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popped, fizz poured, we raise our glasses and make a toast – to us!
Gazing out over the London skyline from the 13th floor, we four friends of more than 20 years are, quite simply, thrilled to be there. Living hundreds of miles apart, juggling work and family life, catch-up weekends together need to be meticulously planned. And the hotel has got to be good. Step forward the new Park Plaza London Waterloo, part of a chain of super-slick, individuallydesigned hotels in city centres all across Europe.
It’s just down the road from the bustle of the Southbank, with the Tate Modern and London Eye and across the Thames from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, so very convenient for sight-seeing. Bedrooms here certainly have the wow-factor. Gleaming mirrored furniture reflects the yellow cushions, slate grey swivel chairs and patterned wall freeze incorporating the abbreviation of the city – LDN. Bathrooms boast walkin rainfall showers, complimentary toiletCORKS ries and are decorated with orchids. Everything is operated by remote control – the lights, the air-con, the black-out blinds, the ondemand movies.
We grab the fluffy white robes and slippers from the wardrobes and take the designated lift to the Mandara Spa on the lower ground floor. We each disappear for a back and shoulder massage in the treatment rooms. Ask for firm pressure and the effects will last long beyond the weekend. We then re-group around the swimming pool, lit in blue hues, before sweating it out in the sauna.
Back in the rooms, and feeling pretty chilled, we find it hard to drag ourselves out on the town.
But we do – down to EV, an authentic Turkish restaurant in Southwark. The bottomless breakfast buffet at the Park Plaza, served until 11am, the next morning, gives us the chance to piece together the night before and make plans for our next weekend. Same place girls? Executive studio twin rooms at the Park Plaza Waterloo from £203.15, arriving November 16. Mandara Spa at Park Plaza London Waterloo offers express massages from £60 per person. To book visit parkplaza.co.uk/waterloo.