London's Best Hotel?
London's only family-owned 5-star de luxe hotel, The Goring, was recently voted the best hotel in London by a top US travel magazine
One of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's favorite dishes, Eggs Drumkilbo, is now on the menu at the Goring, London's No 1 hotel according to Travel & Leisure magazine
If you're looking for London's best hotel, then the Goring near Buckingham Palace has to be among the front-runners. In 2006 the top US travel magazine Travel & Leisure voted the Goring Number One Hotel in London. It's a 5-star de luxe hotel, but the only one that is still family-owned
The Goring's restaurant is also highly-rated by Britain's usually hard-to-please food critics. Matthew Norman in The Guardian went so far as to say that 'The Goring remains one of the two or three most pleasurable eating experiences to be found in Britain today.' Famous faces spotted at the Goring include Elizabeth Hurley and Margaret Thatcher, and it's popular with the Queen and other members of the British royal family too.
In fact it was the Queen's nephew Lord Linley who redesigned the Dining Room in 2005. I'm sure he'll be delighted to see that the menu now includes one of the favorite dishes of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The dish has the unusual name of Eggs Drumkilbo, as the recipe originated at Drumkilbo House in Perthshire, the home of the Queen Mother's nephew, the Master of Elphinstone.
Eggs Drumkilbo is thought to go back to Edwardian times and is a sinfully delicious mix of lobster, shrimp, chopped hard-boiled eggs and concassé tomatoes in a rich mayonnaise and topped with sherry-flavored aspic. No wonder it was one of the Queen Mum's favorites! It's equally popular with the Goring's guests too, as they are now serving several hundred every week.
The Goring has a special interest for American visitors, and has more American guests than many other UK hotels. During World War 1 it was the headquarters of the American Officers stationed in London, and later Sir Winston Churchill's American mother, Jenny Jerome from Brooklyn, made it her home. As a result, Sir Winston Churchill was also a regular visitor.
The Goring was founded in 1910 and was the first hotel in the world to have private bathrooms and central heating in every guest bedroom The price of a room then was 7/6d, or about 37p (70 cents). Today it's a little pricier, with rooms from £180 ($340), but for the Best hotel in London, who could complain?
For the Goring website, click here.
Read about a luxury cruise on the Thames which starts and ends at the Goring Hotel here: http://ukirelandtravel.suite101.com/blog.cfm/luxury_cruises_on_river_thames
Read Giles Coren's Review of the Goring's restaurant from The Times by clicking here
Read about Walking Dickensian London by clicking here.
Read about touring London's best food market by clicking here.
Read about downloadable MP3 walks for London by clicking here.
See how to get your free London events guide when booking your London hotel by clicking here.
