The Crowne Plaza London Kensington is one of the few hotels I stayed at multiple times, once with Timothy and once with my sister. It’s a modern and comfortable hotel located in some old townhouses giving it a more intimate atmosphere. The location is also superb. It’s situated in Kensington so a bit calmer than the centre of London, but located on a walking distance from the Kensington museums, Harrods and Kensington palace. Thanks to its proximity to Gloucester Road tube station you can enjoy an excellent connectivity to all parts of London on the Circle, District and Piccadilly lines, the latter even providing direct connections to Saint Pancras International station and Heathrow airport for international arrivals and departures

When you enter the hotel you are immediately greeted by the very friendly and efficient staff, The lobby is designed in a contemporary style, with an open stair downstairs to the meeting rooms, a nice seating area towards the garden and the club lounge running along the left side of the building. As far as facilities are concerned there isn’t much to report as it is a relatively small city centre hotel with the basics like a fitness area and a business centre.

The room

The first stay we had a room facing the road, which gave us some road noise inside, the second time we received a room facing the beautiful interior garden providing for a much quieter surrounding. The room itself is quite spacious for London standards, decorated in the current Crowne Plaza styling. The beds are comfortable and you can find all sorts of power sockets all over the room, UK-style, EU-style and USB. The TV offers a possibility to stream your phone data onto the screen, but this didn’t work as seamlessly as hoped.  The bathroom on the other hand was relatively cramped, but with all the amenities you would expect from a Crowne Plaza property.

The club-lounge

The club-lounge is located on the ground floor and is separated from the main lobby with a glass wall and doors which you can open with your room key. The lounge is divided in a food area with some chairs and tables, a sitting area with some comfortable coaches and 2 working areas with computers at the outside windows. In the morning there was a breakfast buffet with warm and cold options, so you could create your own English breakfast. Throughout the day you had access to non-alcoholic drinks and some fruit and cookies. In the evening there was an open bar with a selection of alcoholic beverages as well as some hot and cold snacks to nibble on, however out of all club lounges I have visited so far, the evening offer was the least interesting I’ve had.

All in all the hotel has a solid product with friendly staff and an excellent location, so for a next visit to London it certainly is worth considering.