Where can you find a decent sized two-bedroom suite at a reasonable price in London? The Residence Inn South Kensington! We stayed there on what I called our London Layover, the first night of a weeks-long Grand Tour celebration with our new university graduate.
The hotel basically chose itself. As a long time Marriott Bonvoy member, we always try to choose from available Marriott-affiliated properties. The Victoria and Albert museum was on our list to visit before an early morning train to Amsterdam. And London’s Residence Inn Kensington was only a mile and a half walk from the museum and had two bedroom suites, so the choice was a no-brainer.
The hotel
The Residence Inn South Kensington was nicely decorated, comfortable, and clean, not luxurious, but way more than basic. Exactly what you need after a trans-Atlantic flight, and exactly what you expect and appreciate from the Residence Inn brand.
Our two-bedroom, two bath suite was plenty spacious for the two of us. A long hallway from the door opened to the master bedroom with en suite bathroom, the second bathroom, the second bedroom and ended at the kitchenette/lounge area. Each room had good light, blackout shades, very firm comfortable beds, and adequate towels. There was no carpet, which helped make the room to feel very clean. And as a bonus, there’s a laundry room in the basement, so we were able to do one day’s worth of laundry and head out the next morning with a clean wardrobe.
Location
The Residence Inn is technically in South Kensington, a third of a mile to the Kensington High Street, two tenths of a mile from the Earls Court tube station, and right next door to a large Tesco market. We arrived from Paddington via black cab, a ride that took just under 15 minutes midday. And the following morning at the crack of dawn, it was only 15 minutes to St. Pancras.
The location is definitely enough out of the way that reaching most of the tourist attractions requires a tube (or taxi) ride for most vacations. but it was a perfect location for our purpose of visiting the Victoria & Albert Museum. Because the hotel was able to accommodate our early check-in request of 1PM, by two we were on our way to find some food and see some treasures. I’d been reading V & A textile curator’s Claire Wilcox’s excellent memoir Patchwork and was looking forward to seeing the fashion collection in particular, which didn’t disappoint!
Overall
Overall, the London’s Residence Inn Kensington was welcoming, accommodation, and clean Marriott property. The location, while not the most central to London’s tourist attractions, is not too far out of the way. The two bedroom suites are a hard-to-find tremendous plus. I definitely recommend this hotel for anyone, but especially for family or groups of friends traveling together who would like a little privacy and space.
The kitchenette at London’s Residence Inn Kensington has plenty of space to have a cup of tea and get organized for the next leg of your journey.
