I’m a big fan of Conrad Hotels, and have been consistently impressed by each of my stays at their properties worldwide thus far. I was excited to see how the Conrad London would compare to my past Conrad hotel stays in Asia, all of which were phenomenal.
Location
The Conrad London is located in the heart of Westminster in the center of London. The hotel is just across the street from St James’ Park tube station, and a short walk from Saint James’ Park, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, and Trafalgar Square. Few London hotels have better location than the Conrad.
Check In
I arrived at the hotel around noon to a quiet lobby and was invited to check in immediately. The lobby was smaller than I expected with a small business center to the left, a concierge desk and front desk area, as well as some seating and a few sculptures placed throughout the lobby area.
Behind the lobby is a casual restaurant with plenty of seating.
The front desk staff were very friendly, and we chatted for about 10 minutes about Conrad properties around the world. I was offered an upgrade to an executive room (which is hardly an upgrade at all) and inquired about a suite upgrade. As I am a diamond member, and after seeing how enthusiastic I was about the Conrad brand, they eventually upgraded me to a one-bedroom suite on the 5th floor. A few minutes later, the same front desk staff that checked me in escorted us up to the room.
The Room
Our suite (room 519) was located on the 5th floor of the hotel, all the way at the end of a long hallway.
The door opens to a large entranceway with one door leading to the master bedroom and the other to the living room.
The living room has a buffet containing the minibar with various snacks and drinks, as well as a Nespresso machine. Oddly the kettle was found in the bedroom closet rather than being next to the coffee…which makes no sense at all.
The living room was a nice size, divided in half by a barrier that housed a rotating TV. On one side was a working desk and the other, a couch with a few small tables.
The windows looked out on the train station across the street and the Soviet looking building above it. Certainly not an inspiring view, though at least it wasn’t a construction site!
The living room was well designed, elegant and functional. Considering how small London hotel rooms can be, this was a lovely living room.
The bedroom, though on the smaller side, was well designed with a comfortable double bed, large closet on one side, and two lounge chairs on the other.
Unfortunately, the view from the bedroom wasn’t great either.
A huge sliding door opens to the spacious master bathroom with a rain shower, bathtub, toilet and double sink.
Breakfast
From my previous hotel stays, Conrad hotels stick out for having some of the best breakfasts. However, I’m rarely impressed by European hotel breakfasts with relatively small and mediocre selections at 4 and 5 star hotels. The Conrad London’s breakfast offerings were unfortunately more along the lines of the mediocre European hotel breakfast I’m used to, rather than to the standard of the Asian Conrad breakfasts I’ve had before.
The breakfast restaurant is located at the far end of the ground floor in a small though elegant dining area. The tables were pretty close together and we didn’t have a ton of privacy.
The Conrad provides a full English breakfast buffet as well as items you can order from the kitchen like eggs, porridge, and avocado. The small buffet included meats, eggs, cheese, pastries, fruit, yogurt, juices and more.
All the items were of reasonable quality, though I expected better. I was very happy that the hotel had a real barista making coffee rather than a machine, and I enjoyed my cappuccino every morning at breakfast. Overall I was pleased with breakfast at the Conrad, however I expected a larger selection from the buffet or wider range of items available to order from the kitchen.
The Lounge
The executive lounge is located on the first floor and offers breakfast, snacks and drinks throughout the day, afternoon tea, and evening canapes and alcohol. While I didn’t come to the lounge for breakfast in favor of the larger breakfast downstairs, I did manage to visit for afternoon tea and evening canapes.
The lounge design was pretty standard, with some couches as well as a large dining area.
Afternoon tea consisted of a buffet with sweets and savory treats, sandwiches, scones, and of course tea, coffee, and other nonalcoholic drinks.
For a five star London hotel, I expected table service with the 3-tiered tower of different treats for each table. However there was virtually no service and the buffet options looked better than they tasted. While it was nice to relax and have a snack and a drink, I expected more.
Evening canapes and cocktails was a nicer affair with an open bar, small buffet, and a two-tiered tower of hot and cold bites for each table.
The lounge staff were happy to explain each dish to us, all of which were quite unique, though not necessarily the best tasting. While many hotels offer an evening spread in the lounge which can easily replace dinner, this was not the case here. Still I enjoyed the evening canapes each evening at the hotel.
Bottom Line
The Conrad London St James is a very good London hotel in excellent location with a wonderful staff and gorgeous guestrooms. While the breakfast and executive lounge weren’t quite to the same standard I’m used to with Conrad hotels in Asia, they are good by European standards. I would certainly consider staying at the Conrad London again, though there are certainly some other London hotels I’d love to check out!