Strand Palace Hotel

I have stayed at this hotel for over twenty years. Until the recent refurbishment it had become tired and I had moved up the Strand to the Waldorfe Hilton. However it is now better than it has ever been. My wife and I have stayed there twice this year and have been very pleased on both occassions. The club rooms are well furnished and comfortable. The breakfast is good and the general ambience of the hotel warm and welcoming. A comfotable hotel of a good standard, with helpfull service and good value for money in a premier location.

James. Yorkshire, England.

The Strand Palace offers a decent hotel in a great central London location, ideal for visiting Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and for the West End. Having stayed in some dives in my time around Paddington and Bayswater this was a very pleasant surprise and not one that I needed to break the bank to experience. I stayed while visiting the London film festival but would say that the primary focus is business travellers (with cheaper rate single rooms) and overseas tourists. I was amused to be asked to provide my passport details on arrival as I was assumed to be from overseas. In respect to overseas visitors the hotel is pretty shameless in increasing its revenue stream. If you forget to bring any toiletries with you don’t use the overpriced vending machines if you don’t have to. There is a Superdrug and a Boots on the Strand just minutes walk away from where things will be much cheaper.

The hotel itself has quite a bit of character and some elegance about it. The rooms are clean and comfortable and come with the extras you would expect. For a large hotel I also found it to be unusually peaceful away from the lobby area even though the hotel was busy. The buffet breakfast was good and well organised but generally service was a little impersonal; as I would expect with a large hotel and isn’t something that personally bothers me. The hotel also has a decent looking restaurant (which I didn’t visit) and 3 bars which are convenient but nothing exceptional.

One slight bugbear is that you need to pay to store bags after check-out which is something I would usually expect to be provided as a courtesy by the hotel. Having said that it was only £2 per item and I did only have one bag but larger groups with more baggage might have a nasty last day surprise. Overall though the hotel is recommended and you could do a lot lot worse in London within the same price range. I have already booked to stay again early next year to see a show with my girlfriend and would have no hesitation in making the Strand palace my preferred choice for trips to the capital.