The Bar/Lounge at The Milestone Hotel and Residences

"Charming oak-panelled sitting room is popular for afternoon tea; snug bar in former sta bles"

"If you start your evening with an apéritif (or high tea) in the comfortable drawing room, featuring bookshelves and a baronial-style fireplace, you'll feel far removed from the bustle of Kensington just outside"

"This stately red-brick Victorian hotel with plush, antiques-filled interiors, opposite Kensington Palace has 57 rooms, 6 apartments, 1 restaurant, and 1 bar, all perfectly refined and with the best service around"

"Dining options include a wood-panelled restaurant serving British cuisine, an equestrian-themed bar set in a former stables and a dramatic black-and-white conservatory serving afternoon tea"

"Design includes tapestry sofas and pictures of horses at the Stables Bar"

"Tea, which is also served in the lounge, is a traditional English affair, with finger sandwiches, freshly baked scones and a decadent range of pastries"

"High tea, taken in its ground-floor Park Lounge with a view of Kensington Gardens, is a seemingly endless feast of pastry made on property, and if you can't finish it all, the Milestone will pack a carton so you can have it later—although doggy bags are generally frowned upon in Britain, the hotel doles out some 11,000 such boxes every year"