Brown's has been taking in guests on Albemarle Street since 1832, which makes it one of London's oldest hotels – and it wears its age well. Built from a row of Georgian townhouses in the heart of Mayfair, the hotel has hosted royalty, presidents and a long line of writers. Kipling worked on The Jungle Book here over decades of writing retreats, Agatha Christie borrowed it for At Bertram's Hotel, and Alexander Graham Bell made Britain's first telephone call from the building in 1876. Now, a stay at Brown's is all wood panelling and deep armchairs contrasted with modern art and bright upholstery - and a good dose of personality, too.
The ground floor rambles the way old townhouses do, but the wood-panelled, fire lit Drawing Room is the heart of it all. In fact, it's the same room where tea has been poured for the better part of two centuries. Food-wise, Brown's is excellent and many Londoners are regulars in both Charlie's Restaurant, serving proper British cooking under low golden light, and the Donovan Bar, lined with Terence Donovan's photographs and offering seriously good cocktails. Downstairs, the spa is small but incredibly soothing.
The rooms at Brown's range from snug doubles to grand suites. Rooms are lined with pretty, leaf-printed wallpaper while the Junior Suites are more contemporary, all slate and grey warmed by burgundy, ochre and moss green. The literary suites keep their period bones with cornicing and antique pieces, whilst the Kipling Suite, wrapped in hand-painted jungle wallpaper, is the one everyone asks for. Bathrooms are marble and generous all round, and windows look out over Mayfair's smart streets.
Step out and Mayfair is yours to revel in: Bond Street's windows and designer boutiques, the auction houses, the galleries clustered around Cork Street - and for anything further afield, Green Park tube is five minutes away. The Royal Academy is a two-minute stroll and the West End's theatres also just a short hop. Back at the hotel, time an evening around the Drawing Room's midweek jazz, or book a treatment at the spa after a day on your feet.
Afternoon tea in the Drawing Room, taken much as Queen Victoria took hers, with warm scones accompanied by a crackling fire.
In the Donovan Bar, hunt down the "Naughty Corner," a wall of Terence Donovan's photography hung around one famous risqué print. Ask the bartender for the story...!
Brown's is a collection of Georgian townhouses, which gives it real character but means the rooms vary wildly. No two are alike, and some are quite snug.
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