If you’ve ever fantasised about being a Hollywood movie star in the glamorous 1930s and 40s this is one for you! My well-travelled mother always insisted that there was no point in staying at a hotel that wasn’t considerably more lavish than your own home, whilst being a unique representation of its location in the world. This is a philosophy I’ve always kept in mind and it’s certainly made me a fussy traveller, ever keen to seek out venues offering character and history aplenty, where a list of notable past guests makes present ones feel that much closer to the stars. Therefore, when I heard about The Gore Hotel’s Judy Garland Suite, complete with Judy’s own bed, it went straight to the top of my hotel stay wish list.
Located over two elegant six-storey Kensington townhouses (189 and 190 Queen’s Gate) a 1 minute walk from the Royal Albert Hall, The 50-room Gore Hotel first opened in 1902 with liveried staff, horse-drawn carriages and a state-of-the-art hydraulic lift and it still boasts plenty of period detail and charm, with a tiled floor in the entrance harking back to the hotel’s Edwardian heritage, along with a spectacular staircase featuring a balcony with a portrait of Queen Alexandra, consort to King Edward VII who is celebrated with a large portrait in the hotel’s elegant Library, the perfect spot to enjoy the hotel’s traditional afternoon tea.
Given The Gore’s close location to one of the foremost concert venues in London, it’s no surprise that there is an entertainment and musical timbre to The Gore’s prestigious guest list which includes The Rolling Stones who were regular visitors in the 1960s and even launched their 1968 Beggar’s Banquet at the Victorian wood-panelled bar here, an infamously debauched event celebrated with several framed photographs of ‘The Stones’ on the walls of Bar 190 – although sadly none of the opulent Tudor-style feast that was the centrepiece of the launch party or the infamous custard pie fight which ensued and is now the stuff of British rock ‘n’ roll legend.
Judy Garland, who found The Gore “a home away from home” was also a frequent guest during the Swinging 60s when she had a series of dates at the London Palladium and the Hippodrome, then the city’s premiere cabaret club known as ‘Talk of the Town’. Stepping into the Judy Garland Suite is indeed somewhere over the rainbow, with its turquoise blue walls, stained glass windows and the famous gilded bed which Judy commissioned and had transported from America. The bed, which Judy gifted to the hotel, is recessed with silk walls and canopied with dramatic burgundy red curtains: making you feel as though you’re on stage when lying in bed, and as if symbolic of Judy’s life as one of the most famous women in the world who had been scrutinised, publicly and privately, by the media since her teens.
Poignantly, Garland once remarked, “In the silence of the night I have often wished for just a few words of love from one man, rather than the applause of thousands of people.” You’ll find a replica pair of the sparkly red shoes Judy famously wore in The Wizard of Oz and a stack of Judy-related books including one listing her gruelling ‘star work’ schedule at MGM. The Gore also have DVDs of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and the biopic ‘Judy’ should you wish to order up room service and connect further with the actress and singer who became world famous as Dorothy Gale at the age of just 17. It sure makes you value your own anonymity and understand why Garland fell in love with this discreet Kensington bolthole.
A member of the Italian-owned luxury hotel group, Starhotels Collezione, The Gore have the oft-promised ‘individually-designed’ rooms which mean just that, a bar you’ll want to linger in until 1am in true Rolling Stones fashion, a well respected restaurant, 190 Queen’s Gate, led by Chef Frederick Forster, and a Library Lounge lined with oil painting and antiquarian books, encouraging you to make yourself feel as at home as Judy Garland once did without so much as having to click her heels! Blending Victoriana with Hollywood and 1960s rock ‘n’ roll vibes, this boutique gem offers something entirely out of the ordinary. Well placed for High Street Kensington and the South Kensington museums including the V&A, Science Museum and Natural History Museum, The Gore is surely a cultural experience in its own right and more than justifies staying put and ordering a cream tea.
The Judy Garland Suite at The Gore, 190 Queen’s Gate, Kensington, London SW7 5EX. For more information and reservations please visit the website.
Photography by Jack Hardy
