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Home / Type of trip / City / Room report: Royal Garden Hotel

Room report: Royal Garden Hotel

October 4, 2014 by Gretta Schifano 8 Comments

View of Kensington Palace from our hotel room. Copyright Gretta Schifano

View of Kensington Palace from our hotel room. Copyright Gretta Schifano

The Royal Garden Hotel

The Royal Garden Hotel is a five star luxury hotel in London’s Kensington, right next to Kensington Gardens. I stayed at the hotel recently and shared a twin room with fellow blogger Grace from Eats Amazing.

MAD blog awards

We were at the hotel for the 2014 MAD (it stands for Mums and Dads) Blog Awards. We both took part in a flash mob dance (a very scary experience for me – I was hoodwinked into taking part!) during the evening awards ceremony and we had a busy afternoon rehearsing and preparing for the event. For the awards last year I stayed in a Premier Inn nearby, which was fine but this time it was great to have a luxurious room in the hotel and somewhere to get ready properly without leaving the building.

Arrival

Grace kindly booked the hotel online and emailed me the booking confirmation. The hotel was easy for me to get to. I took a bus there from Victoria Station – the bus stop’s just across the road on Kensington High Street. Check-in was from 2pm but when I arrived just after midday to drop off my luggage the very helpful lady at the front desk told me that the room was ready and I could check-in and go up there straight away.

Check-in

The check-in process was very simple, even though Grace hadn’t arrived yet. I was given a key card and a wifi code and went up in the lift to our room on the fourth floor.

Room

The room felt spacious, luxurious and welcoming and looked out across Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace, the current London home of Prince George and his parents. The furniture and decor were contemporary and soothing in shades of brown and beige. The bed linen was all white offset by a deep red throw at the foot of each bed. There was also a wardrobe with plenty of hanging space, a comfortable sofa and armchair, a low table, a desk, a minibar, a large TV and, hurrah, an alcove with tea and coffee making things – there was even some decaffeinated coffee there too. The room was air-conditioned and felt too cold when I arrived but I adjusted the control and it quickly became more comfortable.

Twin room, Royal Garden Hotel, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Twin room, Royal Garden Hotel, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Bathroom

The en-suite bathroom was all tasteful, beige tiles and white fixtures and fluffy towels and robes and had everything that I needed. The large, walk-in power shower was great and the deliciously scented toiletries were by venerable London perfumier Penhaligon’s.

Bathroom, Royal Garden Hotel. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Bathroom, Royal Garden Hotel. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Breakfast

We ate a very good breakfast in the hotel’s Park Terrace Restaurant overlooking Kensington Gardens. Luckily we arrived just before breakfast service ended otherwise I may have eaten far too much. As it was I had a bowl of fresh fruit and then some scrambled eggs and mushrooms washed down with a decaff cappuccino and some grapefruit juice. And it would have been rude not to try the pastries. And the wholemeal toast with butter and marmalade was delivered to our table anyway. After all of that deliciousness I didn’t feel hungry until the evening.

Children

I think that this would be a good place for families to stay in London and I’m sure that my kids would love staying here. There are family rooms and interconnecting rooms available, cots and highchairs can be provided and there are children’s menus in the restaurant. The hotel website says that children are welcome throughout the hotel. All of the hotel staff that I met were unfailingly polite and helpful.

Location

The hotel is in a wonderful London location for visiting families. Kensington is one of the wealthiest areas in London and is home to some world-class family-friendly museums including the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. Kensington Gardens is just a minute’s walk from the hotel entrance and is a great place to take kids. Within Kensington Gardens is Kensington Palace (you can read about our recent tour of Kensington Palace here) and the Diana Memorial playground which is a fantastic, free play area with a huge pirate ship at its centre. High Street Kensington underground station is just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel.

Kensington palace. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Kensington palace. Copyright Gretta Schifano

London

If you’d like some ideas for family activities in London you can read my autumn and summer posts on things to do with kids in the city.

Verdict

I enjoyed my trip to the Royal Garden Hotel and would definitely recommend it as a great place to stay in London, with or without children. The only disappointment was that the hotel’s Health Club was closed for refurbishment when I was there – I’ll just have to go back and check it out when it reopens!

The lowdown

The twin room which I stayed in at the Royal Garden Hotel cost £230 for one night including breakfast and wifi.



Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Tots 100. All opinions are my own, as ever.

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Related

Categories: City, London, Luxury, Room reports
Tags: five star hotels, Kensington, Luxury hotels, Royal Garden Hotel

About Gretta Schifano

I'm a freelance journalist and blogger specialising in family travel with teenagers, trips when parents manage to travel without their kids, and 50+ travel. I also write about vegetarian travel, parenting teenagers, adoption, SEN, ADHD and anxiety. My work's been published by the Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, National Geographic Traveller, Lonely Planet and others. I've lived and worked in Italy and Spain and am now based in rural south-east England with my husband, adoptive and birth kids and our dog. I previously worked as a social action radio producer for the BBC.

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Comments

  1. Mark Frary says

    November 12, 2014 at 11:03 pm

    I have always loved the location and views of this hotel. It’s perfect for the Lady Diana playground and the views are great from the upper floors.

    Reply
  2. Globalmouse says

    November 10, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    Wow what an amazing looking hotel – love that it’s so close to Kensington Palace, that park is one of my favourites.
    Globalmouse recently posted…Sketchley Grange Hotel and Spa, LeicestershireMy Profile

    Reply
  3. Sarah Ebner says

    November 8, 2014 at 5:38 pm

    Sounds lovely, especially the breakfast and the interconnecting rooms…..
    Sarah Ebner recently posted…Our Dream Destinations – Where Robert and Jess Would Love to Visit!My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      November 9, 2014 at 11:32 pm

      It’s all very swish and it’s in a great spot.

      Reply
  4. Mari says

    November 5, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    Ouch at that price but wowzers for the view! I’m a huge fan of Diana and have yet to visit Kensington Palace so it would have been a dream come true to see that view
    Mari recently posted…Mexico: My dream destination #Flying100My Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      November 7, 2014 at 8:38 am

      It’s in a great location for Kensington Palace and I think that you’d find the palace a fascinating place to visit if you’re interested in Diana.

      Reply
  5. Trish - Mum's Gone To says

    October 8, 2014 at 2:35 pm

    Looks a bit pricey but room and bathroom seem spacious and decor pleasing to the eye – the difference a bright throw can make to a neutral room.
    I love Kensington as a location for a London trip.
    Trish – Mum’s Gone To recently posted…Castles, cows and cascadesMy Profile

    Reply
    • Gretta Schifano says

      October 9, 2014 at 9:50 pm

      You’re right, the room and bathroom were spacious. I really liked the view across Kensington Gardens – so leafy and green.

      Reply

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This is a personal blog written and edited by me, Gretta Schifano. Sometimes I’m given products or sent on trips to review, but I always make this clear and give my honest opinion. See my About page for full details.

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