On a trip away the elements that really bring the stay together for me are – staying in a quality place, a good location, a punctual and fast journey and a comfortable bed to rest my head on. On a recent trip to London I thankfully enjoyed all of this and more, I was given the opportunity to try out an exclusive members’ club without joining and thoroughly enjoyed my window into the world of The Hideaways Club.
The club is also a fund where members invest in a large portfolio of luxury properties and holiday homes across the world. From Dubai to New York and Mauritius to Prague, the luxury villas, chalets and apartments are hand picked for their locations and stylishly decorated to a high standard.
I was fortunate enough to stay in the Kensington apartment with a group of three friends. Group travel can be difficult as the togetherness can somewhat be lost when you are split between hotel rooms and trust is also sometimes questioned when there is a same sex group. The apartment offered us the opportunity to fully enjoy every moment of our time together while enjoying the luxury, comfort and ease of a home from home.
Kensington
The Kensington penthouse apartment is in a fantastic location, perched on the edge of Kensington Gardens, giving us a fantastic a view of the palace opposite. It sits towards the edge of the high street, which offers an array of top quality eateries for food lovers, popular shops for the spenders and is within walking distance of the museum district for the culture vultures.
Our personal concierge welcomed us to the property on arrival and showed us around before we made ourselves fully at home to enjoy the apartment and all of the delights that London has to offer.
While there, my group and I visited many different attractions including the Royal Albert Hall, Natural History Museum, a trip to Harrods, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, to name a few, all of which were within walking distance of the apartment. We also left a large chunk of time to shop on Kensington High Street, which holds a great selection of well known stores and fantastic restaurants and cafes.
We dined at Caffe Concerto and would highly recommended it, (one is located on Kensington High Street and another a 2 minute walk from Harrods) especially for lunch. It offers up delicious Italian cuisine in an elegant atmosphere. Zaika, a top quality Indian cuisine restaurant sits right next door to the apartment entrance and serves up culinary delights such as scallops served with puffed rice, mint and bell pepper chutney, slow cooked diced lamb in a brown onion sauce and truffle naan as well deliciously tasty mocktails – delightful and luxurious food and drink!
The apartment is stylishly decorated in neutral tones of greys, browns and creams with elements of red, black and metallics thrown in. It offers a contemporary design with hints of original features such as marble fireplaces. The neutral décor will suit all tastes while the modern design features I felt added that touch of glamour and opulence. The apartment is fully fitted with everything we needed to feel at home from a dishwasher to a coffee machine and a washing machine to a printer. There was an iPad and spare mobile phone should we have needed either and the television certainly cannot be missed.
The rooms themselves carry the same style of décor throughout with large black wall to wall wardrobes, wooden flooring, low lighting and large comfortable beds. The master bedroom has the main bathroom attached with a stand alone bath and walk in shower, while the second bathroom also has a bath and shower and both offer a modern and sleek design. There is also a study, which doubles as a third bedroom, a utility room and a large separate dining room with a chaise lounge gazing out onto Kensington Gardens, one of London’s eight royal parks. The lounge was our favourite room and housed a large dark brown leather sofa, red soft grand armchair and a dark brown leather chair with a stool, a large TV and windows looking over to the palace and gardens. We spent some time here planning our days ahead as well as happily reminiscing about our highlights so far. We all had peaceful and comfortable sleeps and were surprised at the very low, if at all, level of noise from the streets below. We felt very well treated; we loved staying in the apartment and felt that the central location was perfect as well as Kensington itself.
The Club
Being a member of The Hideaways Club means that you have the opportunity to choose which beautiful location you stay in with a home from home to suit without the stresses of owning a second home.
There are two collections in the portfolio to invest in – the City and the Classic. The City Collection has apartments in New York, London, Paris, Prague, Berlin, Bangkok, Istanbul and Dubai, all of which are contemporary, spacious and beautifully furnished to a high standard. They are all in great locations and offer a personal concierge service. The Classic Collection consists of luxury villas and chalets in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Morocco, South Africa, Thailand and Mauritius. Each are spacious, private and can accommodate up to 10 guests. For more information visit www.thehideawaysclub.com
Getting there
No trip away would be complete without the journey from your haven to you luxury home from home. My group and I travelled to the capital from Devon via Great Western Railway. We had considered coach travel but with a group discount on offer, faster journey times and an on board buffet, we didn’t take much convincing! The journey as ever was fast, comfortable and reliable in a clean and safe environment.
In a nutshell
We enjoyed a fantastic weekend away in a beautiful apartment in a great location with a fast journey there. If you ever needed a reason to join The Hideaways Club let the Kensington apartment convince you!
More information on The Hideaways Club can be found at thehideawaysclub.com
