THE HOTEL: The five-star Royal Garden Hotel is located on London's Kensington High
Street, on the western fringe of Hyde Park and
Kensington Gardens. The hotel has undergone
a £45million refurbishment across public areas and all 394 guestrooms.
THE CHECK-IN: The light, airy and serene lobby area was a pleasant contrast to busy Kensington High Street outside, and there
was no queue at the reception desk so I was
quickly settling into my room for the night.
THE ROOM: There are six room categories –
mine was a Garden room, with a spectacular
view across leafy Kensington Gardens to the
central London skyline beyond. The room
included large mirrors that made the most of
the light, plus a small sofa, coffee table, desk,
wardrobe, wall-mounted flatscreen TV, iPod
docking station, laptop safe, tea and coffeemaking
facilities and a minibar packed with
miniatures (£7 each). The bathroom had a
bath, separate walk-in shower and White
Company toileteries. Wired and wireless
internet is charged for.
THE BUSINESS: There are ten meeting and
event spaces, all newly refurbished, with the
Palace Suite's AV facilities given a significant
upgrade. The pillarless room can host events
for up to 550 people, while the Kensington
and York suites each has capacity for 120.
A business centre by the lobby includes
computers, fax machine, printing facilities and
secretarial services.
THE FACILITIES: The hotel has a gym, studio,
sauna, steam room and spa treatment rooms,
plus leaflets with jogging routes for adjacent
Hyde Park. Car parking is available beneath
the hotel (£5 per hour / £30 for 24hrs).
THE RESTAURANT: Min Jiang, located on
the tenth floor, is earning a reputation as one
of the capital's finest Chinese restaurants –
and almost certainly has the best views. Its
signature dish is the superb Beijing duck and
the staff were more than happy to help with
selecting dishes from the menu. Breakfast is
served in the Park Terrace restaurant, which
also offers afternoon tea and evening dining.
Bertie's Bar is open from 5pm to 2am.
THE VERDICT: A well considered, modern
room design with all the facilities you'd expect
of a five-star hotel – and some fine views too.
Food and service in Min Jiang were exemplary.
My stay was marred only by a rogue fire
alarm giving off a short blast at 5am!
THE DETAILS: 2-24 Kensington High Street,
London, W8 4PT. Lead-in room rates from
£245 including VAT and breakfast. Tel: 020
7937 8000. See: www.royalgardenhotel.co.uk. Andy Hoskins
