The Langham, London
The Langham is located in an elegant mansion that occupies an entire city block on Regent Street in the world-renowned West End neighborhood. It is the perfect base from which to explore the shopping district in the Big Smoke, with Oxford Street, Bond Street, and Regent Street only a block down South.
This great big castle of a building is less than five minutes' walk from Oxford Circus, but far enough for the noise of crowds to have dissipated. The Langham first opened in 1865, so it’s self-assured, yet more contemporary than most hotels of its age. The atmosphere is opulent without being pretentious, the considerable entrance and lobby draped in velvet upholstery and marble columns.
The Room
The Classic and Executive rooms are light and sumptuous, with cream armchairs, king-sized beds and subtly oriental wallpaper. They are spacious too, the layout accomodating a large desk (perfect for my day-job), a large plasma-screen TV, and plenty of room to dance about. There are 333 rooms in the hotel - 188 of these are Superior rooms. Naturally, the more you fork out, the fripperies increase. The Nespresso machine is a welcome touch, perfect for those preparing for morning calls you really don’t want to leave the room for.
Book an Executive Room or anything above, and you’ll have access to the Langham Club. This is two floors of extras, including a concierge and butler service, complimentary breakfast, access to meeting rooms, light afternoon tea and evening canapés, and, best of all, complimentary Champagne cocktails all day long.
Plums, chocolate truffles, and a handwritten note. The Langham scores 5 stars in their Bienvenue
The Langham’s own resident Chuan Body + Soul products
Facilities
In the Chuan Body _ Soul spa, the nearly 53-foot-long swimming pool is long enough to do laps. The sports facility also has a state-of-the-art gym, kitted with top equipment catering to the typical gym rat.
Dining
The drinking and dining offerings are top of their game. Roux at the Landau is the big one - although this wasn’t open during our stay due to Covid. The Wigmore opened in 2017, and is very much its own entity, a very luxurious pub with leafy green walls, shiny floors, and its own locally brewed beer. The food, also overseen by Roux, Jr., is both delicious and affordable—try the incredible pies and masala spiced scotch eggs. Thank me later.
Afternoon tea at the dazzling Palm Court is also a must when visiting the famous hotel. Famed as the place where the traditional afternoon tea was born over 150 years ago, all day light dining is served here. Enjoy a selection of classic British treats and scones whilst sipping champagne in a bespoke coupe glass.
THAT beef pie at The Wigmore - I’m still having dreams about it…
We enjoyed breakfast in the hotel’s Club Lounge on the top 2 floors of the hotel. Serving up British and American favourites for breakfast, the space is the perfect spot to enjoy a spot of déjeuner whilst firing off some work emails.
A cosy pocket of the Club Lounge
Thoughts
Five-star hotels don’t come more luxurious or better-located than this. The service is also impeccable, from the minute we arrived we were made to feel welcome and at home. Nothing was too much trouble for any of that staff, and remembering small details about our room, preference, and background also gives the service extra brownie points. Tradition is very much the essence of The Langham, though it’s not a strict reproduction of the original — the interiors have been modernised subtly, but remain true to the Victorian spirit of the hotel. It is a fair bit less jewel-encrusted than some of London’s more ostentatious hotels, and feels much more connected to the city’s historical character. Needless to say, this is a very good thing.