Eight of the world's best in-suite hotel dining experiences
Buffets are out and digital menus are in - will eating at hotels ever be the same again? Why not eliminate the need to navigate social distancing rules at meal times by checking into one of these gorgeous suites in London and beyond, each with a knock-out dining space and menu.
The Terrace Suite at Ham Yard, Soho
Right in the heart of Soho, Ham Yard re-opens on 31 July and is always a fun place to dine. The lovely one-bedroom Terrace Suite was refurbished shortly before lockdown and exudes owner-designer Kit Kemp’s modern British style, which blends colours, patterns and textures in a bold, refreshing way.
The open-plan drawing room has an elegant dining area poised and ready for a gathering and floor-to-ceiling windows and multiple sets of sliding doors which lead out onto a terrace that runs the length of the suite.
You can order most things from the fresh, seasonal restaurant menu or opt for a bespoke dining experience overseen by group executive chef, Robin Read and served on Kit Kemp’s inimitable ‘Sailor’s Farewell’ Wedgwood China.
Kick off with Black Margaritas created by a mixologist from the bar downstairs and then let the chef dazzle you with crispy courgette flowers, ChalkStream trout fishcakes, Dorset Crab linguine and if you think you can, a summer berry pavlova.
The Terrace Suite costs from £3,500 per night. firmdalehotels.com
The Nobu Suite at Nobu Hotel, Warsaw, Poland
Chef Nobu Matsuhisa has a habit of opening Nobu hotels in intriguing, slightly under the radar destinations like Atlanta, Riyadh and Tel Aviv so it seems a natural progression that the latest is opening in Warsaw on 3 August.
Housed in an early 20th Century Art Deco building with a new modern wing on Wilcza Street, a creative hub in the city centre, the hotel’s top room, Nobu Suite is the perfect place to enjoy all that highly revered Nobu fare. The industrial-chic suite has its own living room, kitchen and dining table.
Should you want the full Nobu experience in-room (inventive, non-traditional ‘takes’ on classic Japanese dishes created with South American ingredients), the preparation area is large enough to maintain social distancing while watching the chef at work and there’s a separate entrance through which the staff can come and go.
Expect classic signature dishes such as exquisite rock shrimp tempura, miso black cod and yellowtail sashimi.
The Nobu Suite costs from £711 per night. nobuhotels.com
The Belle Etoile Penthouse at Le Meurice, Paris
This suite opened just over a year ago in a style designed to look like a lighter, more modern day ‘take’ on Versailles. And it is pretty extraordinary. It has one bedroom (but you can add two more), living room, dining room with a table for eight and a heavenly marble bathroom.
Through glass doors that sweep back, it also has the most extraordinary 3000 sq ft terrace overlooking pretty much everything (Eiffel Tower, tick, The Louvre, tick, Sacré-Coeur, tick) but most immediately, The Tuileries Gardens, although the terrace’s own planting gives it a run for its money.
Unsurprisingly, the terrace is a great place to dine, with a chef from Restaurant Le Dali downstairs popping up with the ingredients to put them altogether in the suite’s kitchen. Expect exquisitely grilled John Dory with courgette and fennel, marinated sea bass and pastry chef Cédric Grolet’s legendary lemon cake.
The suite costs €25,000 per night but the hotel has just launched the option of booking the terrace for a private dining experience for between 4 and 10 people, for €300 per person, excluding drinks. Le Meurice is due to re-open its doors on 1 September. dorchestercollection.com
Villa Sola Cabiati at Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Lake Como, Italy
A 10-minute boat ride up Lake Como from the main hotel, Villa Sola Cabiati, which was once home to the Dukes of Serbelloni, is the hotel's impossibly romantic, six-bedroom outpost.
Ideal for family gatherings where you want to feel a bit more tucked away, it comes with its own extensive gardens, pool and private marina. It could also make a pretty impressive proposal spot, especially if you book the hotel's Dimmidisi tasting menu, to be served in the villa's magnificent frescoed dining room.
Food at Grand Hotel Tremezzo has always been world class, but the late 'Godfather of Milanese cuisine' Gualtiero Marchesi, who oversaw the hotel's La Terrezza restaurant for the last five years of his life, has left his indelible mark and the tasting menu was designed by him.
Signature dishes include a 'Tribute to Jackson Pollock' seafood entree, Marchesi's much-lauded rice, gold and saffron risotto and a 'Tribute to Piero Mansoni' veal fillet with foie gras and black truffle.
Villa Sola Ciabati costs from £5,302 plus VAT and has a three-night minimum stay. grandhoteltremezzo.com
The Walig Hut at Gstaad Palace, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland
High in the hills above the Gstaad Palace Hotel, this satellite suite inhabits a restored shepherd’s hut built in 1786 and is best suited to a couple, but could sleep two adults and two children. To get up there, it’s either a short car journey, a slightly longer e-bike journey or a three-hour hike through meadows which is an excellent way to arrive.
Spending a night in this cosy hut, enjoying a candlelit dinner of Swiss delicacies such as Saanenland cheese fondue and veal with ceps sauce followed by apple crumble tart is a really fun thing to do.
Alternatively, this summer sees the launch of a one-day experience, where Gstaad Palace’s culinary director Franz Faeh will accompany you up there on e-bikes, acting as tour guide and then chef on arrival at the hut, before escorting you back to the main hotel.
An Alpine Night for two adults, including a three-course dinner and breakfast costs from £1,347. palace.ch
The Sky Suite at Can Bordoy Grand House & Garden, Palma, Majorca
You’re treated like an old friend at Can Bordoy, which sits in a beautiful, sympathetically restored, historically significant 16th Century building in the heart of Palma’s Old Quarter. It feels part vintage, part contemporary and effortlessly stylish.
While it’s lucky enough to lay claim to the largest walled garden in Palma, you’ll feel even luckier if you book the Sky Suite. While it isn’t the biggest, it has a wonderful terrace with a hot tub, day beds and a dining table.
The hotel is well known for its restaurant, Botanic, which is run by Michelin star-winning Andrés Benitez and serves high quality, organic, gluten-free food, all of which can be enjoyed on your Sky Suite terrace.
The hotel is big on gastronomic experiences so you could accompany the chef to the local market to buy ingredients and then come back to your terrace for a cooking lesson, a cocktail making session or to watch a paella being made.
The Sky Suite costs from £566 per night. canbordoy.com
Trunk(House) in Tokyo
This hotel, which opened a year ago in an area known as ‘little Kyoto in Tokyo’ and is famous for having just one bedroom, has been fashioned from a former Geisha house and has been designed to give you a taste of all things authentically ‘Tokyo.’
Consequently, there’s a karaoke room, a tea room, a garden and more importantly, an open kitchen and dining room staffed by a private chef, specialising in both seasonal local and international dishes, who will rustle up everything from eel pie and Kobe beef cutlets to charcoal-grilled soft shell turtle – while you sit around, watch and get the lowdown on how its done.
Trunk(House) costs about £3,700 per night, including private butler, chef and breakfast. trunk-house.com
The Nelson Mandela Villa at Shambala Private Game Reserve, Limpopo Province, South Africa
This villa is available to rent from September at Shambala Private Game Reserve, which sits in the shadow of the malaria-free Waterberg Mountains, in an area rich in game, not least The Big Five.
An existing home originally built by the owner for his friend Nelson Mandela to come and work in peace back in 2001, it has retained much of the artwork chosen by Mandela when he came here and now houses five bedrooms, one Presidential Suite, an indoor-outdoor heated pool and a spectacular central dining area with a table seating 14 people.
It’s a very special place to gather for everything from informal, family-style lunches to candlelit gourmet dinners made using the freshest local ingredients by Shambala’s head chef.
While the fancy stuff is exquisite, be sure to try the African ‘bobotie’, a spiced minced meat baked with a savoury custard topping and the succulent lamb chops and ‘boerwors’ sausage, both of which are cooked al fresco over an open flame.
From £4,443 per night, including all meals, game drives and bushwalks. shambalaprivategamereserve .co.za
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