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The Kensington Hotel
- Style
- Fit for a Queen (’s Gate)
- Setting
- Sumptuous South Ken
Situated in beautiful townhouse, just off London’s Old Brompton Road, the Kensington Hotel is a relaxing spot in which to escape the bustle of SW7’s museum land. It ticks all the right fashion-magazine boxes and it’s incredibly spacious – even the smallest rooms feel positively suite-like.
Need to know
- Rooms
- 150, including 20 suites.
- Rates
- £350–£540, not including taxes. Continental breakfast is an additional £15 a person.
- Check-out
- Midday, though this is flexible subject to availability; earliest check-in, 2pm.
- Facilities
- Gym, CD/DVD library, free WiFi, laundry service, valet parking. In rooms: flatscreen TVs, minibar, air-conditioning, free bottled water, CD/DVD players on request, Temple Spa toiletries, Nespresso machines in some rooms.
- Poolside
- There is no swimming pool at the Kensington Hotel.
- Children
- Kids are welcome at the hotel, and baby cots are provided free of charge. Extra beds can be put into rooms for £20 a night, babysitting is available for £10.50 an hour (plus £25 booking fee) and there’s a children’s menu in the Aubrey restaurant.
- Also
- Smokers will be pleased to hear that lighting up is allowed in some of the bedrooms.
In the know
- Our favourite rooms
- We love Asian-inspired Studio Suite 115, mainly for its uplifting yellow, purple and blue colour scheme. It comes with gold-coloured hardwood floors, light-flooding windows and an enormous bathroom with double sinks and a TV built into the end of the bath. We also like the huge Corner Suite 123, with its green velvet chairs and access to a terrace, and high-ceilinged Standard Room 121, which comes with bold red flower-patterned curtains and matching satin pillows.
- Packing tips
- When the downstairs nightclub opens, you’ll need to pack some serious party clothes – the royal-rubbing Boujis crowd around the corner are sure to make this their second (or third) home.
- Also
- The huge brass doors in the Aubrey Bar have been taken from Dublin’s General Post Office, scene of the infamous 1916 Easter Rising. Keep an eye out for bullet holes.
Food & drink
- Hotel restaurant
- The Aubrey Restaurant is where chef Russell Ford serves up wonderful English cuisine – peppered sirloin steak, roasted lemon-and-thyme chicken, and rhubarb and apple crumble – to a food-savvy crowd. Diners sit on green leather chairs at round wooden tables, and are free to move from the dining room into the bar whenever they feel. The atmosphere is casual.
- Dress code
- Comfortable, low-level glamour.
- Top table
- Try to secure one of the long, leather banquettes for genuine comfort eating.
- Last orders
- The Aubrey Restaurant stops taking orders at 10pm; the Aubrey Bar carries on serving till midnight.
- Room service
- Sandwiches, burgers, salads and other light dishes – and, of course, drinks – are available 24 hours a day.
- Hotel bar
- With its wood-panelled walls, six gorgeous glass teardrop chandeliers and enormous brass doors, the Aubrey Bar has a wonderful step-back-in-time feel. Sink back into one of the comfy dark-purple couches and send waiters scurrying to and from the mosaic-covered, semi-circular bar to bring you selections from the extensive cocktail menu. We recommend the Queen’s Gate Garden.
Smith card offer 20 per cent off the Aubrey restaurant and bar
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Smith concierge
If you'd prefer to talk to someone, or don't want to book online, call our travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee you’ll get the best available rates, and we don’t charge a booking fee.
Local restaurants
Good options near the hotel include the bistros at The Pelham or The Gore; French restaurant Aubaine at 262 Brompton Road (+44 (0)20 7052 0100); and, for excellent Iberian tapas, Casa Brindisa at 7–9 Exhibition Road (+44 (0)20 7590 0008).
Local bars
Have a few drinks before dining at Bluebird Restaurant and Bar on the King's Road (+44 (0)20 7559 1000).
Local cafes
It's probably a little bit insulting to call Tom's Kitchen on Cale Street (+44 (0)20 7349 0202) a café, but this bar and brasserie is a mighty fine place for a long, late weekend brunch or lunch. The Hummingbird Bakery and its tempting array of pastel-iced cupcakes and sweet delights is just around the corner on Old Brompton Road. Hang out there while Mr Smith gawps at Lamborghinis in the showroom on the corner.
Nightlife
Kensington’s infamous Boujis nightclub (much loved by Princes William and Harry) is steps away at 43 Thurloe Street.
Worth getting out of bed for
Here in South Kensington, you're close to the Royal Albert Hall, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the wonderful V&A, as well as Kensington Palace and Hyde Park (where you can also visit the Serpentine Gallery). There's swanky shopping galore, too, with Knightsbridge and Kensington High Street nearby – so you can get Harrods ticked off your shopping-to-do list. It's only a short Tube ride into the centre of London, if you want to catch a show in the West End or explore Covent Garden's boutiques and markets.
