Wimbledon 2026 in Knightsbridge: Tennis Teas and Hotel Packages
The Championships began on Monday, and for the next fortnight a good part of SW19's audience will be sleeping, breakfasting and taking tea in SW1 and SW3. Knightsbridge is a natural base for Wimbledon: close enough to reach the grounds on the Tube, far enough away to come home to a quiet street and a proper bar. This year two neighbourhood hotels have gone further than a themed cocktail, building their whole fortnight around the tennis. Here is what they are offering, and how to make the most of it whether or not you hold a ticket.
A Champagne tennis tea on Egerton Terrace
The Egerton House Hotel, the Red Carnation townhouse on Egerton Terrace a few minutes from Harrods, is serving a Wimbledon edition of its afternoon tea from Monday 29 June to Sunday 12 July, the exact span of the tournament. Sittings run from midday to 6pm, which makes it as useful for a late lunch as for a classic tea. The centrepiece is an exclusive strawberries and cream choux, the hotel's nod to the most famous dessert in British sport, and the tea is offered with Champagne. Bookings for the fortnight are limited, so reserve through the Wimbledon at The Egerton House listing and confirm the current price when you book.
Mandarin Oriental's Centre Court package
For visitors who want the tennis itself, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park is running a Wimbledon package from 29 June to 15 July as part of its Summer of Sport. It includes priority access to Centre Court tickets, priced on request, alongside Wimbledon-inspired amenities in the suite and daily breakfast for two. Guests are also given a strawberries and cream dessert with English sparkling wine in Hyde Park Garden, plus a Ralph Lauren Wimbledon-themed gift box and an invitation to a personal styling session at the brand's New Bond Street store.
The most unusual element is exclusive to the Knightsbridge hotel: a tennis experience with Kensington Tennis Club, with private sessions led by the club's head coaches on West London courts and chauffeured transfers in an Aston Martin DBX707. The same programme also covers the British Grand Prix at Silverstone from 3 to 5 July. Details sit on the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park website.
No ticket? Watch the mood instead
Hyde Park Garden, the hotel's private garden facing the park, is worth knowing about in its own right this summer. Its menus come from the team behind Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and the rosé list is drawn from Château d'Esclans, which makes it a fitting place to toast a British run deep into the second week. Around the corner on Basil Street, The Capital's bar is pitching itself at the grass court crowd with Pimm's and cocktails between 12pm and 11pm.
Getting there
From Knightsbridge, take the Piccadilly line to Earl's Court and change for the District line towards Wimbledon, alighting at Southfields for the grounds. On finals weekend, 11 and 12 July, engineering works close the Piccadilly line west of Hammersmith, which does not affect this route, but leave extra time all the same on the busiest days of the fortnight, and book any hotel tea well before you set off.
Lead image: Su--May via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
