Valentine’s Day in London
Love Valentine's Day? I bet you do!
Still not decided what you’re doing on Valentine’s Day? London offers plenty of hotel packages, more or less imaginative depending on your taste. For instance, Hilton’s The Courthouse (map) offers not only a room, champagne, dinner, and breakfast, but a special showing of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ with as much popcorn as you can eat. And The Stafford (map) offers what I reckon is the most unusual romantic gesture – a one night only candlelit dinner in its ancient wine cellars.
Other hotels offer a perhaps less imaginative, but highly romantic champagne break – try the Chiswick Moran (map) if you fancy an out-of-town setting with an arty, contemporary ambience, from £150 (and the deal is available for the whole of this month); or at a similar price point, ‘Cuddles and Bubbles’ at the Park Plaza hotels (including Riverbank, County Hall, Westminster Bridge, and Sherlock Holmes).
Afternoon tea is another romantic possibility – and the Metropolitan London (map) is offering a champagne tea at the Met Bar, including macaroons, cupcakes, and champagne., as well as a free voucher for fashion lingerie!
But I’d also suggest the best things in life are sometimes free. If the sun comes out on Valentine’s Day, then consider taking time to visit one of the parks;
- feed the squirrels in St James’s park (map), who will come right up to you to be fed and even take nuts from your hand;
- stroll by the pool and waterfall in the Japanese garden in Holland Park (map);
- or you could visit Valentine’s Park in Ilford (map)! How cute is that? (It’s actually a rather nice late eighteenth century English park, and includes a grotto that looks tailor-made for a quick cuddle. There’s a Rose Temple, too, though this isn’t the right season for it.)
Photo by Kaz Andrew on flickr
