Robb Williams

Review of THE GROSVENOR HOTEL VICTORIA L...

An opulent looking hotel just a stones throw from ...

An opulent looking hotel just a stones throw from Buckingham Palace. The Entrance hall is massive with huge chandeliers hanging down - very impressive. The Hotel staff are friendly and eager to help so top marks for them. We had a room on the 3rd floor overlooking Grosvenor Gardens and the Shakespeare pub. It's a busy road and a noisy one too with police sirens seemingly constantly sounding but the sound insulation mostly kept the noise out.
Victoria Station is literally right next to the hotel and it can be accessed through a passage off the hotel foyer, useful if you want to catch a train or tube. Obviously, the close proximity of the station also contributed to the noise but overall this was minimised by the sound insulation in the room although, curiously, the train information announcements where crystal clear in the bathroom!
Our room was spacious and comfortable although there where a couple of niggley things... the large double bed was made up of 2 singles which started drifting apart. We discovered that the bracket joining the beds was uncoupled and bend but we eventually managed to force the bracket to work. The sheets on the bed weren't tucked in properly and I suspect they where a bit small so any movement in the bed caused the sheets to ruck up - only a little thing but slightly annoying. The TV was frustrating - it was recessed into the wall and I can only think that the speakers must have been located on the back of it, because the sound from it was very muffled making it almost impossible to hear dialogue clearly. Other little things like the tea and coffee not being replenished over our 2 day stop just let the hotel down a bit. They're not major things but far less grand hotels I've stopped in have managed to get these little things right.
The food was excellent and in particular the Grand Imperial Chinese Restaurant. The breakfast was excellent too as was the simpler choice of dishes offered in the The Grosvenor Arms although a degree of confusion over food not appearing slightly marred our first visit to it. We persevered and our 2nd visit went without a hitch. Both the The Grosvenor Arms and the Grand Imperial are part of the Hotel complex.
The slight niggles mean I only award it 4 out of 5 stars, but overall our experience at the hotel was very positive and its location is brilliant with many major attractions within an easy walk.