Regency Hotel London

I arrived at Hotel Regency on a morning in September and to my delight I was informed that my room was ready already at about 10 am. The check in was fast and I was assigned to room 246. I took the elevator to the second floor but I was a bit surprised when I had to walk up another flight of stairs to get to my room and the hotel seemed to be a bit of a maze.

The room itself was not very impressive at first glance at least. There was a red carpet all over the room and the walls were painted in yellow. The window did not give much view as it was just facing a small “courtyard” (if you can call it that). The bed occupied most of the room but there was also just space for two chairs and a table, a work desk with a small CRT TV on it, a place to put a suitcase and a wardrobe with hangers and shelves. The first thing I started looking for in the room was the safe that you normally find in a hotel room but this hotel room did not have any. Nor did it have a mini fridge but I didn’t find this to be a problem as I hardly ever use it as prices are much higher than nearby grocery shops. There was no iron and ironing board either which was a bit annoying as the press for trousers seemed a bit useless.

The bed was a bit too hard for my liking and it seemed a bit old. There was an AC unit on the wall but we did not start that as it was not really hot at this time of the year – but the room did not seemed to have good ventilation as it got really stuffy at night and I guess the only solution is to open the window. It was also quite easy to hear noises in the hall and when the maids were cleaning the rooms in the morning we could hear all the activities.

The bathroom was tiled with white tiles on the walls and black/white tiles on the floor. The shower option was from a mounted shower head in the bathtub with a shower curtain which worked out pretty good. It took forever for the water to get warm but when it first did get hot it was piping hot. The amenities were not much to brag about - I just opened the shampoo to smell it and decided to use the ones that I had brought with me instead.
The hotel offers WiFi and it was 10 GBP for 24 hours use lasting up to 30 days. This is not bad at all and I was happy to sign up for this in order to be able to get access to the internet.

We had breakfast at the hotel and that was pretty simple but good. They had an offer of cereal, ham and cheese, some fruit, yogurt and juice and a selection of bread and buns. There was also an option for ordering a full English breakfast which included sausage, bacon, egg, beans etc.

The location of the hotel is just about 5 minutes walk from South Kensington underground station. This means that you can take the subway there directly from Heathrow airport by using the Piccadilly line. The station is also served by district and circle lines. The area was also nice as it included quite a few restaurants, a nearby grocery store, a good old pub etc.

Conclusion
Our room was not great in any way but I’m not sure what more you can expect from a London hotel. The location was very good as it was easy to get there from the airport and as it was easy to get around town on the subway from here. It would have been great to see some more amenities at the hotel (e.g. an iron and a safe but these are not critical factors. So I would not mind staying there again in the future if I go to London for a new trip. For 95£ I guess it was quite a bargain.