A weekend in Central London with small children has the potential to be one of those experiences that brings out the very worst in all parties involved. Under 10s, who seemingly have an unlimited energy supply when it comes to doing the things they want to do, have an amazing knack for collapsing in a heap at the sight of broken escalators, a 50m walk to the tube station or a four-minute queue to enter the UK’s best museums. Meanwhile, bedraggled parents operating on reduced rest commonly lose the ability to make everyday decisions with any sense of logic and reason, leaving them dangerously exposed and vulnerable to the patter of toy demonstrators in Hamleys and at the mercy of Google Maps as they try to safely navigate the pedestrians, tuk tuks and Boris bikes in one of Europe’s biggest cities.
Find the right hotel, however, and London becomes the world’s greatest playground for you and your little ones to explore. Brimming with opportunity, everywhere you look, reference points from the worlds of kids’ books and TV appear in real life. “There’s Paddington Bear”, “There’s platform 9 ¾’s”, “There’s one of the buses the queen commandeered in Peppa Pig”, “and there’s the drawbridge the queen jumped over in said bus”; London brings the stories of their childhood to life. Theatre, museums, galleries, restaurants, it’s all there to be enjoyed as long as you’ve had a good night’s sleep, a hearty breakfast and positioned yourself in the heart of the action. At least, that was my theory.
Could the secret to a great adventure in London with the family really be as simple as finding the right hotel? My wife and I took our two young children to the chic Haymarket Hotel in SW1 to find out.
Hotel
Haymarket Hotel is part of the Firmdale Hotel group, which comprises eleven award-winning luxury hotels spread across London and New York. Each hotel in the chain, founded by designer Kit Kemp and her husband, Tim, is designed around the belief that hotels should be living, breathing things, “not stuffy institutions”. That sounded like a promising start for two travel-worn grown-ups and their sometimes unpredictable children.
Moments from Picadilly Circus, Haymarket Hotel offers an unassuming exterior on the broad sidewalks of Haymarket Street. Positioned opposite His Majesty’s Theatre, home of The Phantom of the Opera, and just around the corner from Trafalgar Square and Pall Mall, Haymarket Hotel’s location is hard to beat.
From the curb side, you’d be forgiven for walking right past this beautiful 50-bedroom boutique, with its discreet side street entrance tucked away from the bustle of London’s theatre district. Step inside, and all that melts away thanks to a warm welcome and the signature Kit Kemp décor adoring each of the Firmdale Hotels. Expect bold colours, curated antiques, fabulous artwork, interesting furnishings, and a wonderfully relaxed ambience.
Rooms and suites
From previous hotel stays and visits to friends, we’ve learned the hard way that our family of four do not thrive on the shared bedroom experience. From the snuffling and shuffling to middle-of-the-night toilet trips and our son, who claims a 6am start is a ‘lie-in’, we seldom wake in a room together rejoicing at the start of a new day.
Fortunately, Haymarket Hotel offers a range of interconnecting rooms and suites that allow those little cherubs to be tucked away out of sight ‘til morning comes.
We stayed in a well-appointed luxury junior suite with a large adjoining twin room that offered everything a family might need. Each room is individually designed, offering a contemporary take on classic English styling. Ours included a kitchenette (brilliant for younger children who need food heating up or breakfast at 4am), a sitting room, a dressing room, a beautiful bedroom with a king-size bed, and a stunning marble bathroom.
There were flourishes aplenty, with books, pamper packs, slippers, and robes for the children. We loved the record player with its vintage record collection and the beautiful RikRak by Kit Kemp toiletries and fragranced candles. TVs in the bathrooms, complete with waterproof remote controls, certainly helped generate enthusiasm for bath time from all involved.
The hotel offers 53 rooms and suites, all individually styled and furnished, spacious and adorned with fabulous art and textiles; some even offer private olive tree-lined terraces. Despite the hotel’s brilliant location, outside noise is minimal, and the rooms can be made pitch black for a sound night’s sleep.
Food and drink
The downstairs bar and restaurant, affectionately named Brumus after Kit Kemp’s dog, is a riot of colour, artwork and sculpture. An eclectic combination of fabrics, wallpaper and furnishings, with the soft glow of candlelight and table lamps, creates an exotic ambience. At the same time, touches of classic British elegance make you feel like you’ve travelled back to some distant corner of the empire.
Brumus serves fresh, seasonal cuisine, cocktails, old favourites, sharing plates, and a fabulous Afternoon Tea. It’s cosy and sophisticated without pretence, and our children loved sitting with a mocktail following a day of theatres and sightseeing. We opted for food from the bar menu in the evening, combining a few tapas-style dishes with child-friendly, safe bets like burgers and steak frites. From the restaurant’s a la carte menu, the roast chicken forestière looked especially good.
With kids in tow, hotel restaurants come into their own at breakfast time. Expect the usual continental-style buffet with pastries, cereals and fruit alongside a cooked breakfast menu with some exciting additions. The sweetcorn chilli fritters with avocado and salsa were a hit, while classics like eggs Benedict and a traditional English breakfast set us up for the day ahead.
To do
In the hotel’s basement houses a magnificent 18-metre heated swimming pool overlooked by a stunning, ever-changing light installation. There’s a pool bar, plenty of sofas and a small gym and spa, where tired mums and dads can take turns indulging in a range of treatments. For us, the pool was the perfect place to relax after a busy day in the city, enjoying a drink while the kids expended the last of their energy.
Heading back to London with children is an altogether different experience from the slightly more hedonistic days of youth. Haymarket Hotel is in a prime location for sightseeing and shopping, as well as the city’s many tourist attractions. The National Portrait Gallery is just around the corner, while Leicester Square, Pall Mall and Buckingham Palace are all a short walk away. We watched the brilliant Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre, ate sushi in Covent Garden and took the tube to the Science Museum – all wonderful experiences for the whole family.
In a nutshell
With Haymarket Hotel, Firmdale Hotels have created a sophisticated, luxurious London retreat that’s relaxed, welcoming and utterly indulgent in equal parts. The staff were warm, helpful and attentive, the children were made to feel incredibly welcome, and the suite we enjoyed had everything required for restful sleep and a memorable weekend.
Sometimes, as a parent, it can feel like your life is one of constant compromise. Haymarket Hotel afforded us the chance to enjoy some of life’s luxuries unashamedly, even as the children ran riot in the corridors, spilt drinks in the bar and stuck their hands in the breakfast compote.
Factbox
Rooms can be booked from £500 per night.
Address: 1 Suffolk Place, London, SW1Y 4HX
Phone: +44 (0)20 7470 4000
Email: haymarket@firmdale.com
Website: firmdalehotels.com/hotels/london/haymarket-hotel
All imagery credit: Haymarket Hotel, Firmdale Hotels
