Hotel of the week

A stone’s throw from Heathrow, the Christopher Hotel in Eton High Street offers an escape from  airport hotels. TravelMole managing director Graham McKenzie revelled in the pomp and circumstance.

If you have ever had the ‘pleasure’ of staying at a Heathrow hotel for an early morning flight then you will know what a soulless experience it can be. Airport hotels, whilst convenient, are often just boxes joined together by corridors. Your experience may be different from mine but on the whole I stay in my room, order food to be delivered and watch TV. Nothing wrong with that but as far as LHR goes, it’s never again for me as only a stone’s throw away or to be accurate about 15 minutes by bus, car or taxi is the delightful town of Windsor and Eton. Although I had been before I certainly had not appreciated what an interesting, pleasant place it is. In fact in my opinion it is so good that you don’t need the excuse of a flight from Heathrow to go there as it’s a great short-break destination.

Windsor Castle, one of the key and favoured pillars of the Royal Family, is remarkably easy to access. You just walk down Windsor High Street and there it is! A glorious medieval castle that has such rich history and pageantry it would take the skills of Shakespeare to adequately describe it. Suffice to say it has an instant aura of pomp and circumstance which is underlined each morning at 11:00hrs by the changing of the guard in a ceremony that retains all the music and marching that has been in place for hundreds of years and all carried out with typical British military precision.

Just a short walk down the hill and across the river is another cornerstone of the British establishment – Eton College. A breeding ground for the next generation of the ruling classes that these hallowed grounds have turned out for over six centuries. Today’s students must be torn between a fast track to a government front bench position or betting on how fast shares may fall. I feel confident that it’s all for the good of everybody. The links between Eton, Oxford University, Royalty and the establishment become even more obvious if you take a bus top tour around the borough as the guide regales you with tales from past and present alumni.

Where to stay? Well the borough is well served by accommodation and my abode was simple, friendly and very comfortable. The Christopher Hotel in Eton High street gave me the immediate impression of a French coaching inn with its window shutters, laid back bar that sold good coffee and post-modern colour scheme. Wrong!!! It’s been there 500 years and is very British in every aspect including its excellent food.

The day ended for me with a 500 yard walk back across the river to the Royal Windsor theatre for an excellent version of ‘Murder on the Nile’. A night cap in the hotel bought the whole experience to a very fine conclusion. It’s good to visit at any time, even in January, but this year it will be even more exciting with the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations starting in May and the Olympic rowing at nearby Dorney Lake in August. Give it a go.

Graham stayed at:-

www.thechristopher.co.uk

useful sites

www.windsor.gov.uk

www.city-sightseeing.com