Come-hither city hotels – the perfect start to married life
The Peninsula Paris
A palatial 19th-century hotel filled with mod-cons, this historic landmark was where Joyce met Proust and where Gershwin composed ‘An American in Paris’. Carefully restored over the course of four years by craftsmen (some of whom worked on repairs to Versailles), The Peninsula is one of the city’s finest examples of architecture.
Inside, its Belle Epoque good looks mix with plenty of light and space, and the lobby filled with hundreds of crystal leaves is breathtaking. Diners flock to L’Oiseau Blanc located on the roof as much for its menu as its smashing views – from the Sacre-Coeur to the Eiffel Tower – and this year (2017) sees the introduction of ‘the most exclusive table in Paris’ – a table for two accessible via a private staircase. Frankly, the whole place is a recipe for indecent behaviour.
Honeymoon high: Touring the city in the hotel’s 1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II.
Room key: The Katara Suite has the feel of an elegant Parisian apartment.
The Savoy, London
Overflowing with drama and Edwardian elegance. The Savoy is where royals, heads of state and visiting A-listers lay their heads (Frank Sinatra. Christian Dior and Katharine Hepburn among them). Think lashings of gold leaf, perfectly plumped velvet cushions and swathes of canary-yellow silk. Take a moonlit stroll along the Embankment before turning in for Pickering Place cocktails at the hotel’s gentrified American Bar – where Elton John is known to swing by and belt out a tune from time to time.
Room key: One-bedroom River View Suite.
