Summer 2023, my boyfriend Sam wanted to go back to London to visit some more of the city. We decided to tag on a visit to Bath to explore a bit more of the United Kingdom.

After our night in Bath we returned back to London for the remainder of our UK stay. We would be staying two nights at the Novotel London Canary Wharf. I selected this hotel on a price-quality ratio. Thanks to the new Elizabeth Line it is easy and fast to get around London from Canary Wharf, but it’s slightly further out of town location meant a lower price and the new building also had an indoor swimming pool as an added bonus.

We received a room on the 21^st floor overlooking the city of London in the distance with landmarks like the Shard and the Tower Bridge.

It was a small upgrade over the standard room we booked thanks to my ALL Gold status, luckily this time the hotel also only marketed it as a small upgrade which was much better in creating expectations.

The rest of the room was a standard Novotel room. I’m happy Novotel updated it’s room design nowadays as the previous one was getting dated. Thanks to providing a standard room design for all hotels, the design of the room was highly optimised (which is actually a good thing). There was a chaise-longue against the window, a double bed in the middle of the room and a desk opposite it with the TV above the desk.

Coffee and tea facilities where just a kettle with some tea bags and powdered coffee, which was a let-down for Sam. The minibar was also complimentary, but only contained two cans of water.

The bathroom had a window looking into the bedroom, you could choose between it being blinded or see-through using a button in the bathroom. It’s better than an open bathroom but I still don’t get why every bathroom needs to be able to see into the bedroom nowadays. The bathroom itself was of a nice design with plenty of storage space around the sink and a spacious walk-in rainforest shower. They used products of Rituals, Sam’s favourite brand so he was thrilled about that.

They had a pool next to the small and basic gym on the basement level. Towels where provided in the changing rooms. The pool was small but nice and there was also a sauna available.

In the morning breakfast was served in Bokan, the hotel restaurant on the 37^th floor. Strangely you had to go up to the 38^th floor by elevator to take the stairs down again one floor. The decoration of the restaurant was nicely done, with breathtaking views over the skyline of London.

The breakfast was in a buffet format with all standard items. I however missed a bit more choice in bread as there was only either sliced bread to toast or a baguette you could slice off. Made to order items where to be paid separately.

All in all the Novotel provided us with a solid stay, exactly what you would expect of a Novotel. It is a hotel where you can know in advance what you’ll get and they’ll deliver upon it.