Regency Hotel - Queen's Gate, London

My partner and I booked a room, with bed and breakfast as we were attending a concert at the nearby Royal Albert hall. The cost of the room was £126, which seems expensive for bed and breakfast worked out as fairly good value considering it is within easy walking distance of South Kensington tube station (5 minutes), the Natural History museum (5 minutes), The Royal Albert Hall, and Hyde park about 10 minutes. Although the hotel has it's own restuarant, ...
...vicinity..eg, Bella Italia.

The Hotel looked very "Grand" from the outside, a beautiful ornamental canopy with a small stairway leading up to the front door, with a smart red carpet at the bottom flanked by a couple of ornamental potted shrubs..The reception area was fairly spacious, with lots of settees and tables and chairs to sit at, the reception staff were polite and courteous.
I believe the hotel had five stories, ... more

My partner and I booked a room, with bed and breakfast as we were attending a concert at the nearby Royal Albert hall. The cost of the room was £126, which seems expensive for bed and breakfast worked out as fairly good value considering it is within easy walking distance of South Kensington tube station (5 minutes), the Natural History museum (5 minutes), The Royal Albert Hall, and Hyde park about 10 minutes. Although the hotel has it's own restuarant, there are a number of reasonably priced eateries in nearby vicinity..eg, Bella Italia.

The Hotel looked very "Grand" from the outside, a beautiful ornamental canopy with a small stairway leading up to the front door, with a smart red carpet at the bottom flanked by a couple of ornamental potted shrubs..The reception area was fairly spacious, with lots of settees and tables and chairs to sit at, the reception staff were polite and courteous.
I believe the hotel had five stories, our room was located on the first floor, and there was a nice carpeted lift to take us there. Once out of the lift we followed directions to our room, and although the corridors were long and narrow, a bit like a rabbit warren, they were nicely carpeted, there was attractive pictures on the walls, and the doors were all painted a very smart dark red.

Our room was pretty small, and contained the obligatory Corby trouser press, hairdryer, phone and tea and coffee making facilities. There was no evidence of a mini bar, though I wouldn't have used it anyway. There was an air conditioning unit.....that worked (always a plus!) Surprised to see that the television in the room was a rather old looking Grundig portable and that you could only get a few channels on it..all the terrestial ones and a couple of others, but as the reason for our stay was to have somewhere to stay after a concert, we weren't particularly bothered about that. The ensuite bathroom was small but functional, decent sized bath, good shower, sachets of toiletries in a bowl, nice plush white towels. Very basic, but clean, and as I say....functional.

The bed itself was the biggest plus point for me, as it was really really comfortable...I checked and it was a Sealy mattress...must go and buy one for home. It was really firm and supportive, and the pillows were plump and comfortable. The room was smart enough, although the colour scheme was a little hit and miss, dark blue carpet, walls painted yellow and lamshades on beside unit dusky pink! and quilt cover white...but nothing looked old or shabby. We had a wonderful night's sleep and woke up feeling incredibly refreshed.

The restuarant and bar were situated on the lower ground floor, and this was very smart indeed, lots of plants, lovely smart tables, chairs and sofas....very "palm court"

I'm sorry that I didn't really study the menu very hard as we decided to grab a cheapie meal at Bella Italia (where you can't go wrong)..from what I saw the food was fancy and fairly pricey. We had a cocktail from their small cocktail menu..they were all priced at £8 and if you if had two cocktails you were given a third one free of charge...we only had one each as we were a bit pushed for time. The cocktails weren't really like cocktails, more like regular drinks with extra ice.....very basic

The breakfast is served in the restuarant between 7-11am which I felt was very good, and most restuarants want it all "done and dusted" before 9.30. It was a buffet style breakfast with a choice of cereals, fruit, fruit juices, and full English. Thecooked breakfast was pretty hit and miss, the eggs were scrambled and tasted absolutely revolting,(you were able to request fried, or poached eggs to order though) but the bacon and sausage was good quality. Tea and coffee was also disappointing, instead of being given the usual individual pots, waiters and waitress came around carrying thermal jugs of tea and coffee and poured it into you cup at the table. The tea was as weak as water,and the coffee so strong, you could have cut it with a knife.

The hotel had wireless internet access for a "nominal charge" though I would call £10 per day nominal!!!!! They said they had a cheaper business tariff.....which started at £5 for half an hour...which I considered to be quite a lot dearer....There was also a gymnasium on the lower ground floor which I didn't explore, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

I realise that my review could be a lot better, but really it's intended to show those who are perhaps just spending one night in london for a concert or museum trip that this hotel is definitely well worth staying at if this is all you require. To sum up, it's in a very quiet and safe area, it's in a fabulous location, it's smart and comfortable, and despite a few disappoinments......like Bella Italia...you can't really go wrong!!!!!! 

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