Lucie Loves... Travel // Cocktail classes and new friends at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel

May 28, 2013 Lucie Kerley

Last Monday night I tootled off after work to attend a Bloggers’ Cocktail Class event at The Millennium Hotel, situated on Grosvenor Square in the delightful Mayfair. It’s a 5 minute walk away from Bond Street tube station and about 30 seconds walk from places like Jo Hansford’s Mayfair Hair Salon and Agent Provocateur.

I’m a huge fan of staying in a good hotel - especially if the hotel is boutique, unique or just downright deluxe. A few of the hotels I’ve stayed in, thoroughly enjoyed and count amongst my favourites are Hotel Maiyango in Leicester, Blakes Hotel in London and the gorgeous Hotel du Vin (Glasgow and Birmingham are amazing!)

And so, with my appetite for classy hotel’s whet, my expectation for this Mayfair joint was high…

On arrival I was greeted by the hotel’s charming Georgian frontage. It was great to see that the hotel even has Boris Bikes docked outside if you fancy whizzing around the city. There are also plenty of London black cab taxis driving past too if you’re not one for cycling but fancy using this Grosvenor Square address as your base whilst exploring London.

The hotel has a sumptuously furnished foyer complete with extravagant floristry arrangements, which are refreshed on a weekly basis.

I made my way through to the Avista restaurant, where I was directed to a cute little bar tucked away behind a wall of wine bottles to meet the other the fashion and lifestyle bloggers waiting - with a glass of fizz in hand - for our tour of the hotel and cocktail class mixology madness to begin. We all took part in a spot of drawing. The person to draw the best cow would win a nice bottle of Prosecco. From my drawing, you can see it wasn’t going to be me… The lovely Mona, of Chipped and Chapped, was the winner in the end. Well deserved too!

We were given a tour of the hotel, which has whopping 336 rooms, 2 restaurants - the Avista and the Shogun - which serves authentic Japanese. There are also 2 bars and concierge service. It even has a Grand Ballroom and the Grosvenor Suite for private engagements and business meetings. You can also get married at this 18th century townhouse too!

After taking it all in - including a Battle of Waterloo related piece of trivia - we made our way back to the bar, did a little quiz and learnt how to make some smashing mojitos, cosmopolitans with The Cocktail Service guys (thecocktailservice.co.uk) and quaffed tasty ‘prize’ shots and nattered like nobody’s business. It was great to meet Sheree from Glitz and Grime - another northern lass living it up in London. Let’s do drinks! (More of them…)

In all I had a very fun evening. The cocktails were well made and tasted fab (if I do say so myself…) and the company and hotel was great too! I’m looking forward to nipping back over the next month or two and tasting the menu at the Avista restaurant….

Watch this space.

Check out some of the other lovely bloggers from the event.