Once upon a time, in a land far far away my mum and I took a trip to a secret, wondrous garden in a fancy London hotel in the hope of finding a quintessentially English afternoon tea and my did we find it...
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What's inside the book? |
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Possibly the prettiest way to house sugar cubes |
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My beautiful mum |
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Solve the riddle time |
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A Christmas candy cane gift from our host |
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Afternoon tea fit for the Queen of Hearts |
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Marshmallow mushrooms & edible chocolate cups |
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Will I shrink to a size zero? Let's hope not! |
The Sanderson is a 5 star hotel situated just off Oxford Street. The hotel could easily be mistaken for a block of offices from the outside (clearly why it's a celebrity favourite - I'm looking at you Cheryl Cole) but don't judge a book by it's cover, step inside and you enter another world. The hotel is modern and miminimalistic but packs a punch with fun quirky twists, anyone for a dog portrait or lip shaped sofa? As a real lover of Alice in Wonderland I knew afternoon tea at the Sanderson was for us, my 21st birthday party had an Alice in Wonderland theme - super sweet sixteen eat your heart out! Plus earlier this year I stayed at Cowley Manor (much to the disgrace of my bank balance) where Lewis Carrol is said to have conceived the idea of Alice in Wonderland. Some would say it was written in the stars - Cagney, Alice and afternoon tea.
On our arrival to the hotel, a little hot from a fast walk/ slight jog down Oxford Street our coats and shopping bags were taken before we were shown to our table by the most delightful man, sporting easily the best suit I've ever seen (a dark berry velvet in case you were wondering). Whether it was intentional or not he certainly had a Mad Hatters vibe going on. On taking our pews we fully relaxed into the event that is afternoon tea, every little detail had been carefully considered from the beautiful outdoor garden setting to the quaint Luna & Curious crockery to the super cute drink me bottles.
Quaffing champagne, indulging in mini quiche and devouring white chocolate moose served in an edible chocolate cup is definitely one of the best ways to spend an afternoon in London. I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that I've enjoyed a fair few afternoon teas in my time including one in the 7 star Burj Al Arab in Dubai but you know what? I think this just pipped it to the post as the best afternoon I've ever tried, awarded for the incredible attention to detail, conscientious servers and the relaxed ambiance - not forgetting the best velvet-suit-wearing host ever.
So if you ever find yourself in London with an afternoon to spare or have a special occasion to celebrate then step down the rabbit hole into the Sanderson hotel and join the mad hatters tea party. For now I'll be making like Alice day dreaming in my own world whilst drinking tea - nothing too different from being Hannah really.
Seems like you had lot of fun! So lovely <3
ReplyDeleteKisses!
MY DIGITAL DIARIES
We had the best time thank you Melissa.
DeleteHave a lovely Christmas!
oh my that afternoon tea looks seriously yummy!! xx
ReplyDeleteIt was absolutely delicious and so fun to eat!
DeleteThis looks amazing... seriously need to try this sometime.. thanks for the advice!!
ReplyDeleteYou're most welcome Kim, hope you have a great London trip!
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