Monthly Archives: December 2009

High Tea at The Dorchester Hotel, London

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The Promenade at The Dorchester Hotel, London ©The Dorchester Hotel

The Promenade at The Dorchester Hotel, London ©The Dorchester Hotel

The first thing that should be said about Afternoon Tea at The Dorchester Hotel in London is that the room where it is served, the marble and gilt “Promenade,” is a drop dead gorgeous-stunning space that was somehow made even more beautiful by the Holiday decorations on this mid-December day in London. Pictures do not do this room justice – it is a first class, take your breath away kind of venue.

As I was entering the Dorchester, my thoughts were that since this is a Monday afternoon, perhaps it will not be as full as it otherwise might be on say, a Saturday or a Sunday. I was wrong.  The Promenade was absolutely bristling with activity, every table within sight – filled.  Guests were milling about the lobby dressed in their holiday finest, gesturing in a spirited fashion, and I wondered if maybe I had missed the memo that the entire city of London was meeting here today. Continue reading →

Afternoon Tea at The Merrion Hotel, Dublin

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Drawing Room at The Merrion Hotel, Dublin © The Merrion Hotel

Drawing Room at The Merrion Hotel, Dublin © The Merrion Hotel

I called for afternoon tea reservations at The Merrion Hotel in Dublin and was told that they were booked for the entire month of December. Fortunately after we arrived at the hotel, the staff was able to get us a seating (most likely because were guests of the hotel). As luck would have it, we were given a table directly in front of the fireplace and facing the harpist who was just beginning to play for the guests taking afternoon tea.

The Merrion Hotel is located in the center of Georgian Dublin and is just a short walk from Dublin’s “golden mile” – an area of pubs, shops and restaurants near St. Stephen’s Green. The main house of the hotel was created from four townhouses originally built in the 1760’s and now painstakingly restored. Continue reading →

Afternoon Tea at The Shelbourne, Dublin

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The Lord Mayor's Lounge at The Shelbourne © The Shelbourne Hotel

The Lord Mayor’s Lounge at The Shelbourne © The Shelbourne Hotel

A beautiful mid-December day in Dublin, Ireland – sunny and about 42F or 6C – found me approaching the front entrance of the Shelbourne Hotel for “Festive Afternoon Tea.” We had reservations at this, one of Dublin’s most historic hotels, built in 1828 and the location where the Constitution of the Irish Free State was drafted by Michael Collins and associates in Room 112. The hotel has views overlooking St. Stephen’s Green, the largest garden square in Europe.

“Tea time in the Lord Mayor’s Lounge is muted and airbrushed by Nostalgia, the clink of tea cups, and the cadness of Marie Whelan’s Piano are punctuated by the rhythmic sound of hoof beats as horse-drawn carriages bowl past the windows onto sightseeing promenades” – from The Shelbourne and its People by Michael O’Sullivan and Bernadine O’Neill. Continue reading →

High Tea at The Four Seasons Hotel, Chicago

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High Tea at The Lounge in The Four Seasons, Chicago - image ©Four Seasons Hotels

High Tea at The Lounge in The Four Seasons, Chicago – image ©Four Seasons Hotels

An unusually warm December afternoon found me in Chicago at one of the city’s premier luxury hotels, The Four Seasons, just off the Magnificent Mile. The hotel is in a high rise building above an upscale retail mall called The 900 Shops.

The hotel’s entire lobby is richly decorated in fine-plush furnishings but, The Lounge – where tea is served – certainly stands out in its striking beauty and decor.  Unlike several hotel venues that serve afternoon tea in a large airy room, this space is small and intimate.  Ironically, the room was full but it was also very private and quiet. The acoustic engineers must have worked overtime on this space. The Lounge’s dark wood, plush carpeting, and fine tapestries all speak of the luxury you are about to experience taking afternoon tea at The Four Seasons Chicago. Continue reading →