Hotel Chocolat

History of Hotelchocolat

The first Hotel Chocolat store opened in 2004 in North London, and was the start of a British chocolate revolution. Now, Hotel Chocolat have over 75 stores in the UK and creators Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris are still guided by their three basic values: being fresh and creative; making authentic chocolate fresh from the cocoa bean; and ensuring cocoa farmers worldwide get respect and a fair deal from Saint Lucia to Ghana. These ethics have created some of the best quality chocolate available in the UK, and has extended the brand online and worldwide.

The company first started making Easter eggs, but instead of making thin, cheap, value eggs like they were told, they decided to do the opposite and created Easter eggs with ridiculously thick shells with lots of chocolates inside. When they went on to create chocolate pieces, they created their definitive and iconic "giant slabs" instead of the usual bite-sized pieces, proving their determination to bring quality chocolate to the customer.

Hotel Chocolat's house grade milk chocolate has 50% cocoa and their white chocolate even has 36% cocoa, fulfilling their mantra of more cocoa and less sugar. Hotel Chocolat even has an actual hotel now, the beautiful Boucan, as well as two restaurants in the UK, Rabot 1745 and Roast+Conch, and even sells savoury cocoa products in their stores.

At their 250-year-old plantation in Saint Lucia Hotel Chocolat have created a plantation spa, which offers Hotel Chocolat's beauty range. They also have cafes and stores dotted around the UK, and have just launched a cookbook this year, as well as a School of Chocolate in Copenhagen. Save money on Hotel Chocolat orders online with voucher codes and buy into this deliciously diverse UK brand.

Brands

• Boxed Chocolates
• Sleeksters & H-Boxes
• Luxury Boxed Chocolates
• Slabs & Batons
• Gift Collections
• Hampers
• Build a Hamper
• Lovely Little Things
• Enrobed Fruit & Nuts

• Gift Cards
• Monthly Tasting Club
• Selectors
• Entertaining
• Wine & Spirits
• Cocoa Cuisine
• Drinking Chocolate
• Beauty

• Rare Chocolates
• Gift Experiences

Locations

Just some of Hotel Chocolat's locations:

• Bath
• Birmingham
• Brighton
• Bristol
• Cambridge
• Canterbury
• Copenhagen
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Harrogate
• Leeds

• Liverpool
• London
• Maidstone
• Manchester
• Newcastle
• Norwich
• Nottingham
• Southampton
• Watford
• York

Opening Times

Hotel Chocolat's stores and cafe opening times vary throughout the UK, and Europe, but these model opening hours are usual for most UK cafes and stores (based on the Edinburgh store):

Monday - Wednesday: 9am - 5pmThursday: 9am - 7pmFriday: 9am - 5pmSaturday: 9am - 5.30pmSunday: 11am - 5pm

Delivery Information

Orders to the UK can be made with either standard delivery, nominated or next day delivery, or even same day delivery. Standard delivery is usually £3.95 for one item or £4.95 for more than two items, and if ordered before 6pm UK time, the order will be delivered in the next three to five working days. Nominated day and next day delivery costs £4.95 for one item and £5.95 for two or more items, and must be ordered by 6pm UK time (delivery excludes Sundays and bank holidays). Nominated AM delivery is also available and costs £6.95 for one item and £8.95 for two or more items. It is also possible to receive an order on the same day if your order by 3pm UK time, and Hotel Chocolat's SHUTL courier service will deliver within 90 minutes or within one hour of your designated time slot. Prices for this service vary, but start at £5.95 (they are also dependent on stock, and the address has to be within a 20-mile radius from the local store). It is also possible to click & collect from a local store for free within two hours of ordering (depending on stock). If the order is placed after 6pm it will be available at the store the next day (excluding weekends). Delivery to the rest of the world varies between three to eight days, and prices vary depending on where you are making the order.

Returns Policy

As most of Hotel Chocolat's products are edible it is difficult to return a product, however, Hotel Chocolat do offer a 100% Happiness Guarantee policy, and a No Excuses Guarantee policy, that states if you are not 100% happy with the product, or a delivery date is missed, then Hotel Chocolat will put it right for you, either by refunding or replacing the product. You can contact them via telephone, letter or online to communicate your problem and Hotel Chocolat's trained customer services team will respond promptly as part of this policy.

Security & Reviews

Hotelchocolat.com uses a secure Digital Certificate from Comodo to encrypt your credit card number when you make orders online. It takes your information and turns it into bits of code that are securely transmitted across the internet. All reviews on TrustPilot have mostly been responded to by Hotel Chocolat's team, and are mostly positive about the high-quality chocolate delivered by the brand. Some mix-ups with orders were rectified by the customer services team, and any orders that arrived broken were replaced by the company.