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A visit to London’s Kempton Park Racecourse antiques market always calls for an early
start, so the team from the luxury website Take Off With Guru decided to head up
the night before. A stay at the nearby Mitre Hotel Hampton Court looked a good bet.

Our party of five (three adults, one child and a
dog) headed inside and we were asked to take a seat
in reception as our rooms weren’t quite ready. It was
around 2.30pm at this stage (check in is officially from
3pm), so I’m glad we didn’t arrive any earlier.
The hotel had put a dogs’ bed and water bowl
in reception, and all the hotel staff made a fuss of
Bruno. In the end, we ended up waiting for around
20 minutes, which was a little stressful, given the dog
likes to run around and jump up at everybody around.
The good news - booze! The adults were offered a
glass of white wine, and there was apple juice for the
young man. Just to be polite, I also sampled the ‘King’s’
ginger liqueur, which is on the house and available both
in the room and in reception. It went down pretty well.
Before we’d finished our wines, it was time to
check out our rooms. I’m sure we got
an upgrade of some kind, because my
room was much bigger than the 14sqm
room I booked. According to the hotel’s
dog policy, only certain rooms (just four)
are used for those travelling with dogs.
These rooms are located on the
ground floor and open out to a large
outdoor terrace area, which was a great
space for Bruno to stretch his legs. As they had only one rosé wine available by the glass
well as biodegradable litter bags, the hotel provides a - and that was unavailable. As a rosé drinker, I was
pretty upset!
We ordered three starter dishes - a crab toastie
REVIEW The Mitre Hotel (£13) which was just okay, a tasty prawn and avocado
cocktail (£12) and a very generous portion of Scottish
salmon (£9), which was served with pink peppercorns,
pickles and watercress.
Hampton Court, London
They offered us a children’s menu with a limited
number of dishes, but in the end the young man
decided to share a regular sized ribeye steak (£28)
with one of the adults.

OT only is it a stone’s throw away from Kempton chew treat and a cute bed for your dog. Note that you I ordered the roast pork with celeriac mash (£22),
NPark, the Mitre Hotel is right across the street need to pay an extra £20 per night to bring your pooch. which was perfectly fine, but in all honesty I was
from Hampton Court Palace - a royal palace in the While by no means high-end luxury, the room was distracted by a severe case of food envy. The steak
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, 12 miles very nicely done. Hats off to designer Nicola Harding. was absolutely delicious and by far the best dish we
south west of central London. The bathroom was small but functional, though it ordered. I wish I’d had it!
With its location on the Thames, there are some didn’t have any flannels or cotton wool pads etc. We ordered a selection of sides to go with our meals,
lovely walks in the immediate area of the hotel. The There was no fridge in our room, though two cans including sweet potato fries, and my favourite was the
Mitre itself dates back to 1665 and today offers 36 of soda water were given, as well as the King’s ginger battered courgette. For dessert, we all enjoyed a white
“individually-designed” rooms and suites, as well as bars liqueur. There was a fridge in our second room, so I chocolate chip and honeycomb brownie, served with
and restaurants and even a private boat launch. guess that’s just pot luck. elderflower berries and vanilla bean ice cream (£7). Yum!
I had some questions ahead of my stay so I tried to The only real complaint we had is that the problems The bill came to £232 for four of us, including a £25
contact the hotel by phone. Unfortunately, they didn’t reaching the hotel by phone continued during our stay. gratuity, which I thought was reasonable for dinner in
answer, either time I called, so I went ahead and made Despite calling several times from our rooms, nobody a London hotel (especially as there were quite a few
my reservation, one day before my stay, at hotels.com. would ever pick up, which was pretty infuriating! drinks as well as the food).
I paid £108 for a 14 sqm “traditional” double room, Due to an early start the next morning, we had
with free wifi but without breakfast. The hotel accepts Dining no time to have breakfast at the hotel, though the
dogs, so I sent a message during booking to let them The hotel has two restaurants and bars, Coppernose restaurant setting at Coppernose was very nice.
know I would be bringing one well-behaved French and The 1665 Brasserie, as well as the Orangery, which We really enjoyed our stay at The Mitre, and it’s a great
bulldog, Bruno. is used for private parties. choice if you are planning to visit the nearby Kempton
On arrival at the hotel, I was quite sternly asked to During our stay, only 1665 was serving dinner and antiques market (which was the purpose of our stay). It’s
put on a mask - which was fair enough, and totally my the restaurant was very busy. After a little perseverance also one of the best dog-friendly properties I’ve visited.
mistake. Masked up, I confirmed with the hotel staff I was able to convince the team to let us have a dinner The rooms are lovely and the hotel offers great
that it was okay to leave my vehicle in their parking reservation for the four humans. value for money, but it’s incredibly frustrating that
area in front of the hotel. We were seated in a dimly lit private dining room nobody picks up the damn phone! Management
The hotel were fine with this, though there was a (though there was one other table) just off the main bar. are letting down their hard-working team members
little messing around trying to get my 4x4 into a space Funky music was playing and the staff kindly offered to by not giving them the slack to perform the basic
whilst staying clear of the double yellow lines on the turn the volume down, but we were fine with it. function of answering calls from their guests, and we
road. Note that the hotel website says parking charges We ordered cocktails and some wines to get can’t recommend the hotel unreservedly until they
apply, but we weren’t asked to pay. things going, but I was very disappointed to find get this issue sorted.
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