If you’re in London and at a loss for something to do, which, granted, is not very likely, I can highly recommend taking a guided tour up the 334 steps of the Elizabeth Tower to pay Big Ben a visit. Our guide, Joe, is a witty and knowledgeable young man and the views from the top are priceless.
Location
From Big Ben it’s only about ten minutes on foot to the Corinthia Hotel, which is just off Trafalgar Square in the direction of the river. Okay, make that 25 minutes to account for the many tourists milling about and standing around stupidly.
In case you’re wondering why there’s a Maltese flag hanging next to the Union Jack in the photo below, that’s because the Corinthia is a Maltese hotel chain.
The Service & Staff
The staff at the Corinthia are friendly and accommodating. At 15h00 we’re ushered to our table and brought the menu. While we wait for the sandwiches to be brought out, our waiter brings us some cold spiced rooibos tea. He’s quite a character, in that he’s not exactly rude or unfriendly, just perhaps a bit abrupt.
The Meal
What I like about the afternoon tea at the Corinthia, is that it’s a very traditional set up that doesn’t try to be too clever and sticks to the tried and tested classics instead. For the savouries there is a nice selection of sandwiches – egg and truffle mayo, cheese and ham, salmon, cucumber, and turkey with cranberries. A while later, our waiter brings us a few slices of sausage roll.
Next, the scones are served in a white, wooden box. There are two plain scones and two with raisins. The scones are served with clotted cream, homemade strawberry jam and homemade blueberry jam.
The sweets are brought out on a tall three tier étagère that is set up beside our table. Each guest has their own plate with four pastries, and then there’s also a gingerbread cake and two chocolate biscuits to share.
At the end if the meal, our waiter brings us a jar of the blueberry jam as a parting gift and thanks us for visiting. He tells us to let him know when we’re ready to settle the bill and for him to bring us our jackets from the cloak room.
Conclusion
This was certainly a very enjoyable, traditional afternoon tea. I don’t mind having an afternoon tea that is experimental or extravagant, but an nice, well prepared old-school afternoon tea is also nice. I think this is one I wouldn’t mind repeating some time. But it’ll have to wait, because there are still so many other venues for afternoon tea in London that I’ve yet to try.
It is a must for me to have an Afternoon Tea at the Corinthia once a year. Glad you liked it. In March l am going to spend my 50th birthday at the hotel (including Afternoon Tea of course)
Ooh, will you be staying there? If so let me know how it was, for future reference. I feel that I still haven’t found “my hotel” in London.
i am currently staying at the Corinthia. All of the staff are so nice and are helpful. The food at the restaurants is so delicious. l particularly like the breakfast set up. Our room (we were lucky to get a double upgrade) is nicely appointed and goes perfectly alone with the whole building. The bathroom is quite big and the shower room easily passes your test. Our Spa threatment was super relaxing and a perfect start into the vacation break. The hotel shows its Maltese roots by performing an small exhibition of photos taken by Maltese photographer Lorenzo Aguis in the area in which Afternoon Tea is being served.
Hi Thomas, thanks for the update. It’s interesting and good to know that the hotel seems to have a reliable service standard. I may have to stay there one of these days. So what do you mean when you say you got a diubke upgrade, if I may ask? Did you have the afternoon tea? When I was there last, they were just preparing for the Agius exhibition.
The afternoon tea was once again just delicious. We had it on our day of arrival.
Initially we booked an Executive Room but we were upgraded by two room categories to a Deluxe Junior Suite. This might have happened either because of my 50thies birthday or my status with their Loyalty Program
Well, what ever it was, it’s a nice surprise. Belated birthay wishes, in that case!
Another place that gives fantastic views of London is the Very top of St Pauls cathedral—–LOTS of steps, but its worth the effort. I also once sang there as a Choirboy!!!!!. Nice unfussy tea—- Love the Groovy striped plates.
Ah, nice! Thank, I’ll look into going up St. Paul’s. The rotunda must be impressive to see from above. The plates are colour coordinated with the tea pot, so they know who is drinking what.
Hlad you enjoyed it. The rest of the hotel looks rather nice as well.