That was my pre-Mother’s Day treat with my teenage daughter – being dropped right at the door of shops, galleries and hotels – and I could definitely get used to it!
Our six-hour trip in the lap of luxury began at 11am with a text from our Blacklane driver Jonathan, who was waiting outside the house.
There was complimentary water to sip and heated seats to keep us warm as we rolled through our not very posh north west London neighbourhood to the first stop.
Since my teen is crazy for Lush bath and body products, we were off to the three-storey flagship store in Oxford Street.
We spent the next hour smelling, testing and collecting samples of the vast array of bath bombs and beauty products before selecting purchases of a lemony soap and a sticky toffee body lotion.
Our courteous chauffeur hovered nearby; a quick text a minute before we emerged and he was waiting at the kerb ready to spirit us to our next stop.
We could have easily walked to Piccadilly Circus, but why bother when you can arrive in style? Leaving our purchases in the car, we managed to catch 40 minutes of the St Patrick’s Parade with floats, dancers and bands bringing the spirit of the Irish festival to London.
The five-star Royal Lancaster Hotel has a charming afternoon tea themed around The Natural History Museum and all things botanical.
Sipping on pollen tea and hot chocolate – and for me, a delicious glass of Nyetimber fizz – we devoured an array of sandwiches; chicken, salmon, egg, and cucumber, then featherlight scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.
The dainty cakes – presented in a gilded birdcage, sweetly resembled pollinating insects. There was a ladybird of vanilla mousse and caramelised apple, a green chafer of mascarpone whip with pear and blackberry, a beehive-shaped honey cake with creme fraiche, and our favourite, a snowdrop buttermilk cake with shortbread and white chocolate ganache.
From Salvador Dali’s dripping clocks, to the dots of colour that flutter onto the walls to reveal a Seurat masterpiece, and the final room where you are immersed in a Roman mural, an erupting volcano, and a stormy shipwreck, it’s a great way to get young people excited about art.
Like Cinderella’s carriage, we were running out of time, so before the limousine turned into a pumpkin, we summoned Jonathan one last time to drive us home, pulling up just as the clock chimed 5pm.
Throughout the day he was ever smiling and attentive to our chatter, yet somehow understood when we were tired and wanted silence.
By the end I felt thoroughly spoiled and special, and was fully converted to having a driver at your beck and call for a hassle-free trip around the West End.
Blacklane is a German-based company that prides itself on its courteous drivers, sustainable values, and above all, reliability.
It operates in more than 500 cities in 50 countries and while they are most often used by business travellers for appointments and airport transfers, they are increasingly being hired for weddings, leisure trips, and with their new Mother’s Day Chauffeur-by-the-hour service the kind of special occasion like treating your mum to a well deserved day out.
