My Favorite London Splurge and other London, United Kingdom Hotel/Accommodation Reviews

In my opinion, Knightbridge is the best place for a tourist to stay in London. Just a block away from the Glouchester Tube Station, it's a wonderful neighborhood environment with pretty houses, comfy restaurants, beautiful churches, and museums and the Royal Albert Hall. It's a short walk to Kensington Gardens and just a bit down the road from Harrods. I usually stay at one of four hotels here and the Edwardian Vanderbilt is my splurge. When the internet gods are with me, and decent rates come up, I book this one when I can.

Comfortable rooms, very nice bathrooms with all the amenities, a work out facility and indoor pool and a business center with internet access provide everything you need. There is a restaurant but I haven't eaten here.

Unique Qualities: My favorite thing about this hotel is the bar and lounge. Ultra comfortable furniture, a great fireplace, friendly staff, and a good bar make this such a comfortable home away from home. The great thing about this is, even if I stay "cheaper" on a trip to London, I can always hang out for awhile in the bar.

To book, check out www.londontown.com

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$120-180  » Currency Converter
Address: 68-86 Cromwell Road, London, EN SW7

Hotel Montana is quite basic but the beds are comfortable, the rooms are clean and the private bathrooms perfectly adequate. This is a relatively inexpensive hotel in a great area. Across the street from the Glouchester Tube Station, you will find everything you need in the general area; restaurants (an Indian restaurant onsite), Pubs, Gothic Churches, shopping, even a couple of Starbucks.

Unique Qualities: Two blocks away is the Natural History Museum. Two blocks in another direction is the Royal Albert Hall. Across the street you can catch the Big Bus Hop on Hop off tour.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$40-80  » Currency Converter
Address: 67-69 Gloucester Road, Kensington, London, England

My first introduction to the Millennium Baileys was on the solo trip where I discovered the Knightsbridge neighborhood. I was staying at another hotel, with a rather dumpy, deserted lounge and bar area and looking for some company and civility. Voila, I discovered the beautiful bar at the Baileys.

The hotel lobby, lounge, bar and restaurant are beautiful. (On subsequent trips, I've relaxed in that bar, when I wasn't staying there) The downstairs loo is tres elegante, an invitation to choose this hotel as home base and find out how the bedrooms compare.

The room somehow disappointed me. For the price, the room was pretty much the same as cheaper hotels I've stayed at in the area; small, clean, basic.... With our window looking out on Glouchester Rd. there was a lot of street noise that the windows didn't really block out. The bathroom was very basic and our toilet had a flushing trick that was hard to figure out.

To be fair, I didn't look at other rooms so perhaps there were nicer. Unless one of my web searches nets me a really really low rate for this property, I don't think I'll stay again. I absolutely LOVE the common areas. But I can sleep cheap and use the common areas when I'm awake for free!


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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$120-180  » Currency Converter
Address: 140 Gloucester Road, London, England SW7
Directions: Right across the street from the Glouchester Tube Station. Also within a block or two are grocery stores, restaurants, pubs, Starbucks, Boots and even a Burger King. Walking distance to museums and about 1 mile from Harrods.

I must admit to conflicted feelings about this hotel. It was my first try at solo travel; a long weekend in London. Thanksgiving away from family, shopping, cold, the chance to lose myself in a big city. There's something about the anonimity that a huge city provides a solo travel. You can be alone and not alone at the same time.

The Grange Strathmore is in the perfect neighborhood. It used to be the private residence of the Earl of Strathmore and in the common rooms you can feel the ghosts of the past. From the outside, it looks beautiful, as do all of the other Hotels in the neighborhood. It's what these hotels do with their insides that make the difference.

The "bones" of the structure feel a little rickety, but that's not uncommon in old London Hotels. The furniture in the lounge was "period" and not awfully comfortable. My room however was very comfy. I had a double bed, soft and comfortable by European standards. The bathroom was perfect for me, newly remodeled with a fantastic shower (a big win for me). The furnishings were elegant and nice. But the room was tiny and I barked my shin on one thing or another repeatedly. And the street noise was also evident, all night long.

I've read reviews panning the staff. International young people tried hard and I had no complaints. I had room service twice and was very pleased with my BLT and crisps for Thanksgiving dinner. (It seemed deliciously rebellious from the huge family feast)

But all in all, I think that the Strathmore consistently charges more than it's value in the neighborhood. I discovered two hotel bars I liked much better in the neighborhood.

Unique Qualities: The location is great. This remains for me the perfect London neighborhood to stay in. The Glouchester Tube stop is a block and a half away and provides the perfect transit choice to get anywhere. Cabs can be caught half a block away on Cromwell.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$120-180  » Currency Converter
Address: 41 Queen's Gate Gardens, London, England SW7
Directions: Corner of Cromwell and Queen's Gate Gardens. One block off Glouchester.

I've stayed at this hotel on three different trips now and my impression of the value this hotel offers has declined.

It's a very American like hotel; large rooms, modern common areas, great bathrooms. You would never stay here for a visit of London. Adjacent to Heathrow, you can watch the planes take off from your window (but can't hear them at all.... a real testimony to the double paned windows). But if you have an overnight layover it's a great choice.

The first time I stayed here my daughter and I were on a layover from Florence to San Francisco. We arrived at Heathrow exhausted at midnight and were upgraded from one twin room to two executive doubles. Wouldn't you know.... we had 6 whole hours to enjoy it! The beds were fantastic, big and comfy with plush duvets. The bathrooms loaded with special amenities. We asked for a taxi at 6 am and found that the hotel staff drove us, for no cost, in the Hotel Mercedes. And all this for 49 GBP!

On my two subsequent trips I have not been able to snag rates even close to that. Every phone call was charged at a premium (even though I used my own phone card), room service produced a terrible meal, the bar meal was equally bad, and anything added was really expensive.

But that said, it's still 1 mile from the airport, a cheap taxi ride to the hotel and that same free ride home. I guess if I were to have another layover, this is the place I would choose.


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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$80-120  » Currency Converter
Address: Bath Road Corner Sipson Way, London, England UB7

The Thistle Victoria has excellent bones. Unfortunately, it's the fleshy parts that fall short of the mark. I chose this hotel for a short stay in London in July 2004. This was my neice, Gabriella's graduation trip and her first visit to one of the World's Great Cities.

Our plane from San Francisco arrived early, 7AM and after a long, hot wait in the passport control lines at Heathrow, followed by an easy trip by car to the Victoria area, we were eager to check in and wash up a bit. Not going to happen. The check in desk told us curtly "Check in is at 2 PM". I explained that I understood this, but we had had an overnight flight and were very tired. Would it be possible to check in early? "Check in is at 2 PM". I think there was even a third time the sentence was repeated verbatim.

So, long story short, we dropped our bags with the concierge and went out to ride the big bus tour and see the sites in a seemingly effortless way. Returning at 2 we found a LONG line for check in. About an hour later we had our bags and were on our way to the room.

Elevator up. Bags dropped. Room stuffy. Window doesn't open. No airconditioning (that is available for another 39lbs). A ceiling fan provides a hint of air movement and we lay down for a quick nap. (It's been more than 24 hours since we woke).

I think we had both been asleep for 3 minutes when the fire alarm went off. We were totally disoriented and dragged ourselves out into the hall. There everyone seemed to be making their way down the stairs. We grabbed our purses and joined the parade; passing the fireman running UP the stairs on our way down.

The hotel staff directed us to the park across the street where we hung with the homeless and the kitchen staff until it was deemed safe to return.

Later there was an apology for the event on our TV screen messages.

Unique Qualities: Like I said, this hotel has great bones. The common areas are elegant and grand. The coffee lounge was beautiful and we felt like proper ladies when we enjoyed our coffee and tea in the afternoon.

Quite an extensive buffet breakfast is included but the line was much longer than I felt it was worth to wait to eat breakfast.

One of the best things about this hotel is its proximity to Victoria Station. There is an entrance into the train station off the lobby of the hotel.

The Harvard bar and restaurant was also comfortable and elegant. And very expensive. We had mojitos and salmon cakes instead of dinner after theater one night and the bill was a pricey 50 lbs.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$80-120  » Currency Converter
Address: 101 Buckingham Palace Road, London, England SW1W
Directions: Adjacent to Victoria Station

To be honest, Rubens at the Palace is a bit out of my price range. That said, I've stayed here three times. The first two were with a friend, so I was splitting the bill. The last was this past July when I was taking my neice to London and Paris for her graduation gift. We stayed at the Rubens our last night, after a few days in Paris.

Across the street from the Queen's Mews, the Hotel is a very nice 4 star property. You know as soon as you arrive that you'll be well taken care of. The doorman rushes to open the Cab door and grabs your bags. From there on things are taken care of for you. This is especially nice if you've been lugging your stuff on planes, trains or boats.

Our airconditioned room was comfortable and luxe. The bathroom is especially nice and the room as all the best amenities, robes, plush towels, and inroom tea service.

Unique Qualities: Although the hotel has a couple of nice restaurants, I enjoy the small bar/lounge where the bar menu has everything I could ask for and a pianist plays wonderful tunes (open to requests). My neice and I enjoyed our club sandwiches, last night champagne and the beautiful music.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$120-180  » Currency Converter
Address: Buckingham Palace Road, , London, England SW1W 0PS

This is a budget hotel in the Paddington Station area. It should be nice. It's on a nice square, with a park across the street. It's a beautiful old building from the outside.

But that's where the good parts end. My daughters and I had a large room with about 5 very very narrow beds. The carpet was badly stained with gum and other questionable stuff. The bedspreads were spotted and I just felt very uncomfortable. We had an en suite room but the shower drain didn't drain and the shower pan quickly overflowed.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend this hotel to students traveling on a budget. I sure wouldn't recommend it to anyone I know.

Unique Qualities: I had my first experience with a Full English Breakfast here. What's up with the beans?

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$20-40  » Currency Converter
Phone: 44 20-7402 4949
Address: 34 Norfolk Square, Flat 1/edna House, London, Engl
Website: www.dolphinhotel.co.uk