Review: The Stafford Hotel London

  • 21 March 2012 |

De 2nd hotel which Few visited during the London press trip was the The Stafford Hotel London.Stafford maybe doesn’t ring a bell, but Kempinsky surely does. This city phenomenon is situated in the heart of the St. James district. The Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Regent Street are all within walking distance.

Our research prior to the visit is not Few worthy. We know that the hotel is beautiful, but we’re not sure what the exact state of the hotel will be. We’re even slightly brought off guard by our taxi driver, as he has no idea what the Kempinsky hotel is. The hotel is referred as The Stafford by the locals. When the misunderstanding is out of our way, the driver ensures that this is one of the most leading hotels of the city. Not one of our most moments of glory, but no matter because: we’re on our way.

Once arrived at the hotel, we’re not immediately impressed by the appearance of its entrance. As the hotel is only to reach via a small dead end alley, it feels at bit tucked away. We have to admit, the façade is beautiful, but it’s not extremely visible at first. No border, it’s just a small detail, we think.

The Stafford consists of three separate buildings. The first and eldest one is where the entrance is to be found. The rooms within this building are decorated in a more serious and classical, English style. As are the lobby, restaurant and café. This is nice, but not really in the style Few adores. We are and want design. Fortunately our prayers are being answered, on the backside of the hotel two more building rise up.

Above you’ll find the courtyard which can be reached when you cross the hotel until the backside. On the left you’ll find ancient stables, which are transformed into big multi person suites. These also have a classic interior, so Few will not be staying here tonight. We enter on the rightside of the building, known as the design part of the hotel.

The room Few stays in is still classic, but also more design than we’ve imagined. This clearly doesn’t do unright to the term design. The whole room is neatly finished, with multiple details to enhance the feeling such as a weird formed aluminum vase, we found on our table. Still the slightly corny lamps we can’t let go of the classical fibe, the hotel gives us. It’s not disturbing, but just not the style of Few vs Many.

The one thing that’s missing within the story is food. We haven’t gotten any dinner there, but breakfast we did. As a large buffet is not really our thing, we can appreciate a small menu of which the food is prepared fresly. Gladly the Stafford is such a place. Salmon with scrambled eggs, croissants and chocolatebreads with orange juice. Not to forget the English Breakfast tea. Lovely and well prepared powerfood. This is essential for a long day of London, which lies ahead of us.

The room was quite… surprising. Not really what we had expected. Quite beautiful, that’s for sure, but just not our thing.

Price: starting from £ 200,- a night
More information: Website The Stafford Londen By Kempinski
Tripadvisor link
Google maps link

Zonder Eurostar waren we nooit in Londen terecht gekomen. Tenminste, niet op zo’n fijne manier. Treinen vanuit Utrecht/Amsterdam duurt in totaal net iets langer dan 4 uur maar is, helemaal wanneer je businessclass zit een verademing. Heerlijk relaxed en geen gestress waar je op het vliegveld last van hebt. Perfect! Eurostar biedt 3 reisklassen aan om in alle comfort naar het centrum van Londen te reizen. Tickets zijn beschikbaar vanaf € 50 enkel en € 99 retour in Standard Class en vanaf € 112 enkel en € 199 retour in Standard Premier

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