London is of full exciting venues and history to match. The venue of my next afternoon tea couldn’t be more steeped in history. The Stafford is a boutique hotel tucked away in St James Place, one block from Green Park, from the hustle and bustle of Piccadilly and Green Park area. The buildings, where the hotel stands, James’s Place, were formerly various private houses in the 17th Century and number 17 was most famously owned by Lord and Lady Lyttelton.Over the years, the site was developed and changed ownership intermittently. During World War II, The Stafford and its wine cellar served as refuge as well as air raid shelters. The Carriage House in the mews was transformed into luxury accommodation in the late 1990s.
The Stafford’s Afternoon tea


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The Stafford Hotel, Fusion Spices Afternoon Tea |


The Lyttelton room, located in the Main House building occupies numbers 16-18, St James’s Place, is divided into the lounge and the restaurant. The lounge is cosy and quiet. The deco is cream and traditionally decorated with two fireplaces one on each end of the room, chandeliers and draped curtains. It’s a rather romantic setting with an elegant and very attentive service. We chose the chef’s seasonal afternoon tea.
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The Lyttleton room, Stafford Hotel |
The Fusion Spices Afternoon tea
Ham, wholegrain English mustard on white bread
Roast beef, horseradish, watercress on granary bread
Cucumber, cream cheese on white bread
Salmon on granary and Coronation chicken
The sandwiches were traditional English tea accompaniments, just your run of the mill finger sandwiches.
Bite size baby spinach, Parmesan tart was delightful and crisp bottom!
Lincolnshire lattice sausage roll with buttery flaky pastry was comforting

The Stafford Hotel, Afternoon Tea
Luscious strawberry jam, Devonshire clotted cream were good quality complement to the scones

The Stafford Hotel, sweet treats at the Afternoon Tea,
Star Anise dark chocolate and orange roulade was my favourite perfect balance of the spices and orange with an excellent chocolate swirl filling and topping
Ginger panna cotta, berries compote – it had a good contrast between light sweet creaminess of the panna cotta base and the tartness of the berry topping
Christmas pudding cheesecake – my least favourite of them all, it didn’t pleased my palate.
Nutmeg Dobos – every bite filled my mouth with the warm feeling of the spices and chocolate – what is not to like?
Cardamom-mango éclairs – light choux pastry filled with cardamom and not overly sweet velvety mango filling, very enjoyable
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Afternoon Tea |
With a glass of Champagne Laurent-Perrier at £42.50
bottle of Laurent-Perrier Champagne to share £55.00
Love reading the history of the Stafford Hotel 🙂 I've always enjoyed afternoon tea but lately am really appreciating the history and traditions that came with it. x
Hi Jo, This place is full of history and the wine vault is full of character. You must go there.