Luxury 5 Star London Weekend at Royal Garden Hotel Kensington

There’s nothing quite like a weekend away in London. As a Manchester gal born and bred, London is only 2 hours away on the train but there’s still something about the Big Smoke that makes visiting seem like such a treat. Whether its for work or play, I absolutely love a couple of days in this busy city – being able to visit our Capital makes me feel instantly patriotic, whilst at the same time soaking up the hustle and bustle of city life which makes me appreciate our eclectic British Culture. This last time I visited, it was definitely for play, as I went to celebrate my blog’s 5th birthday with a Luxury 5 Star London Weekend at Royal Garden Hotel Kensington.

The Location

The location of the Royal Garden Hotel Kensington is a real selling point for me. Located right in the heart of this premium London borough, there’s nowhere else I would rather stay in the capital than on Kensington High Street. In fact, the location is so perfect that the hotel is right on the edge of Kensington Gardens which is home to Kensington Palace no less – we are in the company of Royalty people!

With this hotel you really get the best of both worlds; being located in central London on a premium borough’s high street with bustling restaurants, bars and shops and looking out onto the beautiful greenery of Kensington Gardens, watching children play, dog walkers and runners. Oh, and from some rooms you even get a view of Kate and Wills’ beautiful Kensington Palace. You can’t beat that!

The Room

As I mentioned, the location is such a selling point of the Royal Garden Hotel Kensington and most of the rooms at the hotel really try and make the most of it. We stayed in two Garden Suites, which we were delighted looked out over the beautiful Kensington Gardens – you could even see the palace from one of our rooms! This view is really like no other in London; when looking out over the skyline you can see iconic British buildings on the horizon like The London Eye and The Shard.

Aside from the view, the room itself is absolutely beautiful. The main event in any hotel room is the bed and our King Size beauty at the Royal Garden Hotel Kensington did not disappoint; it was like sleeping on a cloud and Jonathan and I have never had so much space between us at night (which was actually a real treat!).

The rest of the room was just as spacious, with enough room for a double wardrobe, widescreen TV, lounge area, dressing table desk and even a radion system which transmitted sound to the bathroom. Oh, and the bathroom – a beautiful bath and walk in shower, complete with luxurious hotel minis and even a fresh flower left for us. Beautiful attention to detail.

The Food

Whilst staying at the Royal Garden Hotel Kensington we were totally spoilt with treats. From a knock on a door with a tray of truffles and fruit platter, to evening drinks before dinner at the Park Terrace bar, we were completely indulged! After a few hours of pampering in our beautiful room (hello massive bath!) we got glammed up and went for drinks downstairs. We each tried a cocktail and the attention to detail of these was incredible; just check out the garnishing on my Bellini. Incredible!

For dinner, we had three courses at the totally luxurious Park Terrace restaurant. We were given a wonderful table that looked out over Kensington Palace and were immediately reassured that the waiters told us they had already been alerted about my sister’s food allergies and had prepared accordingly. We have never had such personalised service at a restaurant like this! We shared two bottles of wine between us from their extensive wine menu, with gourmet starters, delicious main meals (without a doubt the best steak I have ever had!) and for dessert, the main event!

After we finished our main courses and were enjoying the night chatting in such a beautiful environment, we were greeted with singing waiters presenting us with a birthday cake for my blog’s 5th birthday! The cake was completely personalised from start to finish and they were happy for us to take lots of photos before serving it out to us. Yummy! And then also letting us take home the leftovers in a rather posh doggybag.

Breakfast was just as wonderful; a premium buffet with continental treats such as pasteries and as much fruit as you could wish for, fresh cooking stations for pancakes, waffles and omletes, and of course, a full English breakfast buffet. It goes without saying that the food was delicious and all freshly cooked, but the service was also impeccable at breakfast. A really lovely, attentive service looking out over the park.

The Personalised Service

Although I could not fault any area of the Royal Garden Kensington Hotel, one part of the hotel that really stood out to me was it’s emphasis on the personal touch. Being an independent hotel in London is pretty darn rare and the Royal Garden Kensington totally use this to their advantage to be able to provide their customers with a unique service they won’t be able to find anywhere else.  As soon as they found out I was visiting for a special occasion, the hotel were keen to find out exactly what it was and help me celebrate to the best of their ability!

As soon as I checked in, I was greeted with such a warm welcome which was followed up with attentive service all the way through my stay. They made sure to put me in a lovely Garden Room ready for my special overnight stay, and ten minutes after checking in I was greeted with a birthday treat of a delicious fruit platter, handmade chocolate truffles and a Happy Birthday plate. It was the perfect excuse for me to pop out to the shops and buy a bottle of champagne to match!

But, the service didn’t end there, I was also gifted a branded hotel book as a gift and, as the main event, treated at dinner with the most wonderful birthday cake I’ve ever had! A delicious sponge cake personalised for my blog’s 5th birthday with 5 candles to match. Oh, and a good old sing song of ‘happy birthday’ too – it was the perfect personalised end to a perfect Luxury 5 Star London Weekend at Royal Garden Hotel Kensington.