We recently visited the Roof Gardens in London – a well loved and unique venue located 100 feet above Kensington High Street. We learnt from Katharine (who looked after us so well!) that Richard Branson purchased the gardens in 1981 although the building and associated gardens were first established in the 1930s!
There are 3 themed gardens –
The Spanish Garden is a beautiful garden, even on a bleak November evening transports you to the Alhambra in Granada which it is based on, great for pre-dinner drinks and with the church steeple behind it created a very peaceful setting – hard to believe 100 ft below was the hustle & bustle of Kensington High Street.
The Tudor Gardens are currently set for the Christmas/Winter months using a permanent marquee which offers further flexibility for the venue as it is used for Christmas Parties or catering for daytime events. In the Summer there are huge sun umbrellas sheltering guests from the sun or rain (!).
Finally there is the Woodland Garden which is where the famous flamingoes reside – unfortunately on a dark drizzly November evening they were nowhere to be seen !
The venue is exclusive to members on Fridays & Saturday nights but can be booked exclusively for the rest of the week for day conferences, dinners, drinks reception etc. The Club Room can take up to 150 delegate theatre style or 180 for a dinner dance. The room can be transformed from a corporate conference room to a nightclub environment very easily showing it’s versatility.
Our visit ended with an excellent dinner in Babylon (also has a private dining room for 10/12 people with great views of London & its own private terrace area) There are several outside areas where you can eat al fresco during the Summer months. We were all very impressed with the food and service – you don’t have to be a member to visit so go !
For more information on the Roof Gardens or to enquire about booking it for an event please contact us !
