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London - The Grosvenor Hotel Review
The Grosvenor London hotel building
The Grosvenor London is a 4* hotel in Central London. How did I end up here? Well, I was travelling solo on a very short and last-minute trip, needed to find somewhere to stay for a night with good transport links and found a good deal on a single room here. To make my stay extra special, I also booked a table for an afternoon tea, served at the hotel's lounge. Read on for my review of the Grosvenor London hotel.
Location:
The hotel is located right next to Victoria station, which makes it a great choice for travellers looking for easy transport links to Gatwick Airport - Gatwick Express fast train and National Rail services run from this station directly to the airport. You also have access to London Underground Victoria, District and Circle lines from Victoria station, making getting around London very easy.
For those who like a walk, the Grosvenor hotel is within walking distance to several important London sights, e.g.:
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Buckingham Palace and St James's Park ~10 mins
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Westminster Abbey ~15 mins
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Hyde Park ~20 mins
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The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben ~20 mins
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Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery ~30 mins
Staying at The Grosvenor, you will be in the middle of all the hustle and bustle, with people, shops and restaurants; it's certainly not a quiet side street kind of place.
I arrived in the afternoon and was able to get into the hotel without leaving Victoria station, via a little corridor from the main concourse. If you are walking towards the exit from the train station from Gatwick Express platform, the door to the hotel will be on the left-hand side, in the area where the ticket office is. If you look at the photo below, the hotel entrance is between Accessorize and iSmash shops.
Super handy if it's raining outside; however, it does get locked at some point during the evening as I wasn't able to use it when I got back around 11pm.
The Grosvenor London Victoria Station entrance
Design:
The 19th century building of the hotel has tons of kerb appeal and is equally stunning on the inside, with the main entrance hall and its majestic chandelier taking my breath away. The rest of the building is just as beautiful, with high ceilings, pillars, carvings, stained glass windows and wide staircases. I will let the photos speak for themselves here. If you are looking for lush interiors to show off on your Insta feed, you will certainly find them at the Grosvenor hotel in abundance.
The Grosvenor London entrance hall
Grosvenor London hotel interior
Room:
My room was a single, located on one of the upper floors and overlooking the Victoria bus station. Seriously, that view was amazing and I spent ages just sitting there and looking out the window... The room itself was functional, with a desk a wardrobe with a safe, kettle and cups, a comfy Hypnos bed. I had a very good night's sleep!
The bathroom fittings were a bit outdated, but everything was functioning properly. My one complaint would be that the reception on the TV was rather dreadful, so much so that the channels I zapped through weren't really watchable, so I ended up just watching stuff on my iPad. WiFi is provided in the room free of charge.
A very nice touch was that two water bottles were provided free of charge, one still, one sparkling.
Afternoon tea:
Afternoon tea at the Grosvenor hotel is served in the lounge, located on the ground floor. I was given a lovely table by the window in the corner, from where I could observe the whole room. And what a beautiful room it was - just like the entrance hall, with a high ceiling and decorated with pillars and chandeliers. A truly fantastic place to enjoy some scones and cakes!
Price-wise, afternoon tea at the Grosvenor is on the cheaper side of the spectrum in London, coming in at under £30 for the standard version without alcohol (price correct as of April 2019). What you get for your money certainly didn't feel cheap, with the exception of the tea being served in a teabag rather than loose-leaf tea, but it still tasted very nice.
As for the food, you can check out the exact menu in the photos below (click to enlarge). My favourites were the pistachio meringue and the coronation chicken cone. What stood out in this afternoon tea selection was the savoury scone with tomato and horseradish chutney. The cherry jam served with the sweet scones was delicious and I ate so much that I ended up with black lips, teeth and tongue!
One tip from me is to not try and eat everything and instead hold back and get a doggy bag. I ate the lot and felt full to the point of bursting for the rest of the day. Couldn't even have dinner that night, I was so full!
Service:
Everyone I met, from checkout to restaurant staff, was very friendly and helpful. I was especially impressed when I saw the lady on reception not only explaining to an elderly couple how to get to the little passage towards Victoria station, but also picking up one of their suitcases and walking with them to show where it is!
All in all, I had a lovely stay and would certainly book again!
And now the obligatory disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you buy anything, I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only review and link to products and services I have actually used and would never recommend things I wouldn't buy myself. Your support helps me keep the site running.