Where to Stay
The city's latest chic address is Baglioni, 60 Hyde Park Gate, SW7 (tel. 020/7368-5700; www.baglionihotels.com), a pricey citadel of good living ideal for born-to-shoppers (Harrods is a ten-minute walk away, Kensington High Street only five). The best rooms open onto Kensington Gardens. What a chic enclave: Ebonized wood floors and deluxe furnishings in mocha, taupe, and black. Suites come with their own espresso machine, and the 24-hour room service is superb -- instead of a stale club sandwich, the staff will whip up lasagna like that served in a first-class Italian restaurant. This is definitely the place to live la dolce vita -- but only if you can afford it. Doubles begin at a lethal $565 a night.
Males will be banned from the 68 rooms of a section of the government-rated five-star Grange City Hotel, 8-14 Cooper's Row, EC3 (tel. 020/7863-3700; www.grangehotels.com). Even the room service staff will be female in this seven-story building. The Grange Hotel Group decided to offer the service after a survey showed that half of its customers were woman, many of whom felt vulnerable when traveling alone. For security, each room has a spy-hole and a chain lock. Rooms contain such female friendly features as illuminated wardrobes, a backlit make-up mirror and an extra powerful hair dryer.
Opening in Kensington, base2stay, 25 Courtfield Gardens, SW5 (tel. 020/7244-2255; www.base2stay.com), is a new concept in hotels. It offers great value by providing "a synthesis" of what guests really need and use and cutting out the frills. Accommodations are comfortable and air conditioned and feature kitchenettes. But at £80 ($144) a night, including VAT, they are hardly luxurious. base2stay offers 67 rooms with flexible accommodation options, including suites and interconnecting rooms.
The Magna Carta is a luxury hotel barge sailing from St. Katharine's Dock in the East End of London. It presents West End Theater Cruises, a weeklong extravaganza along the Thames River. West End musicals, theater, opera, and ballet are presented as you sail along. The six-night itinerary calls at such ports as Richmond and Hampton Court, even Runnymede and Windsor so you can take in some sightseeing as well. Shows range from Hamlet to Jailhouse Rock. For cruising dates and more information, call 783/655-1912 (www.magna-carta.co-uk).
Where to Dine
British produce meets a French chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant, Roussillon, 16 Barnabas Street, SW1 (tel. 020/7730-5550; www.roussillon.co.uk), tucked away in Pimlico, near Sloane Square. The new rage of trendy London, Roussillon serves a cuisine described as "vegecentric," featuring two seven-course tasting menus, each a delight. No one seems to prepare fresh vegetables in London better than Chef Alexis Gauthier, who changes his menu twice a season, using local ingredients whenever possible.
In Holborn, a new public house devoted to beef, The Bountiful Cow, 51 Eagle St. WC1 (tel. 020/7404-0200), has opened. The pub lies somewhere in between High Holborn and Red burgers, among London's finest. All the steaks come from select beef hung for at least two weeks. While downing cask-conditioned ales such as Adnams, you can take in the poster art -- perhaps Ronald Reagan and Barbara Stanwyck starring in Cattle Queen of Montana.
Starbucks abound in London where the old-fashioned tearoom seems to have gone the way of Sir Winston. Not so any more. Kate Moss, Stella McCartney, and their ilk, are heading for the Tea Palace, 175 Westbourne Grove W11 (tel. 020/7727-2600; www.teapalace.co.uk), a modern take on the traditional chint-and-china parlor. Freshly baked scones and clotted cream like grandfather knew are threatening to make a comeback for afternoon tea in London. Want something exotic? Go for the "White Snowbuds," a rare white tea from China's Fujian province.
Attractions
The Tate Modern, Bankside, SE1 (tel. 020/7887-8888; www.tate.org.uk), the most visited modern art museum in the world, unveiled plans for a $400-million, 11-story addition to be completed in time for the 2012 London Olympics. Resembling glass boxes stacked up, the new addition evokes a 220-foot pyramid. With the addition, the Tate Modern will be comparable in size to the Museum of Modern Art in New York or the Pompidou Center in Paris.
Long written off as a "fake," a painting of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), has gone on display at the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2 (tel. 020/7747-2885; www.nationalgallery.org.uk). The portrait, purchased for less than a hundred dollars (today's exchange rate) was acquired by the gallery in 1916 at a Christie's auction. It has gathered dust in a warehouse until it was rediscovered and authenticated. The age of the wood, on which the image of Mary was painted, turned out to be from the late 16th century. Today the painting is believed to be one of the only two paintings made in the lifetime or shortly after the death of the Queen. She was executed because she was seen as a Roman Catholic threat to Protestant England.
Shopping
London's best new shops are predictably and quintessentially English. Trendy, well-made, and beautifully, even daringly, designed shoes are a feature at Tracey Neuls, 29 Marylebone Lane W1 (tel. 020/7935-0039; www.tn29.com), near Bond Street. Behind a Victorian store front you find such delights as tall lace-up boots with a cut-out calf. At the end of Mayfair's posh Dover Street, Sac Frères, 7 Grafton St. W1 (tel. 020/7495-9040), sells some of the most beautifully made handbags in London. Expect something different here, even a House of Lords purse designed to evoke the benches in the House of Parliament.
In the mood for a floral motorcycle helmet or a tank top featuring a sinister looking baby? If so, head for Michiko Koshino, 59 Broadwick St. W1 (tel. 207/434-3686; www.michikokoshino.co.uk). The fashion here is not contemporary but the day after tomorrow.
High prices in London are forcing struggling artists more and more to the east. The new hot spot is Bethnal Green, three miles northeast of the city center and a mile east of Hoxton. The growing art scene is shaping up where Jack the Ripper once murdered a prostitute, where cholera flourished during the Industrial Revolution, and where Hitler sent his bombers in WWII. That's a distant memory these days. Art devotees are visiting such galleries as Modern Art, 7A Vyner St. E2 (tel. 020/8980-7742; www.modernartinc.com), or the nearby Fred, 45 Vyner St. E2 (tel. 020/8981-2987; www.fred-london.com). What to expect at these galleries: Apocalyptic landscapes, at least, and a lot more. The Contemporary Art Society, 45 Vyner St. E2 (tel. 020/7612-0730) runs occasional tours of the area, taking you to the studios of the most avant-garde artists. For a meal, head for Bistroteque, 23-27 Wadeson St. E2 (tel. 020/8983-7900; www.bistrotheque.com), a former clothing factory now serving French classics, all at a moderate price (at least for London).
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