It has been a while, since my family and I were able to leave our home for a couple of days… And how we longed for it! Just getting away to a lovely place, where we could enjoy a bit of luxury and still feel relaxed…

St. Ermin´s Hotel… Even in the rain it looks so beautiful, doesn’t it? 

Welcome to St Ermin’s Hotel! I had no idea that this place existed, so I was in for a real treat! Such a gorgeous hidden gem nestled in the heart of London!

Clara was really excited to – and I understand why! She was treated like a little princess during our entire stay, and I can honestly say, that for a family, you can not ask for a better treatment, than what we experienced. (More about this later)

A warm welcoming from the team at St.Ermin’s Hotel

Clara was gifted a little toy bee, chocolate bees and received a pack containing code breaking puzzles and a Secret Agent mission, where she could win an “ISpy for St. Ermin’s” identity card and a mocktail (shaken not stirred) from The Caxton Bar. How amazing is this!!!!

The Secret Agent pack! Clara was too little for this, but I can only imagine older children would be super excited! She did however get a goodie bag (and lots of other things), so even if you don’t become a “Mini-Bond” there is still a price to receive

The exquisite Family Room…

St. Ermin’ Hotel is all about making a family break to be truly memorable. The hotel’s easy going atmosphere lets children be themselves, (which allows us parents to fully relax). As the following photos show, the hotel has given over 54 of its rooms to Family Rooms whose features will appeal to all levels

Bonus-info: The Hotel also offers a professional baby-sitting service, so the parents can have a guilt-free night out in London! Excellent!

 

As you can see, we quickly felt at home… The two Queen size beds were just too good to be true – and I love that the room has two spacious bathrooms as well!

St. Ermins Hotel has got you “covered!

Come on, Mummy! I want to go and see the bees!

How we just loved this! If you are here, you simply must go to the third floor and say hello to the 350,000 resident guests in the hives and at the Bee & Bee Hotel busy making honey! (Safely from behind glass of course!)

Bonus-info:St Ermin’s good-natured bees are treated to the same high level of hospitality as every other guest. For those bees that do not live in the hives, there is the “Bee & Bee Hotel”. These special hexagonal suites offer a wide variety of bees a comfortable home, as well as providing shelter to helpful insects such as lacewings, ladybirds, earwings, woodlice and spiders that can rest in peace amongst the crevice stacks. How wonderful is this!

Because the bees have fantastic access to some of London’s major parks, all within a three-mile radius, they collect a wide variety of pollen and nectar, which gives their honey a truly delicious taste…

 

– Speaking of bees… Did I mention the amount of chocolate bees, Clara managed to put in her “tum tum”, while we were there? She certainly knows how to charm the staff!

When you enter the hotel, the first thing you will notice, is the stunning, dramatic and original Victorian plasterwork in the lobby (particularly the sweeping staircase!) When I saw this, my jaw dropped and I really wanted to go up the stairs, turn around and burst out loud “dear friends, welcome to my humble home” (Got to have a bit of humour, right?)

“Welcome to our humble home…” Ok – enough about this (I really, really want to live here on a permanent basis)

Bonus-info: Do you know, why the hotel is called St Ermin’s? Because the hotel was built on the site of a 15th century chapel originally built by Henry II in thanks for an Irish monk’s prays which he believed saved him and his fleet from a stormy death off the French coast. That monk went on to be canonised at St. Ermin.

St Ermin’s Mansions were typical of a classic mansion block in both plan and elevation, and the red brick Queen Anne style that you see on the hotel today was the fashionable choice!

Did you know that… St Ermin’s Hotel is home to a Division Bell!

Division Bells are placed within an eight-minute walk radius of Parliament (also known as “The Westminster bubble), and when rung it signals to members that they need to head back o The House of Commons to vote for or against a resolution

There is a reason, why Clara was given a Secret Spy Kit upon arrival….

No other publicity accessible space in London has such strong links with British spies as St Ermin’s… During the 1930s, St Ermin’s was used by officers of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS and MI6) located close by to meet agents. From March 1938, SIS used the hotel as their Section D headquarters, subsequently SOE made their home here under the disguise of “Statistical Research Department!

Throughout the Second World War, the hotel’s location put it at the very epicenter of the war’s espionage activities. Caxton Bar in particular was a popular meeting point for SIS, MI5 and the Naval Intelligence Division. It was here that they would meet their agents and prospective employees!

Drinks before dinner…

“Cheers”

Daddy / daughter silly selfies…

Life is good at St. Ermin’s Hotel

Dinner at Caxton Grill! As always there’s something for the kids…

 – And Clara was treated with the very popular (alcohol-free) Mocktail – shaken not stirred! It is hard being a super-spy!

We started out with delicious drinks from the bar, that serves a wide variety of cocktails, wines, beers and non-alcoholic drinks…

 – and enjoyed our starters while Clara was eating her hamburger with crunchy triple cooked chips. (She actually ate most of the burger, which is rarely seen. But it was also really “yummy”)

Caxton Grill serves modern European food. The restaurant’s long-standing dedication to sustainability and sourcing local ingredients is now even deeper thanks to the hotel’s rooftop garden. This culinary oasis’s abundance of fresh produce provides the inspiration for the Grill’s seasonal menus

From one amazing dinner to another amazing breakfast… Let’s just say we did not leave the hotel hungry!

Breakfast at St Ermin’s Hotel is just perfection! I am a big fan of breakfast, so this is really important to me! You can basically have everything you want  – and Clara wanted pancakes, which she had (plenty of) So good!

English Breakfast for Frenchie… Look at his happy face!

Time for a walk….

Can you spot Buckingham Palace in the background? I think Frenchie and Clara just did an Abbey Road/  Buckingham Palace Beatles hybrid in this shot! I love it!

St James’s Park is only a five-minute walk from St. Ermin’s! It is London’s oldest park and was actually featured in the James Bond film “Die another Day”, when Toby Stephen’s character parachutes over the Victoria Memorial into Buckingham Palace!

“Oh look, mummy. There is a squirrel! I will show her my Peppa Pig!” (Not sure the squirrel was very impressed though!)

It takes about ten minutes to reach the very luxurious Bond Street from the hotel… 

I personally love the designer department store Fenwick, which is also in this neighbourhood …

– and if you have children, it is an absolute must to visit the 7 floor amazing toy store Hamleys. I think we spent 2 hours in there because Clara was all over the place… She also managed to persuade us to bring home 5 new toys!

Back at the hotel, Clara was in for another treat..

The stunning outdoor terrace was a bit too cold to enjoy that day….

So we decided to stay indoors, where we were looking forward to having Afternoon Tea

Clara had her very own “The Gardener Tea” and she was gifted crayons to make her menu card even more pretty

How sweet is this? Clara’s own cake tier with sandwiches, cupcakes and most importantly….

An eatable bee, that she could decorate herself! Absolutely brilliant! 

I am still dreaming about this scenario! All cosy in our soft chairs. Having delicious Afternoon Tea and champagne, while my little girl was enjoying herself and not bored… 

So stylish and very, very delicious! (My favourite was the gruyere and truffle choux bun. I just love cheese!)

Sunday morning we celebrated Father’s Day with a new polo shirt and a card, that Clara had made herself…

So much food, so little time!

We had an incredible stay at St. Ermin’s Hotel! If you are a family and you want to stay in central London, this is the place to go! Frenchie and I agreed on this… There are not many places, where you sometimes feel a bit embarrassed about a noisy (or nosy) child, but this place makes you feel at ease. It is certainly luxurious, but it also has the “chilled and relaxed” feeling of being home. We got to meet a lot of really, really friendly people that I would love to see again. I dont really rate my stays, but if I did, St Ermin’s Hotel would receive five big stars for hospitality and kindness

We were invited as guests at St. Ermin’s Hotel. All opinions are as always my own