In most major UK cities I now have a favourite hotel, and as such the opportunities for new reviews are drying up. In London, however, I continue to try one different hotel after another, because none of them particularly fill me with excitement. London hotels are expensive, often quite tatty and the market still doesn’t seem hugely competitive to me. I’ve stayed in other Jury’s hotels around the country and have had mixed feelings, but I was alerted to a special offer in the press for selected nights at Jury’s hotels in the UK and decided to try out one of their London offerings.

The Clifton Ford hotel is situated off Wellbeck Street in West London. The Clifton Ford is almost certainly one of those hotels that you would choose for sightseeing or Christmas shopping. By Tube, Madame Tussaud’s is supposed to be about ten minutes away, as are the Tate Gallery, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. Oxford Street is within a few minutes’ walking distance and about 15-20 minutes’ walk away, you’ll also find either Regent’s Park or Hyde Park. The West End, Theatreland and Soho are also close by so the location is therefore potentially excellent for most recreational visitors to London.

Needless to say, I was rather stressed, rather tired and rather flustered by the time I actually got to reception area. The receptionist got a bit of a shock when she asked if I were OK, as I simply congratulated her company on having the worst map I had ever downloaded. Nonetheless, she politely ignored me and checked me in as usual without further issues. [I did notice the chap next to me having a few problems, with a booking that appeared to have gone missing. I didn’t envy his position, when the assistant manager advised him that she couldn’t magic rooms out of thin air and he would have to find somewhere else to stay. Eek!]

The Clifton Ford appears to have been fairly recently refurbished as, although the building itself is fairly old, the décor was very new. The hotel has 127 classic (meaning “normal”) rooms, 69 executive (meaning “larger with fruit bowl”) rooms, 3 penthouse suites and 56 studio suites. As you can see, it therefore has quite a considerable capacity, but do make sure you request the appropriate room type when making a booking. I had one of the classic rooms, but would happily recommend it to others, as the standard of accommodation was excellent.

The desk was adequately sized to sit at and do some work and the television set could be rotated so that it could be seen throughout the room. It was sat on an enormous wooden monstrosity that I thought would contain a minibar, but didn’t and instead just seemed to be a large hollow shell. There was a wardrobe near the front door and floor to ceiling windows that were covered with large, heavy curtains that shut out every last inch of light.

FOOD

In terms of eating out, I noticed quite a few small bars and restaurants in the area. They were mainly privately owned although there were a few chains such as Pizza Express. Most of the restaurants seemed quiet and interesting, so you may well find eating out to be preferable.

Room service is available 24 hours and the bar seemed very popular indeed. The hotel has 9 conference suites and certainly seemed well equipped to handle formal functions. The Clifton Ford is also home to a Holmes Place health club. The Muscle Mary at the entrance advised me that the health club is renowned as being one of the better ones in London and I certainly couldn’t argue. A large, clean pool seemed to be a focal point and there was also a gym, sauna, whirlpool, dance studio and steam room. As the health club was free to guests, I decided to try out the steam room and was quietly sat there having an Imperial Leather moment (if you know what I mean) when a big, fat hairy Egyptian came in and displayed his wares. Needless to say, I left pretty sharpish but was otherwise quite impressed.

Jury’s are well known for offering various discounts and special offers and if you refer to their web site at www.jurysdoyle.com you’ll probably be able to find one. The advertised standard room rate is extortionately high at £222, but you’d have to be very foolish to pay this, as discounted rates below this are always available. I actually booked with an inclusive bed and breakfast rate of £69, which I’m sure you will agree offers outstanding value for money in the London hotel sector. It’s worth noting, for instance, that room only in a Travel Inn Capital costs around £75 - £80 and the facilities there couldn’t be compared to this. The average discounted prices seem to be between £80 and £110, which are obviously not as enticing but still fair in comparison to other London hotels. Added to that you also have the use of the health club, so it’s all pretty good really.