Royal favourite The Goring Hotel is voted UK’s Best City Hotel

The hotel where the Duchess of Cambridge stayed the night before her wedding to Prince William has been named Best City Hotel in the UK by The Caterer’s 2018 Hoteliers’ Hotels Top 100 list.

Kate, 36, stayed in the Royal Suite of The Goring Hotel, which is across the road from Buckingham Palace and was pictured being welcomed outside by staff the night beforehand and emerging in her Alexander McQueen dress the next morning.

The Belgravia institution was also rated third best hotel in the UK with the top honour going to the Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire for the second year running.

It’s perhaps no surprise given the five star establishment’s close links with royalty.  

Kate was snapped exiting the premises after a rare private outing in 2015 when she attended the hotel”s 105th birthday celebrations after receiving a personal invite from the management.

The five-star establishment across the road from Buckingham Palace has been named Best City Hotel in the UK by The Caterer 

She also attended a meeting of the board of the 1851 Trust, the sailing charity of which the Duchess is patron in 2014. 

It’s the only hotel to have received the Royal Warrant, awarded in 2013, for services to hospitality and was a firm favourite with the Queen Mother. 

She was a big fan of a lobster dish called Eggs Drumkilbo that’s still on the menu in the Michelin-starred restaurant The Dining Room.  

Meanwhile, the Queen enlisted its pastry chefs to bake the cake for Prince Charles’ christening in 1948. 

HOW THE GORING BECAME A FAVOURITE OF THE ROYALS

The Goring first opened its doors in 1910 and describes itself as ‘impeccably English’.

Located just a few minutes from Buckingham Palace, the privately-owned hotel was given the highest honour when it was chosen by the Middleton family as their London base for the Royal wedding in 2011.

Still run by the Goring family, the hotel has 69 suites and rooms and one of the largest private gardens in London.

The hotel’s handy location has made it a firm favourite with the Royals over the years. 

The coronations of George VI and Queen Elizabeth II saw the hotel filled with royalty from around the world and the Queen Mother loved the hotels Eggs Drumkilbo dish (served with lobster) that is still sold in the hotel’s Dining Room today. 

Kate and Pippa Middleton with Mr Morgan-Hewitt, right, outside The Goring hotel the day before the Royal Wedding in 2011. The Middletons used the hotel as their London base

The Queen has regularly chosen the establishment for her staff Christmas party, as well as attending The Goring’s annual festive do.

The 108-year-old hotel is a favourite with the wealthy and famous and is still privately owned by the Goring family. 

It is fitted with carpets made by the French firm which supplied the Palace of Versailles while some of its rooms have lighting that adapts with the seasons. 

A team of hunky footmen were drafted in to add a touch of Downton Abbey-style glamour to the the iconic hotel in 2015. 

The Michelin-starred restaurant The Dining Room was a favourite of the Queen Mother 

The Front Hall staircase at The Goring Hotel, which is a firm favourite with royalty 

An interior view of Belgravia suite bathroom, which a claw foot freestanding tub and marble fittings