ON-TRADE: THE GORING: A Modern Classic

As it prepares for its centenary celebrations, The Goring Hotel remains the quintessential embodiment of London luxury. Clinton Cawood reports

A Brief History
The Goring Hotel was first opened in 1910 by OR Goring, and was designed by Edwardian architect John Evelyn Trollope.
The Goring was the first hotel in the world to offer a bathroom for every bedroom, as well as central heating.
During the First World War, the hotel was the headquarters of American officers stationed in London.
The Dining Room reopened after refurbishment on 1 September 2005, and 2006 saw the addition of a canopied veranda leading from the Garden Terrace.
Refurbishment work continues in preparation for the hotel’s centenary in 2010.
The Goring remains the oldest privately-owned hotel in London.

The line between traditional and classic is a fine one, yet one that is minutely understood at London’s Goring Hotel. And while this venerable institution has no shortage of tradition, it is undeniably classic – and increasingly so as the hotel continues to be refurbished.

“The year 2010 is our centenary, so we want to look good,” explains David Morgan-Hewitt, the hotel’s managing director. More important than appearances, however, and something The Goring is renowned for, is personal attention and service. A number of factors contribute to this, but arguably the most important is the Goring family itself. “It’s the only hotel of this standard still run and owned by the original family,” explains Morgan-Hewitt. Attentive service is still the first priority of Jeremy Goring, current CEO of the company and the fourth generation of the family to run the hotel.

“This is unique, this family involvement,” says Morgan-Hewitt. “They are hoteliers, not hotel-owners. They’re not people who own various things, one of which happens to be a hotel.”

Food for thought
Perhaps one of the most noteworthy features of The Goring is the Dining Room with its separate entrance that draws more than just hotel guests. “It’s probably the most successful restaurant run by a hotel,” says Morgan-Hewitt.

“We’re not just a B&B – about 45% of our business is food and beverage.” In addition to the restaurant, the hotel provides three private dining rooms.

According to Morgan-Hewitt, ever since the award-winning restaurant was redesigned by the Queen’s nephew, David Linley,   it has been “incredibly successful”. The room features Swarovski cherry blossom chandeliers, which “Lady Thatcher thinks are Christmas decorations, and Prince Edward laughed at”.

The Dining Room was originally built 15 years after the rest of the hotel, and was refurbished in 2005 when “Linley took a traditional room and turned it into a classical room”, says Morgan-Hewitt. The Dining Room offers British cuisine, with seasonal offerings such as a game fair in October. The hotel’s distinctive bar serves lighter food, and overlooks The Goring’s private garden.

A list to boggle the mind
Morgan-Hewitt describes the hotel’s wine list as “strong, with depth to it”, before calmly estimating that “if we sold our cellar, we’d get half a million pounds for it”. The Goring has “wonderful Clarets that we can offer at quite good prices”, he explains. The wine list also has an unmistakably French bias. “And that will stay,” says Morgan-Hewitt. “I can’t help but think that the best wines are still French. The really stellar wines still come from France.”

David Morgan-Hewitt CV
1982-1985 – Studied History at Durham University
1982 – ran Pimlico’s
1988 – Manager Reeds Restaurant
1989 – Burts Restaurant, Soho
1990 – Restaurant manager at The Goring
2000 – General manager at The Goring
2006 – Managing director at The Goring

There is an added pressure on the wine list at The Goring. “We’ve had Joseph Phelps, Scott Jenkins of Duck Pond Cellars, as well as Louis-Fabrice Latour here. We’ve also had the Gallos stay here. So there’s a lot of interest in our wine list,” explains Morgan-Hewitt.

This additional pressure on the wine list, it seems, is a good thing. “We don’t want to fall into the trap of not looking at our list. And when choosing, for example, the ten definitive wines from a country, they don’t need to be the ten wines our suppliers offer,” he says. “And if some are phenomenally expensive, tough tits.”

The Goring’s extensive cellar does indeed make it less reliant on suppliers, as it is one of the few hotels that lays wine down. Morgan-Hewitt casually recites a mind-boggling list of some of the highlights of the inventory: a roll-call of first and second growths, with a selection of vintages of each.

Ruinart is the house Champagne, always served from a magnum. Morgan-Hewitt admits, “Champagne is my favourite drink – always has been.” The hotel also features a number of guest Champagnes, such as Taittinger Rosé.

Born to run a hotel
It is when discussing the drinks available at The Goring that Morgan-Hewitt truly lights up. Interrupting himself in an animated discussion of the palate-cleansing qualities of the Vodka Martini, he unnecessarily confesses, “I am a man who likes to eat and drink.” Combine this with 16 years of experience at The Goring and Morgan-Hewitt is just the person to head up a hotel with a restaurant and bar of this quality.

“From the age of 14, I wanted to be a hotelier,” he says. Originally at Durham University to read law, he changed after his second year to study history. During vacations, a job running the bar at Sprowston Hall outside Norwich gave the young Morgan-Hewitt an introduction to the industry. “Running their main bar was an absolute scream,” he says.

Reminiscing, it is obvious how much experience Morgan-Hewitt has in this industry. “Back in 1982, people only ever ordered a gin and tonic or a beer, or maybe a vodka, whisky or Campari. The worst thing of all was when the duty went up, because you added everything up in your head.”

Following this, Morgan-Hewitt ran a small restaurant outside Durham called Pimlico’s. After this he moved to London, where he became involved in PR for drinks brands such as Tia Maria. “I helped to launch Frangelico, which was a real ironing-board drink…” he recalls.

After leaving PR and a few other restaurant positions, Morgan-Hewitt found himself out of work in 1990. “I hadn’t had to find a job before. I went to the agencies, looking for hotel jobs, not restaurant ones, but they said I had no qualifications. It was ridiculous.”

It all worked out well, however. Looking around him in the heart of The Goring, he says, “I came to this office for an interview 16 years ago.” He was appointed as the hotel’s restaurant manager. “It’s not often you fall on your feet in a job,” he says. “It’s a skill to recognise it when you do.” After two years he became food and beverage manager, after which he was promoted to general manager, and finally to managing director.

The best it can be
His significant experience, at The Goring and elsewhere, means that Morgan-Hewitt has strong opinions about all aspects of the industry, particularly when it comes to drink. “Dom Ruinart Rosé 1988 is the most glorious Champagne ever made,” he states. “It’s the most sexy rosé Champagne.” He sums up his stance on cocktails simply,  “Recently, at the Ritz bar, I had a Brandy Alexander. Bring back the Brandy Alexander, I say.”

But The Goring benefits from more than just Morgan-Hewitt’s experience. He points out that  Jeremy Goring, “worked four seasons at The Lanesborough, and at The Observatory Hotel in Sydney, and also started a magazine publishing company that probably makes more money than we do.”

However, as Morgan-Hewitt explains, from the Goring family’s point of view, “the primary concern is not to make money. The interest is in making the hotel the best it can be.” It is no wonder, then, that The Goring has maintained its loyal following as well as its position as the quintessentially British hotel.

The Goring is the perfect balance between the contemporary and nearly 100 years of history, something well evidenced by its wine cellar, which contrasts with the technology subtly integrated into the hotel’s bedrooms.

There is something special about the possibility of connecting an iPod at a traditional wooden desk in one of the 100-year-old rooms, using the digital control panel to open the heavy curtains, and gazing out on the serene, private garden, knowing that the rush of Victoria Station and Buckingham Palace are mere minutes away. 

© db February 2007