Afternoon Tea at 144 on the Hill at Richmond Hill Hotel: Review

Located on the doorstep of Richmond Park, Richmond Hill Hotel offers an idyllic city stay experience, with Georgian themed rooms and incredible views of Richmond Park.

It’s located a 25-minute walk from Richmond Station down winding lanes, making you feel as if you’re in some secluded countryside village instead of in Zone Six.

The hotel is dog friendly, offering rooms for dog owners, with most of the hotel accessible to guests with their dogs except for the restaurant.

If you bring your dog along, like I did, they will also probably be offered a little selection of treats themselves to enjoy.

Afternoon tea is usually served in the 144 on the Hill Restaurant within the hotel, or in the lounge area offering a more relaxed feel.

The afternoon tea

Along with the botanical afternoon tea, they also offer a savoury afternoon tea and a kids afternoon tea too.

The Botanical Afternoon Tea is centred around a botanical theme, from the floral print teapots and cups to the edible floral decorations on the food.

There are also a number of in-house tea blends to choose from, along with coffees and iced drinks if you’d prefer.

We began with a generous glass of champagne, which was served to enjoy before the afternoon tea arrived.

Botanical Afternoon Tea costs £40 per person (Image: Emily Davison)

We began with a selection of sandwiches, offering some traditional options you’d expect to find at an afternoon tea like coronation chicken and salmon.

We were also served a sandwich with beetroot falafel, confit peppers and avocado hummus as well as a Salt beef sandwich with pickled radish.

As somewhat of an afternoon tea fanatic, I will say out of all the ones I’ve tried this is up there with some of the best for its savoury options.

You can also request more sandwiches if you would like, although afternoon teas can be deceptive, as they often look so small but looks can be deceiving.

Scones were also provided with a generous serving of strawberry jam and clotted cream. Nothing beats the taste of a good scone in my opinion, and these ones were fresh out of the oven and still warm.

The botanical afternoon tea features a selection of sweet treats (Image: Emily Davison)

Unlike some botanical themed afternoon teas that I have had in the past, this didn’t just have floral tasting sweet treats like rose flavoured cakes.

The sweet selection was a real mix of flavours like lemon, chocolate, raspberry, strawberry, pistachio and orange.

Each person gets six treats to try, hence why I didn’t ask for more sandwiches straight away.

We first tried the rhubarb cake loaf, a small soft sponge with a layer of rhubarb buttercream icing.

You could taste the rhubarb, but it wasn’t overpowering, and tasted good against the sweet vanilla flavour of the cake.

My personal favourite of the sweet options was the strawberry cheesecake dome, consisting of a chocolate sponge base with a vanilla centre and a top layer of strawberry.

The flavours of this one were delicious, a real medley of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, and the mere thought of it right now is making me crave it again.

We also tried the chocolate navel orange tartlets, the flavours of this one were very rich and it ended up being my friend’s favourite.

The hotel is located in the heart of Richmond (Image: Emily Davison)

I did like this one too, the chocolate was very rich and it was garnished with a tiny orange slice on top.

I could only eat about half of it because it was so rich and I had to save room to ry the remaining sweet treats, but if you are a chocolate lover this dessert may end up being your favourite.

There was also the lemon pistachio pyramid, a kind of soft sponge topped with a gelatinous pyramid made with pistachio and lemon.

When I first bit into it I could really taste the pistachio, but then as it hits your taste buds you can really taste the sharp lemon.

The flavours of this one were really good and this sweet treat came in at a close second for me behind the strawberry cheesecake.

We were also served luxury macaroons and small fruit choux cremeux, a fruit filled pastry of some kind.

By this point my friend and I collapsed into our chairs lulled by the heat of the summer afternoon and full bellies.

All in all, this was a very relaxed afternoon tea experience in an idyllic setting in London.

I would recommend this experience if you are looking for an afternoon tea that is good value for money but doesn’t scrimp on offering you a luxury experience.

The Botanical Afternoon Tea at the Richmond Hill Hotel costs £40 per person or £76 for two people and is available from 1:30-5pm daily.