When it comes to an out of the ordinary stay in London there is no rival to the recently refurbished St Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster. The hotel’s history is enough to entice many visitors – throughout the 1920s and World War II the hotel was home to the whispers and plots of Winston Churchill’s British Intelligence Services and Special Operations Service, each of which occupied a floor of the hotel.
Additionally, in the 1950s, one of the Cambridge Five, the notorious double agent Guy Burgess, handed over national secrets to his Russian colleague in the adjoining Caxton Grill’s bar. There’s also a secret tunnel from the hotel to the Houses of Parliament!
If the hotel’s quirky history isn’t enough to entice you, then its incredible baroque plasterwork interiors and grand exterior architecture surely will. Each time arriving guests walk into the courtyard, they never fail to look up in wonder at this amazing piece of history.
Another quirk of this rather unique hotel is its colony of 75,000 Buckfast honey bees which reside on the roof and provide honey for the Executive Head Chef’s recipes in the hotel’s restaurant – the Caxton Grill.
The staff and current owners of the property are incredibly proud of how St Ermin’s Hotel has kept hold of its original feel whilst at the same time morphing into a modern, luxury hotel.
This post is brought to you by St. Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster- a truly unique experience unlike any other in London.
From Zoë Dawes:
Love the beekeepers – what a great idea. This hotel definitely fits the quirky travel criteria …