December is a very busy time for us, but ‘tis the season to be jolly and when we’re not wrapping cashmere, we’ll be heading to London’s finest hotels for some festive treats.

We’ll be calling in at Rosewood London to say hello to Father Christmas in the Mirror Room, above, before tucking into the hotel’s award-winning Art Afternoon Tea. Inspired by the capital’s art scene, pastries are created in the style of modern artists, including Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Wassily Kandinsky, Banksy and Jackson Pollock. Eat them or take them home and display them? That depends on how hungry we are. Father Christmas will be in residence between 4pm and 6pm until 12 December; Festive Afternoon Tea is available until 31 December from £55 per person.We haven’t decorated our office tree yet so we’ll be dropping into the lobby at Claridge’s for inspiration. Every year the hotel invites a creative visionary – usually someone in the fashion world – to reinterpret the tree in their own style. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Burberry’s Christopher Bailey, Kally Ellis of McQueens and Alber Elbaz for Lanvin have all done it in previous years. This Christmas it’s the turn of Karl Lagerfeld, who has come up with a series of inverted trees placed around the hotel lobby with a 16ft inverted tree, topped with a multi-faceted mirrored star, as the centerpiece. Under the tree the designer has placed white Icelandic sheepskin rugs to represent snow. Beautiful, though possibly a bit ambitious for Travelwrap Towers.It wouldn’t be Christmas without a Christmas movie. Film Club at The Soho Hotel is showing three of our favourites in its gorgeous private cinema this year: Miracle on 34th Street (Sunday 10 December & Saturday 23 December), White Christmas (Sunday 17 December) and It’s a Wonderful Life (Sunday 23 December). The club costs £40 per person which includes a three-course lunch, dinner or afternoon tea followed by a movie. Alternatively, you can order from the à la carte menu and watch the film for a supplement of £15 per person. We’ll finish our festive day at The Ritz, where Head Bartender at The Rivoli Bar recommends a Mist. The Christmassy concoction is part of The Rivoli’s new autumn/winter cocktail menu, inspired by both the design of the bar and the rich history of the hotel itself. Cocktails are all made with seasonal ingredients, which in Mist’s case, means a mix of Omega tequila, liquorice and cinnamon syrup, Seedlip, Amaro Avera and Angostrua Bitters. Certainly beats a Snowball. Cocktails cost from £22. 

BY MAGGIE O’SULLIVAN