Finding affordable luxury in London can be hard because you are paying for the location as much the facilities. Most well known hotels cost between £350-500 on a weekend night with breakfast included. You might find some a little cheaper but the likelihood is they won’t include breakfast. Luckily I stumbled across the Grange Hotels, a range of hotels in central London that provide luxury at a much more affordable price.
We chose to stay at the Tower Bridge branch and couldn’t have been happier with our choice. This five star hotel is easy to find and located in the heart of London. You are only a stones throw away from Tower Bridge, Tower of London and St Katherine’s Dock with underground links a Tower Hill station. Upon arrival the hotel looms above the street but the decor at eye level makes this hotel feel anything but and the friendly welcome at reception reiterates thats. Check in is an easy process and our room is ready for us so we take the lift straight up to the sixth floor.
The door to our room is heavy but as soon as the key card is in the power slot the room lights up in an airy manner. This standard room is much bigger than I expected. I open every cupboard and switch on all the lights as I wander around. Even the bathroom doesn’t skimp on space and the shower looks so inviting especially after getting drenched by the rain on our way here. The only real disappointment is the window, I don’t mind not having a view but looking out onto the corridor feels creepy. Our curtain remained closed for the rest of our stay – we did realize as we left that the window was tinted and although we had a perfect view out no one could actually see in.
To warm up from the nasty autumnal weather we had just endured, we took the lift down to the health and spa facilities. Each guest of the hotel has complimentary access to the health club and gym. There is also a spa where you can book treatments but we decide not to bother with that. Everything about the health club feels luxurious and we enjoy an hour of relaxation. Facilities include a huge but chilly swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room, just about enough to share with everyone else having the same idea. Having access to these kinds of facilities really adds to the hotel and ensures you get more for your money.
For dinner we opted to try the room service in favour of dressing up to head either downstairs or out in the a cold autumnal night. I ordered easily using the menu in the room and our phone, we were given an estimation of 25 minutes but the food arrived much quicker than that. I was a little disappointed with the prawn cocktail starter – there was nothing wrong with it, just nothing great about it. However, the pizza we ordered was amazing, light and tasty it didn’t even last long enough for me to take a photo. The in-room minibar kept us stocked for drinks and the bill was easy to settle on checkout.
The king size bed was super roomy and comfy and I had a great nights sleep, with barely any outside light let in I was convinced it was still night when I woke up. The only annoyance was the two phones in the room which had a lit screen on them the whole night, no biggie though. Morning came and that only meant one thing: breakfast. We arrived in the middle of service (7am-11am on a Sunday) but luckily got seated straight away. There was a hot and cold buffet to choose from and extra hot items were available on request, tea and coffee was served regularly by the waiters. We spent a good hour eating slowly and really making the most of everything on offer, it was delicious. The dinning area was a lot bigger than I anticipated but it followed the same classy but luxurious theme I had felt from the rest of the hotel.
The hotel was well decorated with beautiful pieces of art on the walls and some gorgeous furniture in the communal areas. The glass lifts meant you could see out across London whenever you traveled up and down the hotel levels, it was just a shame the lifts were so busy on Sunday morning that we resorted to taking the stairs. Check out was just as easy as checking in and we left not a minute earlier than the 11am check out time to ensure we had made the most of our stay here. I really would recommend this place for a bit of luxury in the capital (at and affordable price).
We paid £150 for our standard room on a Saturday night.
Tags: Accommodation Review England London United Kingdom
