Overview

The Corinthia Hotel London is a luxury hotel near Trafalgar Square and Whitehall. The hotel has retained its traditional facade but has a contemporary and stylish interior which is accessible. This review is when I went for afternoon tea with a dear friend who was over from America, it was her first time having afternoon tea and we were both impressed. This review is for afternoon tea only and I'm sorry but I'm unable to comment about staying over in this hotel.

Transport & Parking

The nearest tube is Embankment which is not step free. I arrived by the southbound Bakerloo line and the exit from the platform involved a short flight of stairs and a escalator. I would assume it is simular for all the platforms at this station. If you are using this station take the Villiers Street exit ( as there are no steps from ticket hall to street) and turn left on exiting the station onto Embankment Place. It's a minute to Northumberland Road and when you arrive the hotel is the corner building on the otherside of the road. The nearest accessible tube is Westminster and from there it would be a 5 - 10 minute walk. Any bus that serves Trafalgar Square or Whitehall will stop close by.

Access

The hotel is on the corner of Whitehall Place and Northumberland Avenue. Afternoon Tea is served in the Crystal Moon Lounge. I arrived by their Whitehall Place entrance which is their main entrance and has a few stairs with handrail, ramp and platform lift. This entrance has door staff who were very helpful. This entrance brought me out into the receiption area and there were then another short flight of stairs but I didn't notice a step free route. When I left I exited by the Northumberland Avenue entrance which is immediately adjacent to the Crystal Moon Lounge and is definately step free. There was a short flight of stairs with handrails on both sides and a platform lift. and the exit doors immediately in front. There was a revolving door and push button accessible door. I didnt notice any staff on the door of their Northumberland Avenue entrance. In the Crystal Moon Lounge there are free standing tables and chairs of different heights. I might have missed it but on the hotel's website I didn't see any accessibility information page or section. This would have been helpful.

Toilets

The accessible toilet is on the same level as Crystal Moon Lounge. The toilets are signposted as rest rooms and there is a seperate accessible toilet. The toilet is spacious, clean with lots of grab rails and an emergency cord that reached to the floor. It has a manual door.

Staff

The staff were outstanding. The door man held the door open for me as soon as he saw me coming and welcomed me in. The staff in the restaurant were amazing. Had the perfect balance of being attentive but also discrete. We had a server who took our coats and confirmed dietary requests as I had booked 1 vegetarian. Then we were served our drinks, sandwiches and then scones and pastries. Service throughout was exceptional and they made you feel special.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

This was one of the best afternoon tea experiences I have ever had. The food was of excellent quality. Sandwiches were replenished on request. We both liked the egg mayonnaise and truffle sandwiches the best. They serve the scones warm and in a box and there were 2 types of jam, strawberry and rhubarb and accompanied by clotted cream. The cakes are served on a cake trolley. The presentation of the cakes were amazing. We went for their Festive Afternoon Tea and the cakes were beautifully crafted. In addition there was Christmas cake and also marshmallow in three different flavours. The server provided us with individual plates with one of everything on each and they were placed in a three tiered cake stand. The other thing I loved about this place was the attention to the design detail. The glasses were Baccarat crystal and were stunningly beautiful but also quite heavy. Their chandelier was also Baccarat crystal with a single red dot in it which also featured on the menu cover. The crockery was lovely, red or black and white striped. It was only when we picked up the cups that we realised that the cups are mirrored not patterned. The hotel was beautifully decorated for Christmas. It was a truly special visit with a sense of occassion. We totally loved it and highly recommend.

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