If you’re in need of a festive retreat before Santa Claus arrives, we know of the perfect place.
Nestled between Aldgate Tube station and the early 12th Century St Botolph church, you’ll find Hotel Saint.
From the outside, this appears to be just another luxurious City haunt, offering glossy rooms for guests or locals who need a place to rest their weary heads.
But there’s more to this hotel than meets the eye and thankfully, we are here to tell you everything you Need To Know.
This year, the team is offering a special package – dubbed ‘A Saintly Experience’ – with the hotel decked out with huge trees and glittering lights, and its in-house restaurant serving up a three-course feast.
As fans of all things Christmas, we paid a visit last week and had our very own Home Alone 2 experience – minus the bad guys and the pigeon lady.
The team, who are the shining stars of this establishment, immediately made us feel at home.
As we stepped into our suite on the 13th floor, we were greeted by a handwritten note, a bottle of champagne and a small box of home-made mince pies, as well as two Christmas crackers.
The difference between a good hotel and a great hotel is the attention to detail, and this suite had it all.
Fresh flowers? Check.
Fluffy bath robes and Egyptian cotton sheets? You bet.
A shower the size of a small London flat with gorgeous-smelling bath products and a mini assortment of anything you might need, from a toothbrush to a sewing kit? Absolutely.
But the pièce de résistance is undoubtedly the view.
At night, it’s a sparkling show of London’s skyline with the Gherkin and Leadenhall Building, better known as ‘The Cheesegrater’ on display.
In the morning, watch the fog settle over Tower Bridge in the distance.
The window pane is also incredibly thick with the room near-on soundproof, allowing for a good night’s sleep.
We felt like we were in our very own bubble.
Although the hotel offers 24-7 room service, we reluctantly put away the fluffy robes (they really are great) and got dressed to go downstairs.
Hotel Saint is fairly new to The City; the 14-floor venue opened last year. Meanwhile, it’s all-day dining space, The The Cardinal Bar & Kitchen, has welcomed diners since spring 2024.
Kudos to the designers – they’ve done an excellent job.
The restaurant is even prettier than our room, with a green suede interior perfectly paired with dark wood and intimate lighting.
And it’s run by an experienced hand.
Restaurant manager Florin Vlaicu is a delight. He’ll happily recommend a wine or dish, or have a quick chat with guests.
Our server, Joshua, is also a gem with a constant smile on his face.
Between them, the pair made sure we enjoyed everything that the restaurant has to offer.
The set festive menu, which costs £45 per person, has some great classics such as chicken liver pate –which we all but licked off our plates. This was followed by a Roast Hampshire Turkey dinner.
It was nice but didn’t blow our minds but we don’t blame the chef – there’s only so much you can do with Christmas turkey.
The extra gravy was much appreciated, though.
Dessert was the big winner and it’s all thanks to Florin. We ordered the sticky toffee pudding and cheesecake, both of which were lush.
But the restaurant manager was adamant that we also try the special Christmas pudding.
It ended up being our favourite dish of the festive menu.
So if you ever visit The Cardinal Bar & Kitchen, there is only one rule: always listen to Florin.
Aside from the Christmas menu, we also sampled a few dishes from the original menu, such as the beef raviolo starter (it’s lovely, albeit a little heavy) and bone-in pork chop with the world’s creamiest mash that will melt in your mouth.
Suitably stuffed, we waddled back up to the room for another glass of bubbly while looking out at the night sky.
Although it is a luxury, if you can afford to treat yourself to a night in a hotel before the stress of Christmas begins – or as a gift for someone to enjoy next year, perhaps – we would highly recommend Hotel Saint.
Room prices start from £159 but vary depending on the type.
