Mr & Mrs Smith

The Kensington Hotel London

London, United Kingdom

Situated in beautiful townhouse, just off London’s Old Brompton Road, The Kensington Hotel London is a relaxing spot in which to escape the bustle of SW7’s museum land. Style is taken incredibly seriously here, and everything from its handpicked furniture to the light installations that dominate its communal areas ticks 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 Double rooms from $227.15 (£145), excluding tax at 20 per cent.
  Prices have been converted from the hotel's local currency (£145), via XE.com, using today's exchange rate.
• More details Continental breakfast is an additional £15 a person.
• 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.
• Check-out Midday, though this is flexible subject to availability; earliest check-in, 2pm.
• 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.

Food and drink at The Kensington Hotel London

• 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.

The Kensington Hotel London 109-113 Queen's Gate, South Kensington, London, SW7 5LR