Hotel Cafe Royal

London has no dearth of options when you are booking a hotel as a first time traveller. My wife pored over the internet to find the property that suits us and we ended up at Cafe Royal. The location is brilliant. Right in the heart of shopping, restaurants and the hustle & bustle of a big city. Well connected and close to many popular landmarks. And the service lives up to location. Breakfast was a pleasant affair every morning. The afternoon tea room was stunning and the food was delectable. Again top notch service there. Room service was great and their spa has a nice indoor pool. Everyone from the reception to the doorman are warm and welcoming. We would love to stay here again on our next visit to the city.

We had an extensive stay at the hotel (12 nights), and it was overall a good experience: location is everything, spa is quite nice. What left a bitter aftertaste is after we had stayed for 12 nights, our request for a late checkout (just an hour so we can check out at 1pm vs noon) was not granted. After we spoke with 3 receptionists, the hotel finally extended our checkout time to 12:30. Understandably the hotel might be heavily booked. But given the check-in time doesn’t start until 3pm + not all rooms can be cleaned all at once + we just stayed for ~2 weeks and need a bit more time to pack, not willing to accommodate for an 1-hour late checkout feels overly stringent.