Ok, so I’m thirty years old. I’m a grown-up… of sorts… 

I like to have fun and meet new people… but I do love a bit of luxury too. Especially when that luxury comes in the form of a swanky five-star London hotel. 

So, when Gemma Cairney invited me along to check out The Sleepoverat St Pancras Renaissance, I was more than intrigued to find out what she’d been cooking up with her friends.

I checked my usually ridiculously busy calendar, breathed a sigh at the empty Saturday night slot… and thought “Fuck it! I’m going to spend a Saturday night in a room with 45+ women that I don’t know.”

On arrival I made my way up to the Booking Office entrance. I remember seeing this place for the very first time and thinking “Wow! What a great London date venue.”

If you desire luxury, then this is the place for you.

But… you may be thinking… how does luxury work in terms of a sleepover scenario? Surely kipping on the floor and eating too many sugary snacks doesn’t quite cut it?

Well! As I followed my fellow sleepoverees to the Royal Suite, none of whom I’d met before, we passed the rather grand staircase, made famous for 90s kids, like me, by its appearance in the Spice Girls “Wannabe” video.

We smiled to ourselves, and knocked on the door, which was opened by a lovely lady in pjs with a clipboard. She checked off our names and invited us to take a glass of champagne. We then were instructed by the very gorgeous Ginger Johnson to take our things into the rather palatial suite’s dressing room and remove all of our clothes.

A rather forward request to be greeted with… but… as they say, it’s best to start as you mean to go on.

Chuckling to ourselves, we poured into the spacious bathroom – complete with rubber duck, tons of REN face stuff and piles of fluffy white towels – and got changed into our night things. It was like being a giddy teenager again! Comparing pjs and silly slippers.

It was the antidote of what a Saturday night out in London would usually entail.  I was intrigued to find out how people had heard about the event. We all wore name badges to make getting to know one another a little bit easier.

There were two sisters – a theatre director and a criminal barrister, a couple of lovely ladies – Lucy & Juliet, who worked for Mr & Mrs Smith. A lady who worked in property, who was also friend’s with one of the organisers – writer, producer, presenter, composer, director, founder of Gaggle and all-round multi-talented woman, Deborah Coughlin. 

I also got to meet the gorgeous Amy Culwick, scriptwriter and singer at Gaggle - seen below eating a lollipop, and the sensational, Harriet Vine of Tatty Devine jewellery. We had so much fun that we’re already planning our next date!

We gathered around, drinking more champagne and listened to The News presented by the incredibly funny Ginger Johnson.

We then skipped back in time to 1996, and got all #GIRLPOWER reenacting Spice Girls “Wannabe” video on the incredibly fancy staircase, while Cassie of Bella Nova Photography papped away like we were Kate Moss!

This was one of my favourite shots of the night! I’d just spent a solid hour or so chatting away to Harriet and Katie Puckrikover cheese toasties, chips and icecream. While romanticising about perfume, and mentally adding some of Katie’s favourite fragrances to my wish list. Perfect grown up talk!

After dancing the night away to Gemma’s bevvy of throwback hits, the night then took a naughty turn as Comedian Luisa Omielan launched us into a game of spin the bottle, followed by a few Apple Sourz-fuelled rounds of “I have never…” It was hilarious! 

It’s safe to say that we were a wee bit tipsy by the time we tucked ourselves up in sleeping bags… The next morning *with slightly pounding heads* we were treated to breakfast, coffee, juice, a spot of yoga and an aromatherapy session with two lovely ladies from the St Pancras spa. Bliss!

Overall, it was a really good evening. If you’re curious and think it’s something you’d like to try, treat yourself! It’s so worth it. Perfect for a payday treat, girls night out, hen do or to celebrate a special occasion or birthday.

Find out more: thesleepover.co.uk

Buy tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-sleepover-ii-tickets-23096851304

Photography* © Lucie Kerley 

*Photo of all of us on the stairs and me and Gemma Cairney by Bella Nova Photography