St. James’ Court, A Taj Hotel, London is a beautiful luxury hotel hidden away just near Buckingham Palace. There is a grand entrance from Buckingham Gate, or you can enter through a secluded courtyard that also leads to Taj, 51 Buckingham Gate. We’ve made a video of our time in the hotel, including a room tour and a peek at the Alice in Wonderland afternoon tea.
It’s very centrally located within easy walking distance of St James’ Park and Mayfair. It’s also just minutes on foot from various West End theatres, and we had the absolute joy of taking the children to the matinee performance of Wicked the Musical.
We stayed in a one bedroom suite. The living room had a sofa that converted into a bed to make it the children’s bedroom. In there is also a desk, tea and coffee making facilities and a separate loo. The flat screen TV was simply enormous and the children were thrilled!
A door then led off to our larger, corner bedroom, with views over the towering offices of London. We had a comfortable super king bed with quality white bed linen, two pillows each and an assortment of decorative cushions.
Another huge TV, perfectly situated on the wall at the foot of the bed made Mr Wonders happy. While a comfy armchair and table made a perfect book and cup of tea nook for me.
A wardrobe in the corner of the room housed robes and slippers, iron and ironing board, and a hairdryer, as well as lots of hanging space and drawers for your clothes of course.
Our en-suite bathroom contained a good sized white bathtub, and lots of every type of toiletry you could need.
When we arrived a large well stocked fruit bowl delighted the children, then within minutes of us arriving a knock on the door brought more goodies in the shape of raspberries and macarons.
A Luxury Family Stay at St James’ Court, a Taj Hotel London – Review
Later, when we were out at dinner, a helpful house elf in the shape of the turn-down service came into our room, tidying the sheets and placing slippers at the side of the bed. (We both clearly have large feet though as, like Cinderella’s ugly sisters, our feet just would not fit!). Our pretty bed cushions were tidied away for sleep and our pillows were plumped. Oh and Miss H’s kitties (two cuddly plush cats that travel everywhere with her) were cosily arranged on her pillow!
Another note I must mention was that the heating/air con was very effective. We have stayed in a number of hotels in the UK this year with no air conditioning and I do find it hard to sleep when I am too hot!
The following day we headed down for breakfast. It was a Sunday and there was a wait for a table in the main restaurant so we were offered breakfast in The Hamptons Bar.
We were just there for the one night so I can’t say what the breakfast was like in the main restaurant, but in The Hamptons Bar there was a small buffet with cooked breakfast items, cereal and continental meats and cheeses.
The staff explained that the buffet is smaller in there but we were welcome to order anything from the a la carte menu free of charge. It was very quiet in The Hamptons Bar, I think given the chance again I would have waited for a table in the main dining room like I saw some other guests doing. Miss H was happy though as she ordered smoked salmon and scrambled eggs.
While Master T went for pancakes and maple syrup, and a strawberry smoothie.
We very much enjoyed our stay at St James’ Court. It was lovely to be able to walk to places of interest rather than having to get a taxi or tube. The room was spotlessly clean and plushly furnished. The suite meant that we had separate but adjoining rooms to the children and was perfect for families. An oasis of calm and luxury in a hectic and colourful city!
We were invited to stay and review St James’ Court, a Taj Hotel. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.
See our list of suggestions for other fab family hotels in London.