The Ampersand Hotel

Location fantastic and the staff were really helpful and friendly. Also received a free room upgrade

Location is the best for easy tube access Small cozy on site dining, comfortable for a solo traveler although a bit pricey Access to museums and neighborhood shops

A proper independent luxury hotel with all the little touches you expect from a 5 star establishment. Beautiful grand old house in a prime corner spot in South Kensington. You could throw a stone and hit the tube station (Circle, District, Piccadilly) and there are plenty of good restaurants in easy walking distance. Housekeeping did an immaculate job every day and it was splendid to have fresh milk and good coffee to hand at all times. They seemed to know when we wanted to sleep late and go out late, as we were never disturbed, and somehow the room was still made perfect by the time we returned. Every detail is considered, even loofa mitts and makeup remover wipes are provided and refreshed daily. The decor is lavish and quirky and personally I enjoyed the ‘Victorian gentleman of science’ theme which is presumably inspired by the nearly hotels, but it’s not over done. The rooms are surprisingly soundproof for an old house, and we didn’t hear a single sound from other rooms. The road outside can be noisy but the glazing keeps it down to a rumble. The bed was big enough to live in and was amazingly comfortable, with pristine white linens and fluffy down pillows. All in all, our expectations were exceeded. We really enjoyed our stay and will be back.

A couple of small things. We had a rather pompous, sarcastic reception when we arrived for an arranged early check in - apparently whoever emailed to say our room was ready for check in at 11am didn’t pass on the message, but that’s not an excuse to be snarky to paying guests. It did not make us feel very welcome for a one week stay, especially as we had already paid to be upgraded to a deluxe room. Everyone else was very pleasant. The technology in the room is a little dated and needs an upgrade - the 10+ year old television looks out of place and the clock radio by the bed didn’t appear to work. The various menus in the entertainment system took two software engineers a full week to understand, so I can’t imagine how anyone else manages it. The A/C seemed to have a mind of its own and we resorted to opening the French windows for a bit of fresh air.

An excellent and quiet room,

Check-in is a bit slow