Last month, I was invited by London-based florist McQueens to visit Claridge’s, the five star hotel in Mayfair, to see their in-house flower shop and floral installations.
As I walked in through the entrance, I inwardly gasped ‘Wow!’ The lobby was absolutely breath-taking and exuded such an air of understated elegance.
And I’ve never seen so many beautiful flowers adorning the public areas in a hotel. I loved the combination that the florists had chosen…scabious, delphiniums and salvia plants.
Here are a few images which McQueens kindly took for me, very early one morning…and in real life, they looked even more stunning!
Whilst I was at the hotel I had the pleasure of meeting Will Kerr, the manager of the McQueens shop.
He explained that the retail outlet opened in January, complementing their flagship store in Old Street.
Will manages a team of five florists who create floral installations and designs for the public areas, guest rooms and events within Claridge’s. And they also make arrangements for the guests and visitors of the hotel.
He said: ‘Every Wednesday is installation day. It’s when we replace all the flowers and plants with new designs. And we start work at 4am. Then on Mondays and Fridays, we’ll come in at 6am to carry out maintenance, including replacing any faded blooms.‘
The signature roses used in arrangements in the hotel are white ‘Naomi’ roses…individually on tables in the restaurants and in domes of varying sizes in the guests’ rooms.
However, I was very pleased to hear that romance is very much alive amongst the hotel guests, as red roses are the most popular flowers to be requested via room service…
As for a little bit of background about Will…his passion for floristry started at a very young age. He became interested in gardening at the age of eight and by the age of twelve, he was wiring up wreaths.
After studying Fine Art at Central St Martins in London, he worked at Jane Packer and then later for Moyses Stevens, before joining the McQueens team.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little peek inside Claridge’s to see McQueens’ beautiful floral installations. If you’d like to keep up-to-date with their news, they’re on Twitter.
McQueens at Claridge’s, 49 Brook Street, London, W1R 4HR. Tel: 020 7629 1508
Open Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6pm. Saturday 9am to 5pm. Closed Sunday.
P.S. I was so blown away by the hotel that I’ve booked for my husband and I to go there for afternoon tea next month, when we both have our birthdays…and I really can’t wait!
(Images : Indoors/McQueens, Outdoors/Rona Wheeldon for Flowerona)
White and purple is my favourite colour combination and usually the flowers themselves match eachother.!
Thanks for sharring!