One Aldwych Goes Bee-Friendly
(September 2020) – During lockdown One Aldwych, the independently owned and run contemporary luxury hotel in Covent Garden, installed a beehive on the roof and planted a bee-friendly garden, full of flowers that bees and pollinators love. The hotel reopened on September 16th.
Janine Marshall, general manager of One Aldwych worked with London-based not for profit social enterprise, River of Flowers, who help partners to plant ‘rivers’ of wildflowers and trees in urban landscapes to feed and shelter bees and pollinators. River of Flowers exhibited at the RHS Chelsea Flower S how 2018, and was awarded a Silver Medal for the Honeycomb Meadow Bee Garden, featuring wildflower meadows grown vertically across a wall and horizontally in hexagonal containers.
For One Aldwych, River of Flowers drew up the planting scheme for the roof garden to enable the Buckfast honeybees on the roof to dine throughout the year on a varied menu of flowers to promote bee health, and add flavour and fragrance to the honey. This autumn, the honeybees will feast on the spiked inflorescences of delectable Hebes and the velvet-textured blooms of Heleniums, grown with bee-friendly Anemones, Cornflowers, Lavenders, Salvias and Verbenas in hexagonal containers. Early and late flowering honeysuckles were selected to offer sweetness on either side of summer while the fragrant, evergreen climber Star Jasmine was chosen to provide nectar from spring right through to the end of summer. Other delights to nourish the One Aldwych honeybees include a fiery Pyracantha, Lemon and Orange Thyme and Marjoram. The centrepiece will be crowned with an evergreen Viburnum shrub.
Guests can get a taste of the honeybees’ hard work in some luscious new cocktails in the Lobby Bar. The Bee’s Knees and the One D.O.M. are both blended with delicate honey and £1 from every cocktail sold will be donated to the fabulous work undertaken by River of Flowers.
Janine says, “During lockdown we all came to appreciate our window boxes, balconies and gardens. Mother Nature shone through and we noticed how clean the air was, how the wind sounded in the trees and how quiet it was. We need bees: we take them and other pollinators for granted – but they are vital for stable and healthy food supplies. They are also great indicators of a healthy environment.”
One Aldwych’s bee-friendly cocktails
The One D.O.M
This is a signature cocktail of Pedro Paulo’s, a real crowd pleaser – and the cocktail that won him the title of ‘Best Bartender in the UK’.
30ml Vodka
30ml D.O.M Benedictine herbal liqueur
15ml Fresh lemon
15ml Honey S yrup*
15ml Egg White
2 Kaffir lime leaves
Shake with ice, and serve in a Martini glass, garnished with a Lemon
peel, kaffir lime leaf and a pinch of saffron.
0% Bee’s Knees
Pedro is a great advocate of excellently executed classic drinks that are free of alcohol. With the help of the good people at Lyre’s Alcohol free spirits ( Lyres.co.uk ) he makes almost every classic alcohol free and achieves a very close result, encouraging people to explore healthier drinks
50 ml Lyre’s Dry London S pirit
25 ml Honey S yrup
25 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
Shake with ice, and serve over a crystal clear ice ball, garnished with an edible flower and a lemon twist. *Honey syrup can easily be made at home, by combining one part of honey and one part boiling water, mix them well together and let the syrup cool completely.
One Aldwych re-opened on 16th September 2020
Re-opening offer: LOVE LONDON at ONE ALDWYC H
From £485 for two sharing a double room.
Includes a guaranteed room upgrade, English breakfast, parking for one car, complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, early check-in, late check-out and access to unlimited online magazines and newspapers through Press Reader.
www.onealdwych.com | Tel: 020 7300 100
reservations@ onealdwych.com | One Aldwych, London WC 2B 4BZ
PRESS INFORMATION:
kate.ardron@ themangoagency.com | sonam.shah@ themangoagency.com |
Lucinda.buxton@ themangoagency.com | Telephone: 07711044063
