With an intriguing and glamorous past, eclectic styling, gorgeous rooms and suites, the enigmatic Caxton Bar and Terrace plus award winning signature restaurant, The Caxton Grill, the four-star deluxe St. Ermin's Hotel in London's St James's Park has been transformed after a £30 million renovation project. The overall result is a distinctly individual, contemporary and welcoming offering – and with room rates starting at just £209 is accessible for all to experience. The welcome has even extended to bees with the opening of London's only 'bee & bee' hotel alongside the hotel's resident Buckfast bee hives on the third floor wildflower terrace. St. Ermin's is a member of the Marriott International's Autograph Collection. www.sterminshotel.co.uk / @sterminshotel.

The hotel is the only publicly accessible establishment in London closely associated with the history of espionage, particularly the British intelligence services through WWII and the Cold War.

Location, Location, Location… Just a five-minute walk across St James's Park to Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly the hotel is ideally placed for stylish city sightseeing or business meetings in the resurgent corporate Westminster and Victoria areas. What's more, with the hotel's links to the establishment's secret London, it's a stone's throw from Whitehall, Big Ben, Parliament Square, The Cabinet War Rooms, New Scotland Yard and just a hop from the water taxis on the river and the South Bank.

History… A captivating and colourful history sets this property apart from others in the capital. During the 1930s the hotel and the next building were used by officers of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or MI6) located close by. The likes of Ian Fleming, Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, Laurence Grand, H. Montgomery Hyde and Eric Maschwitz were all known to have worked from the building and throughout the Second World War, it operated as a convenient annex by SIS surrounded by other secret organizations.

In addition, the hotel's Caxton Bar was used regularly by SIS, MI5 and Naval Intelligence Division case officers to meet their agents. Eventual defector Guy Burgess frequently met his Russian counterpart in the bar to hand over top-secret government files. In 1940, Churchill, asked a group of individuals that were later to become the SOE, to “set Europe ablaze” and they initially housed themselves over an entire floor of the hotel.

Design… From the diverse combination of grade II listed architecture, evocative Art Nouveau styling, Rococo plasterwork, awe-inspiring, theatrical balcony in the lobby (the original St. Ermin's interiors were designed by the famous British theatrical designer, J. P. Briggs c1900) and contemporary pieces, it is clear that LA-based designer Dayna Lee of Powerstrip Studio was influenced and inspired by the history of the building, the English great house style and London's status as an international crossroads.  

Lee also took inspiration from Christopher Dresser, a visionary C19tth British botanist and designer who was influential around the time St Ermin's was built, as plants, flowers and leaves appear throughout.

The result is a property offering guests a contemporary version of 'The Grand Tour'; handpicked antiques and collectables sit together with modern pieces to provide a warm, sophisticated, highly textural London welcome. A Porta Romana red-pleated lampshade perched on a pair of duck-webbed feet, terracotta Vivienne Westwood wallpaper, hints of the Orient in cushions and prints and framed origami clothes made from maps of the area, all come together to tie the hotel to its location and instil a global, yet local feel inside.  

Rooms and Suites…The hotel's 331 spacious rooms including 41 suites, are all individual in their shape, size and structure but all draw upon worldwide, textural influences to convey a real sense of relaxation, calm and home. Two-poster beds, crisp bed linens, sumptuous soft furnishings, vibrant colours, The White Company amenities and large windows all add to the sense of place. Junior Suites combine the latest in technology with fabulously innovative pieces; Louis Vuitton style furniture, leather-wrapped wardrobes, mother of pearl inlays, chocolate marble, large walk-in showers and claw-foot baths. Suites start from £459.

Budding Bonds: In addition, the hotel has created 18 Family Rooms – featuring two Queen–sized beds, two bathrooms and an additional sofa bed to ensure maximum flexibility for all. Children checking in will also receive their own intriguing St. Ermin's Secret Agent Package with a 'Top Secret' briefing to test their own observational and sleuthing skills.

Multi-national plug sockets; tea and coffee 'to go' in room and free-wi-fi throughout are standard welcomes for St. Ermin's Hotel guests. On weekday evenings guests are invited to join some of the senior team and chefs in the lobby for a sociable glass of wine to wind down after the day on business or sight seeing.  

Meetings and Events… the St. Ermin's Hotel offers flexible, characterful meeting and business spaces in the heart of London. Fifteen high-tech meeting rooms, all with daylight and their own break out lounge plus dramatic lobby mezzanine with outdoor terrace, as well as opulent and romantic Ballroom and Cloisters suites offer unique event, bridal and other special occasion venues. Tailored Conference and Congress Clubs offer meetings and event planners with hands-on, creative support and excellent personal benefits.

The Caxton Grill is a light and airy 72-seat restaurant with private dining room for ten, overlooks the hotel's pretty courtyard garden and offers a mouth-watering selection of classic British dishes for lunch and dinner. Quality dishes and provenance are at the heart of the Caxton – with the focus of the menu being fresh, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients; including fruits, vegetables and herbs picked from the Hotel's very own Roof Kitchen Garden. Executive Head Chef Alexander Boyd prepares quality ingredients a number of different, creative ways to enhance their inherent properties and deliver real depth of flavour and harmony. Honey, for instance, is 'hyper local' coming direct from the roof where over 300,000 Buckfast bees have settled in to their hives, gathering nectar from the nearby royal gardens of St James's Park, Buckingham Palace and the hotel's own 'bee friendly' courtyard garden; with more home grown ingredients soon to be sourced from the St. Ermin's roof garden – where fruits, vegetables and herbs have recently been planted for use in the restaurant.

Cocktails and informal meals are available in the Caxton Bar – an original haunt of Cambridge Five spies, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean. Distinctive light meals and snacks plus flights of wines, champagnes and whiskies are a Caxton speciality. The Caxton Bar's signature cocktail is the Bowler Hat – Sipsmith gin, honey from the roof and lemon juice.

Afternoon Tea … is a speciality at the St. Ermin's Hotel, served every afternoon in the beautiful, elegant first floor mezzanine Tea Lounge. With seasonal menus available year round – including 'Honey Afternoon Tea' in September, a summer selection of sweet and savoury treats and wonderful winter menu running throughout the Christmas period – Afternoon Tea is always a sparkling occasion at the St. Ermin's.