Is really finding a good hotel in Central London, strategically located, with charme and without spending crazy a mission impossible?
We have spent the years in seaching a solution and during our many visits to London we tried really many hotels.
Often the solution has been to book from one of the great international hotel chains, which would guarantee that minimum standards of comfort and cleanliness that we wanted, sometimes unfortunately at the expense of location: not always central in order to respect our budget.
Once we got a terrible experience: we booked a small hotel just a walking distance from Buckingham Palace. Many years have passed and we remember that time in London as a nightmare because of our accommodation.
Did you ever think? How important is sleeping, wakinging up pampered, finding a special breakfast?
Often with the wrong accommodation you holiday can turn into a nightmare and the memory of a nice weekend will be overshadowed by momemories about that terrible location.
This time we will remember our long weekend in London above all for our very special accommodation!
Thistle is a small charming luxury hotel chain in Central London (but not only): we chose The Kingsley, in Holborn.
If I say Holborn (metro station is just 4 minutes from the hotel), I also say city centre, local public transport, but also walking in cool places, West End theatres, Covent Garden and Russell Square, British Museum.
The style of The Kingsley, a building in Edwardian-style in Bloomsbury, is refined, elegant, combining modernity with history this hotel is able to create a chic location for your staying. The staff is always friendly, smiling but not staid, always kind to children and attentive to their needs.
The Kingsley is one of those hotels where you really get pleasure of returning after your activities, whether cultural or shopping or business. It is that place where you are sure that you’re going to be comfortable, where you will rest to recharge and start the next day with a smile.
The junior suite makes family stay really comfortable: space available makes it possible for someone to rest while others play or watch TV. The coffee&tea corner is very well equipped and in general everything is very clean, organized, spacious.
- Click to enlarge and view the gallery –
Breakfast is served in two rooms, really nice from the point of view of architecture and decoration: high ceilings, chandeliers, paintings and prints are blended with the arched windows. As for the food, everything is extremely fresh and genuine. A tip: abandon your diet for a few days and enjoy a traditional british breakfast with mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs, bacon and sausage.
3 things to do in London when based on The Kingsley
It depends on you and your passions, but I can recommend 3 destinations that you can visit taking a short walk from The Kingsley.
The British Museum: it is free and literally around the corner (300 meters)! Whether it’s for your kids to enjoy the Rosetta stone or Greeks, Romans or Egyptians, or it is just for you to get back at one of the most famous museums in the world, the brief walk is worth!
Along the way to the British Museum you can make a stop at London Review Bookshop (14-16 Bury Pl, Bloomsbury, London WC1A 2JL) that will make happy book-lovers of any age (on the lower level there is a good section dedicated to children’s books!).
If you love shopping, Covent Garden is just 750 meters! I suggest you access to James Street, where you will find many beauty giants as MAC and Charlotte Tilbury (if you’re a beauty addicted you can’t miss them!) to get right on the square where you will find Deciem (a super cool and modern beauty store with mainly Canadians products, of which I will tell you soon in a dedicated blogpost as I made a beauty shopping dedicated to The Ordinary). In Covent Garden there is everything: you can shop, dine, entertain with street performers and possibly visit the London Transport Museum.
Where to eat?
The hotel area is served by many restaurants but, if you are tired, a good option is the restaurant on the ground floor at The Kingsley which offers à la carte menu or a 2 or 3-course set menu.
Thistle Bloomsbury The Kingsley
Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2SD
T: + 44 (0) 207 0800 330 8553/523 5059
