Langham Hotel

[Simon Bolivar]

Taking the wife for afternoon tea tomorrow, I believe they have a smoking area but is it covered & warm? As she won't want to sit there whilst I enjoy a smoke, otherwise.
And I assume I will have to smoke theirs?

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[grumpybaldy]

Howdya swing that one, Simon - take your wife for afternoon tea and then push off to the smoking lounge?!

[Simon Bolivar]

Sort of. Hoping to smoke after but was advised by the Staff, there was no smoking area. Later, Dara Weston pointed out on FB that they do indeed have an external Cigar Terrace. However, the weather wouldn't have been suitable to use it yesterday but worth checking out in sunnier days to come.

I would recommend the venue for afternoon tea, always seems to get points with your other half. And surely a cigar after, isn't too much to ask? One thing I did like was they asserted the meal in small courses, rather than on a 3 or 4 teired cake stand. Allocated 1hr 45 but no rush yesterday, only half tables booked.


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[mcdee]

Looks good Simon. Belated happy birthday to Patricia.

[Simon Bolivar]

Looks good Simon. Belated happy birthday to Patricia.

Thanks Neil, I passed on your best wishes but fear not, we were celebrating early, her birthday is actually this Saturday.

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[Emaresee]

A lovely hotel... and surprisingly close to the madness of Oxford Circus etc. Racked up a huge bill there once as I discovered that all vodka is not equal. Stolly Black Cristal was utterly divine.

[Smoothsmoke]

Wow - it looks pretty posh now. I remember when the ground floor was the BBC Club: very nice but not like now. How things change.

[grumpybaldy]

The Langham is on my recommended 'Five Star caught short loo' list, which is extensive and built up of necessity over many years. Other top notch conveniences include those in Brown's Hotel in Albermarle Street and The Rosewood (previously the Marriott) in Holborn, but there are many more, Most probably don't give a fig these days if 'respectable' people want to drop in, but - partly cos it's a diversion and partly in case anybody does take umbridge, these are the rules:

Know where the loo is first (Langham, turn right after the entrance and descend the stairs to the basement beyond the lift).
Dress smartly (or adjust your dress to look either smart or sufficently scruffy to appear eccentric; if you look especially smart, the hotel will see your being there as good for their image (I don't think I've managed this yet...).
Always appear confident and like you know where you're going. Don't ask where the loo is (it spoils the fun and it's quite interesting to explore these places, provided you don't need the loo that urgently).
Nod/smile at the doorman outside like you're a guest returning;don't make eye contact with anyone else;
I you have to go through a dining room (eg the loos in Brown's are through the afternoon tea room), to head off an apporach by a waiter, scan the room as if you're lookng for someone, look ostentatiously at your watch and then adopt the appeance of someone who has arrived too early for a meet-up and will pop to the loo while they're waiting; (if you want to go the whole hog, repeat this on the way out too).
Feel free to smile (confidently not wierdly) at the receptionists on the way out, and with the concierge and/or doorman, prefereably with a 'men of the world' look if you can manage it.
Resist the temptation to steal anything.