020 7930 2111