Hotel Chocolat — Local services in London

Hotel Chocolat is a British chocolatier and cocoa grower, with over seventy shops in the United Kingdom. Hotel Chocolat is the only company in the United Kingdom to grow cocoa on its own plantation.In 1988, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris began designing and selling mints as "MMC", before moving to chocolates, some six years later. Rebranded as "Geneva Chocolates", the current co-founders of Hotel Chocolat adapted trade to the catalogue-based world and before long, had steered towards the name "Choc Express". Throughout these next few years, Angus and Peter had turned their focus on making this brand of exclusive chocolates available to UK consumers.

In 1998, the Chocolate Tasting Club was launched in Britain; as of 2014, it has around 100,000 members.[2] To date, the Tasting Club has trialled over 1,500 different recipes. As detailed on their website, the Chocolate Tasting Club sends out boxes to customers all over the country each month.

In 2003, Choc Express rebranded as Hotel Chocolat and launched its first retail store in the centre of Watford. The company then grew initially to having four stores in the East Anglian area, with stores in Milton Keynes, Cambridge and St Albans opening between 2005 and 2006. Today, the company has over 70 around the UK.[3]

In 2006, the company officially acquired the Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia, and is, to date, the only company in the UK to own its own cocoa plantation.[4] This plantation is one of the reasons given for the company choosing not to be Fair Trade-accredited, as only smallholdings are allowed.

In 2011, Hotel Chocolat opened its Boucan Hotel in Saint Lucia.[5] The hotel sits on the Rabot Estate which is perched high up between the Piton mountains. The hotel currently has six lodges and a cocoa-inspired Boucan Restaurant.

Hotel Chocolat has been awarded Emerging Retailer of the Year by Retail Week and nominated as one of the UK’s CoolBrands.[6] The company was also awarded the silver prize in the 2009 Academy of Chocolate awards.

In November 2013, Hotel Chocolat opened two UK restaurants, Rabot 1745 in London's Borough Market, and Roast + Conch in Leeds.[7]

In August 2017, Hotel Chocolat opened its first stores in the Republic of Ireland in...

I (had the most amazing experience recently when I stopped by for some ice cream. From the moment I walked in, everything was just excellent. The place had a great vibe, but what truly made it stand out was the service and let me tell you, Taz was incredible!

Taz greeted me with the warmest smile and was beyond helpful when I couldn’t decide what to get (because everything looked so good!). They patiently walked me through the options and even offered some stellar recommendations. The customer service? Absolutely excellent. Friendly, fast, and thoughtful it really made the whole experience unforgettable.

Now let’s talk about the ice cream, wow. Every bite was smooth, creamy, and bursting with flavor. It wasn’t just good it was excellent in every way. You could tell it was made with care and quality ingredients. Honestly, it was the kind of ice cream that makes you close your eyes and go, “Yup, this is what happiness tastes like.”

And again, I have to give a shoutout to Taz his energy, attention to detail, and kindness just made the visit perfect. It’s rare to see customer service this excellent these days, and Taz went above and beyond.

If you’re looking for incredible ice cream and equally incredible service, do yourself a favor and go here. Everything was excellent, the ice cream, the atmosphere, and...

Very unpleasant visit. I was going to use my almost expired birthday discount on a £5.45 billionaire sundae, this birthday discount needs to be used on products above £5.01 so this just fit the bill. A middle-aged lady with glasses told me she couldn't use it on this sundae as it needed to be combined with the 20% VIP discount, which was less than £5. While we were considering other products, she rudely asked us to stand aside and queue up again. We were served by another shop assistant, we ended up with 2 ice-cream cones, but when we checked out, we didn't get the 20% discount that the shop assistant mentioned, we asked her about it, and she said that the birthday discount can't be used in conjunction with any other discounts. So the middle aged lady was misleading us. Service attitude and quality of ice-cream was extremely poor, will not be...