Working travelers may be hard-pressed to find a London business hotel these days that doesn’t eat up a good portion of their budgets. Indeed, in a town where shelling out more than $500 for a good night’s sleep in relative luxury is the norm, even with airline price breaks, this fact puts a damper on what is realistic about a business trip across the Pond. 

This concept was particularly the case for this toiling sojourner, who, during a recent visit with family in tow, was on the lookout for any upscale property that would give value for money.

A tough call.

Surprisingly, London’s tony Athenaeum Hotel and Apartments stepped up to the plate with the first-class property’s ongoing pound for dollar program. Around for the past decade, this is the first year these special rates are being offered year-round instead of just during promotional periods. 
   

More than ever, this incredible deal is worth serious consideration as at this writing the British pound is inching up to nearly double the value of the U.S. dollar. So with guestrooms at this member of Small Luxury Hotels beginning at 295 pounds ($295), deluxe Athenaeum accommodations are a real steal.
    

Not only did we discover value for money but lots of innovation too at The Athenaeum. Our cozy digs were in one of the five-star hotel’s newly refurbished apartments where we enjoyed our own private entrance. The offshoot building is conveniently located just around the corner from the main hotel in the upscale Piccadilly/Belgravia area.

Inside our typically English apartment, sporting lots of florals in the furnishings and window treatments, we discovered spiffier accessories. Highlights were a giant flat-screen TV and a great service kitchen with pots, pans and all the other necessary trimmings with which to prepare a complete meal.
 

Staying at properties offering full kitchens (sometimes dubbed aparthotels) is one way to keep costs down in budget-busting London. A recent visit to 51 Buckingham Gate, a Taj Group property, turns out this major amenity in style in its stunning five-diamond, five-star quarters. The sprawling three-building hotel complex boasting Victorian High Empire architecture and a piazza-like courtyard with its requisite fountain is protected by eye-catching golden gates only opened to those who belong there.

At reception, we were assigned a rambling retreat done in sleek modern decor with two bathrooms, a sitting room, two bedrooms and a massive kitchen with dining area. It was in this room dominated by stainless steel counters and a huge wooden chopping island that we created quite a feast from Harrod’s Food Hall finds. For savvier shoppers, a more economical grocery store is within walking distance of the 82-unit hotel as is Buckingham Palace and St. James’s Park. 

Our kitchen at 51 Buckingham Gate was more than fully stocked as it included a built-in washer/dryer so we could clean our clothes while preparing a sumptuous meal. Meanwhile, while we worked one member of the group conveniently took off for a relaxing organic sea scrub at the newly installed Spa at 51 Buckingham Gate. Making up the spa menu are Australian Sodashi products claiming to be completely chemical, mineral oil, and animal free. 
    

If prices at 51 Buckingham (starting at 325 pounds) keep you from booking in, host a power meal at one of four excellent in-house restaurants instead.  
    

While we were there, we dined in Quilon, the sister restaurant to London’s renowned Bombay Brasserie, and equally as enchanting. Eating here with cohorts gave us plenty of cache as well as the chance to dine on award-winning South Indian coastal cuisine served by a very patient and knowledgeable staff. 
   

To be sure, power dining is an excellent alternative to taking in London’s grand hotels without shattering your budget. In fact, I have been making this a practice with U.K. colleagues for more than 30 years by meeting for power tea. 
    

Among my favorite venues for this typically British ritual are The Berkeley, The Dorchester, The Connaught, The Ritz and Claridge’s. 
     

The latter—located near Oxford and Bond streets in the heart of Mayfair—shows off a top-rate version of high tea. It is served in The Foyer among much Art Deco splendor and in view of a grand spiral staircase. 
   

As an added plus, Claridge’s (formerly of the Savoy Group and now a member of the newly formed Maybourne Group) also affords the fringe benefit of a hole-in-the-wall business center. This discreet work space is located just beyond the hotel’s landmark front door and across the shiny marble floor from The Foyer. 
    

Inside the modest cubicle is a single computer anyone can access with a credit card. So, during my most recent visit, after ordering my brew and my biscuits, I took polite leave of my colleagues for a brief Internet session at this highly charged, business-oriented hotel.
   

Now that’s what I call multi-tasking.