A right royal weekend
Sussex Life|December 2019
The suite-only hotel Taj 51 Buckingham Gate is the perfect base for a family break in London. The staff may be used to exacting guests, but would the flawless service win round a grumpy toddler?
Jenny Mark-Bell
A right royal weekend

In my admittedly very limited experience, new parenthood is about the birth of more than just a baby. Two other new individuals emerge dazed into the sunlight by which, of course, I mean the new parents. There are so many firsts in that first year of parenthood that it is easy to lose one’s own identity. The thing I have found the most shocking, though, is the death of spontaneity.

So the idea of a spur-of-the-moment family weekend in the capital struck me as daring in the extreme. But Taj 51 Buckingham Gate seemed perfect: it would be our own little pied a terre so no need to worry about having to sit in silence after the boy goes to bed at 7; plus all the many little conveniences meant it would be just like being at home, only miles better.

On a cold, rainy November day stepping into the grand central courtyard, with its red brick, glossy green tiles and Shakespearean frieze, felt like finding water in the desert. The site was originally home to almshouses caring for underprivileged children before a Major Pawley built eight prestigious townhouses as an enclave for the political and aristocratic elite. Three of these now form Taj 51 Buckingham Gate, one of which – Minster’s – was to be our temporary home.

Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Sussex Life.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra December 2019-utgaven av Sussex Life.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA SUSSEX LIFESe alt
TAKE YOUR TIME
Sussex Life

TAKE YOUR TIME

Dean Edwards’ new cookbook features delectable recipes that you can slow cook or stick in the oven. Here’s a selection of the best

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2020
Decorative art
Sussex Life

Decorative art

Not simply functional, treat your walls like an extension of your personality

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020
ON THE FRONT FOOT
Sussex Life

ON THE FRONT FOOT

The rugby legend took the reins at Sussex County Cricket Club in 2017, rekindling his love for a sport that first won his heart on the village cricket fields of North Yorkshire

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2020
NAKED AMBITION
Sussex Life

NAKED AMBITION

In the 1980s, Christine and Jennifer Binnie partied with Boy George and Marilyn and bared all as performance art collective The Neo-Naturists. Now they are working together to gain the recognition they feel they deserve

time-read
5 mins  |
November 2020
ROCKET MAN
Sussex Life

ROCKET MAN

Astronaut Tim Peake has come a long way since growing up in Westbourne and attending Chichester High School for Boys: 248 miles above Earth, to be precise. But, he says, life on the International Space Station has a lot in common with family caravanning holidays

time-read
6 mins  |
November 2020
Revolution man
Sussex Life

Revolution man

Lewes’ most famous resident Thomas Paine may be the greatest propagandist who ever lived. But how did a humble customs and excise officer ignite the touchpaper for revolution in not one but two countries?

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2020
THE DIARY
Sussex Life

THE DIARY

17 exciting things to do this month in East and West Sussex

time-read
8 mins  |
November 2020
All in a day's work
Sussex Life

All in a day's work

Meet Tim Dummer, who has helped keep Midhurst’s Cowdray Estate shipshape for an impressive five decades

time-read
3 mins  |
November 2020
My favourite Sussex
Sussex Life

My favourite Sussex

Bruce Fogle is an author and a vet with a practice in London who has lived in West Sussex with his wife, the actress Julia Foster, since 1989. He recently became president of RSPCA Mount Noddy near Chichester

time-read
2 mins  |
November 2020
10 OF THE BEST Meat-free restaurants in Brighton and Hove
Sussex Life

10 OF THE BEST Meat-free restaurants in Brighton and Hove

Brighton is often rated one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the UK. What these restaurants prove is that plant-based food doesn’t have to be puritanical – at all of these places you’ll find big flavours and a desire to push the envelope

time-read
4 mins  |
November 2020