REVIEW | Montcalm Royal London House – City of London

Inspired by the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest, we travelled by train to England in March. Combining ESC host city Liverpool with the industrial heritage of Manchester. Manchester to Liverpool was also the first steam railway line ever. A perfect pretext to travel to The North.

We ended our trip with a final night in London before catching the Eurostar back home the next day. As there is almost too much choice of hotels in London we selected what seemed to us a good deal for a 5 star hotel with club lounge at the Montcalm Royal London House. After a previous experience with Montcalm at the Brewery near Barbican a few years back we thought we would be in for a treat.

After alighting from the Underground at Moorgate we made the short walk to Finsbury Place where the hotel was located in a quiet corner.

The exterior didn’t look very extraordinary but fit in well to its surroundings. Upon entering however we were immediately struck by how loud and busy the hotel was. The bar at the front was overfilled with loud drinking guests while a loud private party was being held in the room at the back of the hotel. It’s not quite the calm and serene reception you would expect at a 5-star hotel.

The check-in counter was located in the corridor between the front and the rear of the hotel and was quite cramped. Luckily we were swiftly checked-in and received our room’s keys. Here the agent tried to upsell us the full English breakfast buffet despite having club lounge access, combined with her mentioning the opening hours for evening drinks this should have given us a clue that the lounge wasn’t overwhelming.

Our room was located on the 4^th floor at the back of the hotel. It wasn’t very special but it was certainly good. There were two beds pushed against each other with buttons and plugs at each side, however no USB plugs here (in my opinion a missed opportunity). The bed was very comfortable and provided us with a good night’s sleep. The room also featured a relaxing chair and a separate desk with desk chair. There was a big TV mounted against the wall above the desk.

In the room a complimentary bottle of water was provided as well as coffee and tea facilities, which even included two different types of biscuits. The heating and lights could also be controlled via a tablet built into the wall, which unfortunately gave off a lot of light in the room, so a completely dark room was not an option.

The bathroom was rather small but had an excellent shower, which didn’t flood the room. The floor heating was a nice bonus, keeping yopur feet nice and toasty. They still provided individual toiletries of the well-known Elemis brand.

In the room there where slippers but no bathrobes, as you were required to go to the pool wearing your bathing suit, slippers and bathrobe, we were required to request them. If you expect your guests going to the pool wearing bathrobes, you should at least provide them in the room. It reminded us a lot of our experience in Crowne Plaza Belgrade.

The pool itself was located in the basement adjacent to the gym. As a hotel guest you only had limited time to use the pool for free and you had to book a time slot in advance. This remnant of COVID-19 was slightly annoying but at least provided us with some quiet alone time in the pool.

The pool was nice and warm and provided some contra flow sprays in the pool to swim you laps. The jacuzzi was also nice and warm and there were plenty of loungers alongside the pool area. What was peculiar however was that while you had to sign in and out at a manned desk they didn’t provide you with towels, not where there towels available anywhere in the pool area. Not very 5-star like.

One of the main reasons we booked this hotel was besides the availability of a pool that there was a club lounge. As I was thirsty after arriving I felt like having a cold refreshing coke before heading out into the city. Of course having booked a club room with club access we assumed we could just have a drink in the lounge. We weren’t very successful in locating the lounge at first as it wasn’t indicated anywhere.

We asked one of the bellboys where it was and he kindly showed us. It was located behind a sort of foldable wall along the main corridor opposite reception, providing for a rather dark room with no views.

As we tried to enter to grab a drink there was immediately a manager sprinting towards us inquiring what where planning to do and whether we had lounge access. After which he told us the lounge was closed and would only open for evening drinks at 17:30.

This all felt very much like a principal telling his pupils off. It would have been much better if they just put out a sign saying where the lounge was and what it’s opening hours where or given us an explicatory letter at check-in as we had no clue how the lounge worked here. Every other lounge at every other hotel I had been always allowed its guests to come in all day for refreshments so not being able to grab a drink during the day felt really stingy from the hotel.

When we entered at 17:30 (not a minute earlier or the principal would come and tell you off!!) we were handed a single page menu from which we could select some drinks and small bites. This was a really meagre offering and we expected much more from our previous Montcalm experience. The club lounge was really quiet, but we also understood why, it wasn’t worth bothering to come here. The staff where very friendly and came around offering refills all the time but for a club lounge it still was a very poor offering.

In the morning the breakfast offering was much better than the evening offering and offered a good continental offering with some charcuterie, toast, viennoiserie, fruits and yoghurts. No made to order hot items, but that’s okay, a continental breakfast was more than enough after a week of full English.

All in all we were anything but impressed by our experience at Montcalm Royal London House. The consensus we head the first evening was “Luckily it’s only 1 night” which says it all really.

We will not be returning to a Montcalm property after this subpar experience, London has much better hotels on offer.