7th January 2008
Plush Hotel Bar For The Posh
I met a friend who was staying here for a few drinks. It was after work on a Friday and having worked from home all week, I had lost the ability to dress myself and apply make-up. So I turn up, expecting the Chancery to be at the nicer end of business hotels that wouldn't mind my scruffy trainers, unwashed jeans and baggy jumper. He had told me rather dismissively it was a place for people in London for business, not hanging out and being elegant - this hotel has good conference facilities. So they wouldn't mind a bit of unkempt freelance chic landing in the bar, right?
Well, I was greeted twice by the extremely smart looking doorman, left discreetly to my own devices in the achingly grand lobby but I knew the cluster of hotel staff were ready to leap to my aid the second I made a signal and when my friend came down to meet me I was relaxed, I felt quite welcome, but my god, I was really not dressed for it.
The bar is lit in the way that suggests a team of lighting specialists worked two months on making everyone who takes a seat look sexy and two or three kilos slimmer. The sofas and chairs are luxurious and well spaced out so every group having drinks and snacks together feels like they have their own space - it was busy but never felt crowded. Table service is swift and efficient, friendly and attentive. The wine list is superb. The complimentary snacks are the kind normal people buy as a treat from Marks and Spencer.
It's odd to recommend a hotel bar when London is so full of interesting independent bars and pubs, but this one is a rather unexpected bit of luxury, a sort of continental chic and sophistication that you can't take for granted in our city. Spend alot and enjoy it.
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