Lonely Planet Review

Stepping into Blakes is like stepping onto a Merchant Ivory film set. Think Remains of the Day or Room With a View and you'll immediately get a sense of the time and space that Anouska Hempel has managed to recreate in this, her flagship hotel.

There's a definite feeling of travel and exploration to Blakes that's quite unlike any other hotel in London. From the hotel lobby, designed to resemble a 1930s ocean liner (complete with parasols, wooden recliners and travelling trunks), to the individually themed and designed bedrooms, it's a lavish escape from modern-day city living. Each floor is colour-coded and the rooms correspond accordingly. Lavish in design, luxurious in comfort and almost colonial in attitude, each bedroom features a wealth of antique treasures and curios from old mirrors and prints to worn linen shirts and wooden furniture - seemingly picked up on voyages to far-flung corners of the world. A personal favourite has to be the suite on the ground floor that is reached by its own private entrance through the garden. Dressed entirely in white, from the floorboards and four poster bed to the delicate murals on the walls, it's breathtaking.