The Egerton House Hotel London
Intimate refinement and luxury in Knightsbridge
Article added on January 20, 2011
  
The lavish Egerton House Hotel is situated in a Victorian luxury townhouse built in Knightsbridge  in 1843, just a short walk from Harrods, Sloane Street with Harvey Nichols and Jo Malone to one side and the Victoria & Albert Museum to the other.

Big flat-screen TVs in the bedrooms and small ones in the bathrooms, tea and coffee making facilities,  IPods, writing utensils in the desk drawer, Penhaligon's amenities in the bathroom and, as at the bigger sister hotel, The Milestone, excellent staff, make The Egerton House Hotel one of the best places to stay in London.

Art is present all around the hotel and greets guests already at the hotel entrance with, for instance, a series of original lithographs by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The drawing room is adorned by the oil painting The Parrots by Kim Brooks as well as by many caricatures, which can also be found in the bar just behind the drawing room. One of the highlights there is an original Snoopy print by the late cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, one of the others being barman Antonio Pizzuto himself, a master of the martini. He joined The Egerton House from Dukes Hotel, where Ian Fleming got the inspiration for the classic James Bond line regarding his martinis: “shaken, not stirred.”

Many of the other cartoons on display in the bar and in the drawing room, are by “JAK” (Raymond Jackson, mainly working for the London Evening Standard from 1952 onwards until his death in 1997) and “SEM” (Georges Goursat, a French cartoonist who lived from 1863 to 1934).

The gorgeous Victoria & Albert Suite on the ground floor features a small, stylish terrace garden, where you can enjoy your breakfast and afternoon tea in privacy.

My Deluxe King Room no. 10 on the first floor was adorned with an original, large scale affiche-estampe from 1891 advertising a Parisian bookshop. It was made by the French painter and lithographer of humble  origins and with a limited education, Jules Chéret, who is considered the father of the modern poster art. In his period, he was also called the “father of women's liberation.” The women he depicted were neither prostitutes nor puritans, but ordinary women. He helped create a more open atmosphere for women in Paris. Jules Chéret had created the poster mentioned above for a department store called The Beautiful Gardener. For some unknown reason, it was rejected. The bookshop owner and pioneering print and poster dealer Edmont Sagot snapped it up because he saw it as a marvelous supplement for his poster catalogue that was about to be published. The affiche-estampe of “Librairie Ed. Sagot” is considered one of Jules Chéret's poster masterpieces. I enjoyed watching it from my bed.

The Egerton House Hotel does not have a gym. However, guests enjoy a complimentary membership at a health club just five minutes away. I jogged over there to try it out. It's spacious and offers all you need. A small hotel with just 28 rooms could not offer such a service anyway. The hotels arrangement with that club helps you stay fit whilst staying at The Egerton.



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The Egerton House Hotel was built in 1843, but only finished in the 1880s because the original owners had run out of money. The present-day hotel consists of what used to be two separate buildings. At first a private house, it later became a youth hostel for American exchange studies, before being converted into a four-star hotel in 1990 by David Naylor Leyland, who had bought The Egerton, the Franklin and Dukes hotels.

The current general manager of The Egerton, the Dutch-born Sandra Anido, joined the hotel in 1996. In 2005, it was bought by the dynamic South-African hotelier Beatrice Tollman and her husband, who converted it into a breathtaking five-star gem. Their Red Carnation group runs a series of hotels, including the very recommendable Milestone  in London and my favorite Geneva hotel, Hotel d'Angleterre. In addition to the emphasis on location and design, with handmade cushions and curtains as well as an eclectic mix of outstanding art and furniture, Red Carnation hotels provide some of the best service worldwide by motivated staff.

With only 28 rooms and suites, The Egerton House Hotel is ideal for guests who look for privacy in a place where the staff knows them by name.


The feminine Classic Double Room no. 43. The dogs depicted  in the paintings are a sign that the hotel is pet friendly. Hotel staff, even the general manager, if she has time, would walk your dog! Photos © The Egerton House Hotel London.


The Deluxe Queen Room no. 15. Photos © The Egerton House Hotel London.


Antonio Pizzuto, the Italian barkeeper at work, preparing one of his trademark martinis with lemons from Sicily. Talk with him about football / soccer! Photos © The Egerton House Hotel London.


View of the terrace in the Victoria & Albert Suite. An ideal place to propose, to have a private breakfast or an afternoon tea. Photos © The Egerton House Hotel London.


The elegant Studio Suite no. 32. It is very popular with honeymooners. Photos © The Egerton House Hotel London.
 

The living room at the Victoria & Albert Suite. Photo © The Egerton House Hotel London.


The bedroom at the Victoria & Albert Suite. Photo © The Egerton House Hotel London.


The Deluxe King Room No 10, where I stayed. On the other side of the room hangs a gorgeous, large scale original affiche-estampe from the Parisian “Librairie Ed. Sagot” from 1891 by Jules Chéret, the father of the modern poster. Incidentally, the Deluxe King Room no. 10 has two doors for extra privacy. Photo © The Egerton House Hotel London, a Red Carnation hotel.


The masculine Classic Double Room no. 45. Photo © The Egerton House Hotel London.




The Drawing Room where a recommendable afternoon tea is served on a classic three-tier stand. It included for instance a delicious macaron, a fruit tartlet, scones and mouth watering sandwiches. The portrait above the chimney shows the secret lover of the townhouse's owner in Victorian times. Photos © The Egerton House Hotel London.


The bar with its JAK and SEM caricatures. Brand new is an original Snoopy print by Schulz, not depicted here, but already hanging on the wall's top left. Photos © The Egerton House Hotel London.


The entrance of the Victorian townhouse, now one of the finest and most exclusive hotels in London. Photos © The Egerton House Hotel London, a Red Carnation hotel.