The Mayfair hotel where families are treated like royalty
Dukes London in Mayfair launched a new family package this summer, and our writer finds it delights children with Mary Poppins-esque panache and a dash of Famous Five adventuring.
If you want a lesson in wowing children, follow the lead of Dukes London, which bowls over my two boys within seconds of walking into their room. Duvet covers feature their favourite Marvel superheroes. The beds are topped with a soft toy Dukesy (the hotel’s cute canine mascot) and a personalised dressing gown. There’s even a teepee in the corner, filled with games and draped in fairy lights. It’s a child’s dream room.
It’s part of the Mayfair hotel’s new Family Tradition package, which launched in July. Prior to arriving with seven-year-old Harry and ten-year old George we fill in a questionnaire, asking everything from their favourite characters and books to their top colour. In their room we discover a Yoto Player audio device with a library of Roald Dahl and Star Wars audio books. Later, we return from a frenetic trip to nearby Leicester Square to be greeted by even more Dukesy teddies, guarding fruit smoothies and dog-shaped biscuits, complete with icing tubes in their favourite colours. It’s a masterclass in thoughtful personalisation.
Grown ups aren’t left out, and while the boys start icing, their Dad and I pop a bottle of Pommery Brut Champagne and tuck into plates of pretty (and delicious) macaroons and fruits.
The 87-key property offers a number of connecting and interconnecting family-friendly accommodation options to recommend to clients, which cater for families of up to seven. We stay in a one-bedroom suite with a separate living area, connected to the boys’ deluxe room via a private corridor. It means everyone has their own space, (in fact, at 45-square-metres our suite feels positively palatial), and we have views across to Green Park from the small balcony.
The living area is the perfect place for a movie night, and the team thoughtfully provide bags of popcorn. Plus, despite being so close to bustling Piccadilly, rooms are incredibly quiet at night, meaning children can sleep easily.
The Family Tradition package has been designed to help families create traditions they’ll want to repeat year after year, and to encourage young travellers to discover London. To help, the concierge team creates a personalised Great Dukes Adventure scavenger hunt for each family.
In our pre-arrival questionnaire we selected some of London’s top sights from a list of 25, and at the hotel the boys are both given drawstring bags filled with maps, crayons, stickers and a personalised booklet of clues to follow. Armed with an Instax instant camera from the hotel we head off, with the instruction to snap photos of the boys with their Dukesy dogs at each landmark. It’s how the Famous Five might do London, with a 2023 twist.
Upon returning to Dukes London the team frame the boys’ grinning snaps by Buckingham Palace, the London Eye and Big Ben, elevating a sightseeing trip to something truly special. For an extra dash of Mary Poppins-style magic, the concierge can arrange tours around the capital by horse-drawn carriage or in a vintage Mini.
The scavenger hunt bags also include £20 book vouchers for each child to spend at nearby Hatchard’s – London’s oldest bookshop – which has a colourful children’s section, brimming with modern and classic books for all ages.
Back at the hotel, small tummies are well catered for, as clients booking the Family Tradition package receive a child-friendly afternoon tea in their room on arrival. Children under 13 eat for free from the kids’ menu in the hotel’s Great British Restaurant, where our nutella and banana breakfast pancakes go down a treat.
Families can also order a picnic in a pretty wicker hamper to enjoy in one of the local parks, (Green Park is a two minute walk away, via a secret alley), and they can be set up on a rug by the hotel team.
The new package shows how innovative a 115-year old hotel can be. It’s certainly the only five-star property where I’ve seen Spider-Man and Iron Man bedding, but it still offers a quintessentially British experience, with Union Jack flags fluttering over the red brick entrance in the cobblestone cul-de-sac, and a grandfather clock and portrait of the late Queen beyond the door.
Over the years this Small Luxury Hotels of the World member has been frequented by various members of the royal family, Winston Churchill and James Bond author Ian Fleming – it’s said 007’s famous “shaken, not stirred” line was concocted in Dukes Bar. The fact that rooms are now hosting the next generation of young adventurers just adds to the charm.
How to book it
Prices for Dukes London’s Family Tradition package start at £2,149 for a family of two adults and two children, based on a two-night stay in two deluxe rooms, including breakfast and activities.
dukeshotel.com/family-package
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
