Our family of 5 stayed at 51 Buckingham Gate in August 2009 and we were extremely pleased with everything about the hotel.
When we first pulled up, we were taken by the hotel’s beauty, but a bit nervous as to what type of reception we might get in the lobby… we were traveling with 3 children and lots of luggage and had arrived much too early for check-in.
The hotel staff could not have been more pleasant and helpful. They greeted all of us cheerfully into the cozy lobby, stowed our bags and proceeded to tell my husband about an error that had been made on our reservation.
I ushered the kids outside to explore the fountain and courtyard.
When I returned, I learned that the error lead to a very, very pleasant surprise. Due to mistake on the hotel’s part, we had been booked in a junior suite. Upon arrival, they moved us to a 2 bedroom apartment to better accommodate the number in our family, yet still charged us the junior suite rate we had been quoted.
This was almost as good as winning the lottery!
Here’s a quick tour of our apartment in London:
View from the inside of our entryway (and a bit of our mess.)
Kids’ bedroom (We put all 3 in there and they were quite pleased.)
Grown-ups’ bedroom:
Living room:
Dining area off living room:
Eat in kitchen with washer/dryer:
Part of the bathroom
We were overjoyed by all the space and comfort! Plus we were met with a bowl of fresh fruit and flowers. Aaaah!
We weren’t able to check in to the room right away, though, so we took some advice on what to explore and began our London adventure.
When we returned, we were shown to our apartment and all of its amenities. Every tiny detail was met and exceeded by this hotel. Lots of space, wonderful toiletries, helpful staff… they set us up with a picnic blanket on our first evening at a moment’s notice and even had a tiny bathrobe for our three-year old!
One evening we cooked dinner using the kitchen (and it was stocked with all the pots, pans and tools we needed), adding a few extra details from room-service. This was the best of both worlds! (And someone else did the dishes in the morning!!)
Its location was excellent… just a few steps from Buckingham Palace and a short walk to many other top sight-seeing spots. Plus, it was tucked away and very discrete, so we felt a little more like locals than tourists.
The staff was extremely accommodating in helping us plan family outings, a date night with my husband (complete with fantastic dinner reservations and show tickets), acquiring a highly sought-after ticket for a football match, and just answering my (many) questions. The hotel maintains a borrowing library of DVDs, and has a spa and workout facility that looked quite tempting, but I was unable to fit a visit into our short stay.
This hotel was amazing. And what an amazing gift to enjoy it at a much-reduced rate! I hope to get to return sometime… My husband checked into the rates for a smaller room for a potential grown-up getaway.
One last peek at the hotel’s lobby as we walked out:
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