The Strand Palace Hotel, London

I was only staying overnight in London for one night in early June, as I was attending a wedding being held in the vaults of the Royal Society of Arts, which is also just off Strand. The Strand Palace Hotel is about 3 minutes stroll from the RSA so it was an absolutely perfect location for me.

I booked via Hotel Pronto (via QuidCo!) way back in March so getting a single room was fine and the room rate of £79 included breakfast, which, if you pay for it separately is £14...so you could say the room only cost £65 if you want to break it down.

Upon arrival at the hotel, which is just minutes walking from Charring Cross tube station, I was quite impressed with the entrance but not agog or feeling out of my league in casual KIT trousers and a summer top!

It's a spacious entrance with gleaming lift frontage, a concierge desk, a luggage room (a very reasonable £2 to leave my suitcase there all day Sunday whilst I gallivanted with a friend) and at the bottom there is a large seating area and the reception / check in area. To the right is the 372 Carvery Restaurant area which also serves breakfast in the mornings till 10.30am (on a Sunday anyway - I can't speak for midweek.) There are also other facilities within the hotel ground floor complex (which I didn't use) namely a currency exchange, a bank of telephones, toilets, some shops and a cafe.

The hotel had kindly allowed me early check in at 1pm - normal check in is at 2pm. I had requested this several weeks prior as I wanted a little extra time to get ready for the wedding - I didn't want to travel down on the train and then across London on the tube in my gear. The hotel couldn't guarantee early check in but they said if I arrived that morning/early afternoon they would sort it if they could help out. They obliged and I was delighted with the extra time to prepare.

I had a feeling my first floor room would be small from reviews I had read elsewhere so I wasn't surprised when I opened the door. Yes the room was small but it was big enough to house a generous single bed, a dressing table, a chest of drawers accommodating a TV and a built in wardrobe. There were tea & coffee making facilities under the TV in a little shelf area within the cabinet but I didn't use them.

The room also had a tall fan as the room was not air conditioned. This fan was on all the time I was there as it was a very warm day.

The bathroom was big enough and very light & fresh feeling in contrast to the bedroom which was dark wood and curtains. There was a built in shower over the bath with the usual clingy shower curtain although this wasn't too bad once I sprayed it with water and told it to "gerroff!"

There was a sink built into a recess in the wall with a big mirror over it and of course, there was a loo in the bathroom too.

Some toiletries were included - a small round tablet of soap, shower cream in dispensers and a shower cap. If you have forgotten anything there are vending machines on some (or possibly all) of the floors and you can buy toothbrushes, pain killers etc.

I got ready for the wedding and on the way out I enquired about leaving luggage the next day. The very informative man at the concierge desk advised me of the prices and what to do - a very pleasant chap!

After the wedding I walked back along a still busy but not rowdy Strand and wondered how I would fare that night as I am a light sleeper and I was concerned about the warm room.

I put the fan on - and it stayed on all night. It was adequate in keeping me cool but to be honest I am glad it wasn't one of those really hot mid summer nights, I think it would have been a bit of a nightmare. If you are going mid summer - I would definitely request a room with air con if possible if you don't like the heat.

As for noise - not a bit of it. Oh I think I heard a door close at some point but that was it. I was on the non smoking first floor and the view overlooked the air con units (lovely!) so I guess I was tucked away somewhere....this may have had a bearing on the noise factor. But personally speaking - it was great. No drunken antics at 4.00am, banging & crashing or anything of that nature. I was so pleased.

After a long shower in the morning I ventured down to the '372' for breakfast. I waited around 60 seconds to be seated and then requested some tea. This was served exceptionally quickly and considering it was a very busy Sunday morning, I was impressed.

I helped myself to a large cooked breakfast - I am vegetarian but there was a lot to choose from (for both meat eaters and veggies) of both cooked and cold breakfast foods and juices.

Checking out was easy even though there was a queue. I was asked if I had prepaid - yes I had. So my card key was taken off me as I'd ordered no room service or anything extra to pay for and I exited the queue. Result!

I then stored my suitcase for the day and off I went. Upon arrival back to pick up the suitcase some 6 hours later or so, the gentleman kindly carried it up the stairs for me and wished me a pleasant day.

So overall I had a good stay at The Strand Palace. Yes the room was small and quite dull but it served the purpose of being able to get ready, get clean, get fed - and get some sleep. The location of the hotel is superb. For £79 (via hotel pronto) I really don't think I could have asked for better.

Would I use it again? Definitely. But maybe I'd be a bit careful if it were a hot summer booking.

** Quality of Rooms - tough one this as I stayed in a single room that is no doubt put aside for cheapie booking sites. The double rooms may well be fantastic so I'm going for a 'good' as anything less may well be an injustice.