York & Albany, London review: Out of the frying pan

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This was published 15 years ago

York & Albany, London review: Out of the frying pan

Celebrity style ... York & Albany head chef Angela Hartnett.

Celebrity style ... York & Albany head chef Angela Hartnett.

Gordon Ramsay's first hotel is big on thread count as well as food, writes Saska Graville.

Gordon Ramsay is good in bed. I say this with some authority, not because I've been reading the recent revelations in the tabloid press but because I'm testing the mattress in one of the rooms of his first hotel venture, the York & Albany in London's Camden. Not only is this a top-quality Hypnos mattress - the same brand used in Buckingham Palace, the hotel manager tells me proudly - but it's topped with those smoothly crunchy sheets that you can never seem to replicate at home. That'll be the 400 thread count Egyptian cotton, says the manager, a higher count than any Park Lane hotel. As I said, Gordon gives good bed.

The York & Albany is a bold move for the Ramsay empire. In these financially challenged times, Gordon has transformed a previously derelict Regency coach inn into a 10-room hotel, bar, restaurant and deli. Even bolder, he's done it in a curiously out-of-the-way location.

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The property may be an 1820s, Grade II heritage listed John Nash design on the edge of Regent's Park but it's also on a noisy road leading into Camden. Not exactly at the centre of London's sights. But then the chef is a bit of a tourist attraction in himself and his association will no doubt give the York & Albany a pulling power to entice the crowds to this part of town.

The rooms are certainly gorgeous, decorated in a luxe mix of antiques and quirkiness that does full justice to the elegant bones of the building. Think chandeliers, gilt mirrors, wooden shutters, old Turkish carpets, oversized bed headboards upholstered in Gainsborough silks and prints of English hunting scenes.

Throw in flat-screen televisions and sleekly modern bathrooms accessorised with cult brand Miller Harris toiletries and you've got a winning combination. The pricing isn't bad, either. With a classic room starting at £155 ($330) a night, it's competitively priced luxury that I reckon you'd be hard-pressed to beat elsewhere in the English capital.

For my money, Suite 4 is the best room in the house. Yes, it's a whopping £550 a night but it's bigger than my entire apartment. Sitting above the original stables that now house Nonna's Deli, its exposed rafters and private courtyard entrance give it the feel of a converted barn. With a working fireplace, dark wooden furniture and views to the greenery of the park, it has a uniquely rural feel for such a busy London location.

In fact, the whole hotel feels like a private country house. Guests use a separate entrance to the bar and restaurant, entering through a side door into a small reception, tiled with huge flagstones that were found in the cellar. Once inside, you're cloistered from the bustle of the Ramsay restaurant empire next door.

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Who wants to be with the crowds anyway, when you can have anything you want from the restaurant or bar menu (even from the deli), delivered to your room. Forget your usual room service fare of club sandwiches and burgers.

Gordon has put his star chef Angela Hartnett in charge of York & Albany and her delicious Italian tastes influence everything on offer. From a bar snack of rigatoni with tomato and Italian spicy sausage (£8) to a platter of gorgonzola, pecorino and manchego from the deli counter (£9) to red-leg partridge with curly kale and truffle chips from the restaurant menu (£18), this really is room service to cater for all tastes. How often do you get to pick up the phone and order lemon panna cotta with white balsamic jelly?

If you do want to venture into the public domain, the bar in particular is worth a linger. (I can recommend the perfectly mixed Bloody Mary.) With its wide stainless steel bar top, beautiful ceiling cornicing, parquet floors, ornate gold mirrors and sleek black-leather sofas, it's a very grown-up space. It's also filled with people who seem genuinely excited to be here. Maybe it's the Gordon factor (the man himself was at the bar the night a friend of mine dropped in), or maybe it's simply the combination of great design and wonderful food. Whatever, it's working and there's a packed bar and restaurant to prove it.

If your room really is too comfortable to leave, can I suggest a takeaway coffee from Nonna's Deli when you check out. To miss this gem of a shop, tucked into the original stables, would be a shame. The rough brick floor looks just as it must have done when it was half covered in straw - OK, maybe a bit cleaner - giving the space a quaintly rustic feel that complements beautifully the counters of hams, cheeses and vegetables. Bowls of fresh figs sit alongside wild boar salamis and picturesque Italian groceries. And just in case you forget whose pockets you're lining, there are piles of Gordon's books behind the till. Chef, author, television star and now hotelier - is there nothing the man cannot do?

TRIP NOTES

York & Albany, 127-129 Parkway, London NW1 7PS, phone +44 20 7387 5700, restaurant phone +44 20 7388 3344, gordonramsay.com.

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