LONDON,ENGLAND
The Great Northern Hotel in King’s Cross, built in 1854, was one of the first hotels designed solely with the train traveller in mind. It fell into disrepair and closed for 12 years, but re-opened in 2013 after a £40 million refurbishment
Christmas shopping trip up to London? Then steer clear of the more familiar haunts of Oxford Street or the behemoth retail centres and beat a path to King’s Cross. The area continues to regenerate at speed and now has a good weekend’s worth of distractions. The warehouses of Granary Square, the towering iron structure of Gasholder Park and the Regent’s Canal towpath are decent spots for a wander before you get stuck into some serious shopping (for local present ideas with a difference, see right). To turn the trip into a proper pre-Christmas treat for yourself, book into the Great Northern Hotel, a modern reimagining of the Victorian railway hotel. Rooms vary from the snug (the Couchette, with a nod to a sleeper cabin on a train) to the larger Cubitts, with roll-top baths and views across King’s Cross. Wainscott rooms, up in the eaves, are particularly cosy and romantic. Book in for a cocktail in the GNH Bar (don’t miss the salmon martini if it’s on) before dinner in Plum + Spilt Milk. Dishes such as beef Wellington, roast chicken or Dorset crab are taken beneath an enormous chandelier in the elegant dining room. A meal here should certainly see you through til breakfast, but guests in search of a midnight snack can head to the pantry on each floor of the hotel and help themselves to the likes of Tunnock’s Caramel Wafers and Jelly Babies.
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