Central, upscale London area
 

A coworker of mine wants to take his family to London for the first time and wants to know a good area to stay in. I was in London once and stayed in the Bayswater area. I enjoyed it, but he is a partner at the law firm so I know he is looking for a more central, upscale location and hotel. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Claridges on Brook Street in Mayfair is nice - DH and I enjoyed it because of the history abd tradition.

For a whole area of expensive hotels please try Park Lane and Mayfair. For single palatial hotels Claridges, the Savoy, and others I forget: they are not in my world.

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For upscale, atmospheric and central, then gualalalisa's suggestion of Claridges is perfect - old world, art deco, impeccable service, comes at a price.

Just goes to show that being a partner in a law firm has absolutely nothing to do with attributes such as value and good taste. I suggest you defer the travel arrangements to his probably poorly-paid secretary.

Intrepid - if you were a highly paid lawyer, then what would you care about "value"

and what would you regard as "good taste"? I'd love to hear it

Thanks for the suggestions! Intrepid, I'm actually the secretary and am going to Italy next week for the third time this year, so I'm obviously not doing so bad! Anyway, I just assumed he would want something nicer for his family than where I stayed. My words, not his. So what's wrong with that? Thanks to the others for their helpful suggestions.

Intrepid: I know I live in the country here in Gualala but what exactly about Claridges is in poor taste?

We found the decor to be somewhat understated - not frilly or four-frou.The service was excellent, the food outstanding (I believe the restaurant is considered on of the top in London) and the people were friendly.

As for value, my late father always used to say "Hon, you get what you pay for" and I have no complaints at all about Claridges.

Dori - my husband (boyfriend at the time) have been to London twice and both times we stayed in the St. James/Westminster area at the St. James Crowne Plaza (http://www.london.crowneplaza.com/). You are 5 minutes from Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster, Parliament and around the corner from Victoria Station which easily connects you to all the main tube lines in London. This is our favorite area in London - especially if you want to see the sights. We walked everywhere from here - even to Trafalgar Square. The hotel is now one of the hottest in London and has 2 great restaurants, one of the best bars in Europe and wonderful amenities. good luck!

Dori,

My family and I stayed at Brown's Hotel in Mayfair for a week in July. We found it within walking distance to most of the major sights, and very close to the Green Park tube. We had reserved the "family room",which consisted of a master bedroom with king bed, another bedroom with two twins, and two bathrooms located at the end of the master bedroom. The beds were as comfortable as the heavenly beds at the Westin Hotels here in the U.S., and the bathrooms were stocked with every amenity from Aveda products to oversized plush bathrobes. All this cost us only $525/night, which seemed like a steal.

The hotel comes straight out of an English novel. You have the feeling of staying at the home of a moneyed but not at all ostentious English aunt. Everything is refined, but slightly worn around the edges. That being said, the service, location, and welcome were outstanding. Oh, and I almost forgot. There's an excellent, though small health club on premises, stocked with fresh juices, and bottles of water for guests to take after their workouts.

My only word of caution would be to skip breakfast. It defined the word "stuffy" in every way. Otherwise, this hotel really lived up to it's excellent reputation.

South Kensington is a nice area -- central, residential and charming, and close to many visitor's sites, including all the museums on Exhibition Rd. which are great for kids. We recently stayed at the Cranley, and it was absolutely lovely -- but my husband and I like smaller boutique hotels over the biggies. Ask your coworker what type of hotel he prefers. The Cranley's is probably a bit less expensive than some of the other options mentioned, making it better if he wants to get a separate room for the kids.

Lanesborough - "quite simply the best hotel in London' according to a recent survey!

Weadles : Prithee tell. What about the stuffy breakfast ?

Mathieu,

Since you asked... The tuxedoed maitre d wasn't sure he could seat us without a reservation (although the restaurant was mostly empty) and then magically decided to bring us to a table at the window.

A waitress appeared, offering menus, but politely suggesting because of the late hour ( 10AM?) that we avail ourselves of the buffet. We attempted to do this, but the utensils were Barbie-sized, and made it impossible to get anything onto your plate without it falling onto the floor.

After three attempts at getting pancakes onto his plate with a tiny polished silver fork that would have been perfect for stabbing shrimp, but wasn't so great for pancakes, and one attempt at picking up the ones that had fallen on the floor, my 12-year-old dissolved in giggles. His sister and I soon followed his lead.

The maitre d appeared, and actually took my hand and led us back to the table! Then he asked very sternly if we wouldn't like to order something off the menu instead.

I asked for the check.

I must admit I was at Brown's one day for tea when two women came in with three children. They were told there was no room for them so they left. We then watched a number of adult groups without reservations get seated. I think Brown's really doesn't like children.

Dori,

Consider the Marriott County Hall: very nice, upscale, modern hotel located alongside the Thames next to the London Eye and walking distance to Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. James's Park.

Mayfair is a good, central and upscale area too. The Chesterfield Mayfair is a 4 star hotel in a good location in Mayfair. Of course, the Ritz is at the top of the heap in this neighborhood, but there is also a large, modern Holiday Inn in Mayfair, which has more moderate rooms, just up the street from the Ritz.

Not sure what configuration of room(s) your coworker wants or needs. The Marriott and Holiday Inn probably have more large rooms--the Chesterfield's rooms are smaller. All these hotels are airconditioned, have modern bath facilities, and have other features that you would expect in a big city hotel (but will not always get in London)

Dave White
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Patrick,

Thanks for the confirmation of what I thought all along. For a hotel that caters to many American families, they should really change their tune.

Dori,
Dukes hotel cannot be beat for location and service. On a quiet side street in the St. James neighborhood. Also reviewed on Fodor's. Your friend and his family WILL NOT be disappointed. Double rooms are about 20 euro. Junior suites and suites also available.
www.dukeshotel.co.uk

Correction: doubles about 250 euro! (sorry)

I'm not sure whether you're looking for a "money is no object"-kind of upscale hotel or a 4-5* bargain kind of hotel. I can afford the latter sometimes, and my suggestions are below.

I lived in London last year, a little north and east of Mayfair. I loved the neighbourhood because I could walk everywhere - sights, shopping, restaurants, nightlife. So I second others' recommendations for Mayfair, or the neighbourhoods a little north and/or east of Mayfair. Kensington/ Chelsea/Belgravia can also be quite posh, but it's a long way away from theatres, many clubs, etc, whereas Mayfair is between Kensington museums and Soho, beside Hyde Park. You can get some great hotel rates for 4-5* hotels on some of the discount booking sites, including cheaprooms.com and superbreak.co.uk. I got a 118 pound (tax and brk included) rate at the Meridien Grosvenor House, and can highly recommend the hotel. It's standard rooms are maybe half a notch down from Claridges, but still a 5 star hotel, and the prices are better. I also once got a great rate at the 4* Westbury Mayfair (closer to Soho), right on the poshest shopping street in London (New Bond) - about 80 pounds. Some people are fans of the Hilton Park Lane, but I haven't stayed there and my experience with London Hiltons is that they're a bit shabby.

I'd recommend against staying right in the heart of Soho - there's almost too much in terms of sound, light, people, nightlife, buzz. The Sanderson is an example of a hotel in this neighbourhood. It's an Ian Schrager hotel, all uber-cool and minimalist, but I'm not sure it's worth the price.

Instead, stay within a 5 minute walk, but closer to the parks (ie Claridges, Grosvenor House, Westbury Mayfair). Another possibility is the Langham (close to Regent's Park), a little north of my other recommendations. It might be too expensive for what you get.

Finally, a lesser-known but very trendy option is the Charlotte Street Hotel. This is on the other side of Soho, near Bloomsbury, on a street full of good restaurants and nightlife. You can do some further research on tripadvisor.com, which will link you to all sorts of reviews.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'm forwarding them on.

Try Royal Horseguards on Whitehall.

You may want to consider an upscale serviced apartment in the Mayfair area. A suggestion is the Greengarden House.

Brown's had pancakes for breakfast??