Spies! Betrayal! James Bond! Few London hotels have such intriguing history as St Ermin’s. Named after a medieval chapel that once stood on the site, it opened in the 1890s and became a haunt of the intelligence services – whose offices were at one point inside the building – in the 1930s. Intelligence operatives, including the likes of Bond author Ian Fleming and ‘Cambridge Five’ double agent Kim Philby, have been regulars.
But a history of double-crossing secret agents isn’t St Ermin’s only intrigue. Its flamboyant foyer gives away that the hotel was designed by John Priestley Briggs (otherwise best-known as a theatre designer). The place was also crowned TripAdvisor’s top hotel in the entire UK in 2025, as well as named second-best place to stay in Europe and sixth-best in the world. Those are big gongs – not least for an independent establishment (St Ermin’s Hotel is part of Marriott’s indie-operated Autograph Collection).
At the time of my stay, St Ermin’s Hotel’s TripAdvisor rating sat at a very healthy 4.7. And it made a great first impression: comprised of classic towering 19th-century mansion blocks shaped like a horseshoe, entry is via an elegant, tree-enclosed courtyard and a chandelier-adorned reception.
What are the rooms like at St Ermin’s Hotel?
St Ermin’s oozes old-school class: cosily narrow stairway lifts, floral carpets down long cream hallways, grand rooms with bay windows and high ceilings. You may assume these halls haven’t changed much over the past century or so, only of course they have. The hotel’s modernisations have simply been tasteful and unintrusive, not impacting the classic well-kempt-ness of the rest. It was last widely renovated in the early 2010s.
More than any specific feature, it’s that attention to detail in the guest experience that really makes St Ermin’s stand out. From the tidy ‘guest room’ (which still has a queen-size bed) to the palatial ‘king suite’, there’s thorough consistency: charismatic décor with dazzling patterns, rich colours and elegant upholstery, bags of intelligent storage and remarkable cleanliness (the window handles quite literally shimmered). In-room amenities included not just the usual iron, coffee machine, slippers etc but a nice-and-hard mattress, opulent pillows, Cano filtered water, organic Seed and Bean chocolate and takeaway coffee cups. It’s all thoughtful in a way that makes you think: why doesn’t every hotel have this?
All that said, a hotel’s ye olde charms are only endearing until they’re an obstacle. The age of St Ermin’s Hotel’s building was most apparent in the lack of inter-floor sound insulation (there were plenty of thuds and creaks), the volume of the air-con (at times quite blustery) and the unreliability of various bits of tech. The free wi-fi in particular was too slow to stream much – and the paid-for option was fairly dear, at £15 a day.
What are the facilities like at St Ermin’s Hotel?
What St Ermin’s lacks by way of pool, spa, hammam or whatever the latest hotel fad is, it gains in other more interesting and unconventional features. Beyond the bars and restaurant (more on those later), there’s a beehive on the third floor (called, charmingly, the St Ermin’s Bee & Bee Hotel) that has been home to Buckfast bees since 2011. The place’s history as a hub for military intelligence operatives – at various points its floors were used by MI5, MI6 and Special Operations Executive (SOE) – is also on full display with a mini-exhibit of SOE items in the foyer. More recent additions – launching in November 2026 – include a 14-seater screening room and a podcast studio.
Other useful and/or nice features at St Ermin’s include an afternoon tea lounge, library, canine concierge service, 24-hour gym and, most notably, truly charming staff. So beaming, attentive and slick are the team that you can’t help but feel a sense of confelicity with their ‘best of’ successes. Almost every single one of those sunny TripAdvisor write-ups mentions the quality of service – and St Ermin’s deserves every rave review.
What is the food and drink like at St Ermin’s Hotel?
St Ermin’s has one onsite restaurant and two bars. By far my favourite of the three was the sumptuous Caxton Bar with its burnt orange wallpaper, low dark-wood tables and neatly presented drinks (many of which feature St Ermin’s’ own London dry gin and blended spiced rum). The lack of windows isn’t just cosy but downright risky: it is so, easy to lose track of time in here.
Sitting among the government offices of St James’s (and therefore surrounded by countless coffee shops and bakeries), St Ermin’s knows it faces stiff competition at breakfast – but it blows its rivals out of the water. The breakfast buffet was one of the vastest (and tastiest) I’ve had in London: a resplendent selection of juices, cheeses, cold meats, pastries (both sweet and savoury), granola, seeds and yoghurts, as well as cooked options and even diet-and-allergy-specific alternatives. All with high-quality ingredients and coffee to-order, no nearby chain is coming close.
In-house restaurant Caxton Grill, which hosts breakfast, is at other times of day a dependable dining option with a broad-ranging, accessible menu of modern British/European plates. The pricing is fairly typical for central London (£15 or so for starters, around £25 for mains). The Terrace, a second-floor bar overlooking the hotel’s leafy courtyard, is open seasonally but was shut on my visit.
What’s the area like around St Ermin’s Hotel?
St James’s is not exactly known for being one of London’s most buzzy spots, but it’s supremely well-located for tourists. Buckingham Palace, St James’s Park (the actual green space), Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament are all within easy walking distance, while St James’s Park (the train station) is on the Circle and District lines
If you ask me, St James’s as a neighbourhood is actually a tad underrated. It’s teeming with pubs (even if they’re often stuffed with civil servants) and features solid attractions itself like The Guards Museum and Churchill War Rooms. St Ermin’s Hotel actually backs onto 55 Broadway, a gorgeous hunk of a building that was once Transport for London’s HQ.
2 Caxton Street, Westminster, SW1H 0QW.
Price per night: From £349 per night.
Closest transport link: St James’s Park Underground Station (Circle and District lines) is a two-minute walk away. Victoria (for tube, train and coach stations) is about 15 minutes.