Central location, quality rooms and a beautiful, historic building. (Royal Horseguards Thistle)

Member Name: Densiegirl

Product:	Royal Horseguards Thistle
Date:	27/03/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A wonderful location providing quality accomodation, we couldn't really fault it.

Disadvantages: Not the cheapest, but you are getting what you pay for.

We recently stayed at this hotel for 3 nights. We paid the bulk of it with Tesco vouchers - every £10 of vouchers gives you £40 in hotel vouchers. This is not the cheapest hotel about but you do get what you pay for! As we were using our vouchers we decided to spoil ourselves.

The hotel is built in the style of a French Chateau and is a grade 1 listed building. It is in the Whitehall district and is a very historic building. The rooms have been recently modernised, but still have a lovely old feel to them whilst providing all mod cons.

We arrived at 10.30am as we had taken an early morning flight down and went to leave our luggage at the hotel until we could check in. We were delighted to be told that they had upgraded us to a king bed and had a room ready, but if we wanted a view it would be a bit extra and we would have to wait for a room to be ready. As we had plans for each evening we decided we did not need a view.

We were taken up to our room through marble corridors and were delighted with the room. It was very spacious - especially compared to previous rooms we have had in London. The quality of all the furniture and fittings was very high.

Our bed was about 7 foot wide, bigger than our superking at home. We had two leather chairs and a large footstool, flatscreen tv, minibar, robes, slippers, plenty storage space, iron, ironing board, hairdryer, tea/coffee making facilities and even an umbrella to use if we needed it. There was also an i-pod docking station which was lovely and also played into the ensuite, which was well equiped with all the usual toiletries, mending kit etc and a large shower with flat screen tv and heated floor.

We were not disturbed by any noise throughout our stay and thought the location was fantastic. We were going to a concert at the O2 and this was easy to get to as the Westminster tube station was only a 5 minute walk away and takes you directly to the 02. The Embankment tube station was a 2 minute walk away and great if you wanted to use the Bakerloo, District, Circle or Northern lines.

The hotel overlooks the Thames and is directly opposite the London Eye, so also provides a lovely walk back at night with everything lit up. It is only a 5-10 minute walk to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and to the riverboat cruises and just a walk accross the bridge to the London Eye.

Breakfast was buffet style, but tea/coffee and - a big plus in my eyes - toast was served to your table - I hate the toasting machines used in most hotels now! The quality was very good and we found all the staff in the hotel very efficient and helpful.

We would certainly stay here again, especially if able to get a special offer, although it is worth paying a bit extra for. I would especially recommend this for visitors from other countries who want a great location combined with a real sense of experiencing a piece of history. It does have a feeling of staying at a private club, which at one time it was.

Summary: A beautiful building that has been very well modernised whilst retaining a real sense of its history