TOP BREAK Capital fun for kids
SARAH PROBERT discovers you CAN take your children on a swish break to London
HAYES & Jarvis (01293 762 456, hayesandjarvis.co.uk) offers a six-night holiday to New York and Boston, pictured, from £799pp.
The offer includes three nights at the four-star Bentley Hotel in New York ( room-only) basis, followed by three nights at the five star Omni Parker House in Boston (room-only).
The offer also includes VIP Dine4Less, Simon Shopping vouchers and ice skating tickets in New York, Amtrak Train between New York Penn Station and Boston BBY and return flights from London Heathrow with Delta. Based on departures 16 January, 2017.
THE idea of having a luxury weekend in London sounds like a tempting treat for anyone – but can it be done with kids? A deluxe hotel might not necessarily suit, especially if you feel you need to keep the children quiet and then retire to your shared room early in order for them to get a good night’s sleep.
As a family of four we thought a serviced apartment was a better choice for us, providing comfort with the relaxed feel of having your own home in the heart of London.
Cheval Thorney Court is a block of super luxe apartments overlooking the splendour of Hyde Park right in the heart of posh Kensington.
On the outside it’s a pretty standardlooking modern apartment block – but once inside you get all the grandeur and style of a top-notch hotel.
This is an ideal location for families. As well as Hyde Park and Kensington Palace on the doorstep, it’s just a 10-minute walk to the magnificent Natural History Museum as well as the Science and V&A museums. The Royal Albert Hall is a few streets away, and the open-topped bus tour stops right outside.
We stayed in the impressive two-bedroom penthouse apartment at the top of the building.
This place certainly has the wow factor. It’s spacious, has amazing views from every window, and the pièce de résistance is a large private balcony which stretches around the front and side of the apartment, offering a vista of what seems like the whole of London – from Wembley Stadium to the London Eye, and BT Tower to the V&A museum.
It looks amazing by day but absolutely stunning in the evening when you can play ‘spot the famous buildings’ by their lights glistening in the night sky. Inside, the bedrooms are enormous, the master having a giant and very comfy super king-sized bed with floor-to-ceiling windows and a door to the private balcony. The second room, which overlooks Hyde Park, was turned into a twin room for our daughters with a touching addition of a box of books and teddies for them to borrow and play with.
Each bedroom has a smart en suite marble bathroom with a shower over the bath.
The lounge is more than comfortable and the dining room and table generous enough in size for you to host your own dinner party, should you so wish.
Almost all of the apartments at Cheval Thorney Court have been decorated in a mock-Georgian style to make it feel like a stately home with Regency striped wallpaper, fireplaces and dark wood furniture.
You get a decent welcome basket of produce from organic company Abel and Cole including cereals, a small loaf, bread, crisps and nibbles – enough to sort you out for one breakfast so there’s no panic about an emergency shop or hungry searches for the nearest café the following morning.
There’s also a coffee machine with a few capsules for a decent cuppa in the kitchen.
The service was great – you get a daily maid service and the two reception staff were so attentive and welcoming, especially to our children.
They had great knowledge of where to go and recommended places to eat, as well as pointing us in the direction of an excellent play area (complete with huge pirate ship) next to Kensington Palace – I wonder if Prince George and Princess Charlotte have ever played here?
There’s also a gym at the apartment block should you feel running up and down the Tube steps and schlepping across London just isn’t enough exercise.
Kensington is certainly a place for the super-rich. Aston Martins and Porsches are parked outside the plush hotels and restaurants and there are rows upon rows of imposing Georgian buildings, many of them the home of foreign embassies.
But it has a welcoming feel and you don’t need to go far to find reasonably priced and familyfriendly restaurants.
For child-friendly places we tried Bill’s (at the Kensington High Street Tube station) but for a very reasonable and excellent little Italian we took a short cab ride to the independent Rocca restaurant in Old Brompton Road, where you can get gorgeous pizzas for less than £10.
That’s not bad for this part of town...