The Goring Hotel in London's swanky SWI postal code has been in the family for four generations since the great O.R Goring (Otto Richard - silhouetted on the hotel's logo) opened it in 1910 in the last days of Edward VII's reign. The luxury hotel has long had aristocratic connections: Lady Randolph Churchill (Winston's mater) lived here; Queen Mary often came to tea; The Queen Mother came for cocktails and of course Kate Middleton (now the Duchess of Cambridge) and her family stayed here the night before she married Prince William. These days the hotel is an eclectic mix of the best of British design, from the likes of Viscount Linley, and touches of quirky. Take for example the sheep motif in the rooms; ewe footstools, fluffy lambs on the pillow (are we counting sheep yet?) ...you get the picture. In an age of cookie-cutter 'design' hotels The Goring stands several storeys above the rest. So in all this indiviuduality which room is the best? We asked the current custodian of the family jewel, Jeremy Goring for his personal favourite, not surprisingly given all those royal visits it was... The Royal Suite.
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'My favourite object in the room is the painting in the shower of HM Queen Victoria - she is nearly life size, which is quite disconcerting'
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The Hotel: The Goring Hotel, London
The Room: The Royal Suite
'I have stayed in every single room in the hotel but my favourite is The Royal Suite. It is the icing on the cake of a collection of rooms and suites that we have been working on with the designer Russell Sage since 2009. They all feature silks wallcoverings specially commissioned from The Gainsborough Silk Company in Suffolk, which holds a collection of over 7,000 historic silks. The silks are wonderfully opulent, but also rather cossetting and comforting, in a glamorous way.
It's quintessentially English, but it's not at all stuffy, there is lots of humour in the design - such as a vintage military uniform in the bedroom wardrobe.
The suite is particularly special to me because it was commissioned in 2010 to mark the centenary of the hotel . When my great-great-grandfather first opened The Goring in 1910 it certainly had all the latest mod cons, with central heating and bathrooms in every room - a world first. However, it didn't really have a truly royal suite until 2011.
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My favourite object in the room is the painting in the shower. It is of HM Queen Victoria - she is nearly life size, which is quite disconcerting. But don't worry, it's behind glass! Guests love the antique four poster bed in the Master bedroom, apparently it came from a stately home somewhere in the country in England.
The suite is filled with a marvellous collection of antiques that Russell personally sourced from all over Britain. So in the Dining Room we have a stunning array of Georgian decanters and engraved glasses. There are also beautiful wooden tea caddies, antique books, clocks, silver and prints. In the Drawing Room there is a set of 19th century green Nailsea Glass paperweights displayed in two cabinets specially commissioned for the space. All this makes it feel like a private apartment, rather than a hotel room. And like a private home, the room can change, if we saw something we loved - a painting, an antique - we would certainly buy it and put it in there.
It is unusual for London hotel rooms to have outside space so one of the most unusual things about the suite is the new balcony that we built, which runs along the entire length of the front of the hotel. There are large French windows in all the rooms of the suite, and it has gorgeous romantic views over the garden and the London rooftops.
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