Grand Royale Hotel – London Hyde Park

The Grand Royale London Hyde Park is Full of Character But the Rooms are Small:

Grand Royale London Hyde Park © Travel Signposts

The Grand Royale London’s Edwardian reception area and lounge caught my attention when I was looking for a London hotel for our September stay. The dark timber floors, wood panel walls, marble fireplace and Chesterfield furniture really appealed to me.   Although this Hyde Park hotel is a little further away from the Oxford Street shopping precinct which we normally like having right at our doorsteps, I booked for five nights.

On arrival, we found the Grand Royale London’s spacious reception and grand lounge area to be truly impressive. However, when we got to our room, it was a different picture.

Room

The hotel rooms had all been modernized in recent years and our room was really small. Apart from there being very little space around the double bed, figuring out where to store the suitcases was a challenge.

Tony opened the wardrobe to check out the storage space and the whole wardrobe falls forward onto him. Whoops, maintenance had forgotten to secure the wardrobe to the wall! That was easily fixed, but the noisy air-conditioner was a worry, especially for a 5-night stay. As this was a problem that the engineer couldn’t fix till after the weekend, we asked for a room change. The guys at the front desk were very obliging. They allowed Tony to check out a few rooms and to choose one that suited. Although each of the rooms had slightly different configuration, they were essentially all small. The one that we settled on had a desk which allowed us to do our work.

Food

Grand Royale London Hyde Park © Travel Signposts

At the time of our stay, breakfast was available at £15.00 per person.  As we don’t eat cooked breakfasts, it was cheaper for us to have breakfast at the cafe around the corner.  It appears that the hotel now includes Continental breakfast as part of the room rate.

A Love Nest?

The Grand Royale London has an interesting story behind its existence. It seemed that Edward VII commissioned this private residence for his mistress Lilly Langtry, a budding actress. Whilst there is no documented proof of this being Edward VII’s love nest, there is a small stage in the room where the Bar is located.  Charles Mews, the architect who designed the private residence for Edward VII, also designed the London Ritz.

In addition to the heritage reception and lounge, the original features of the building have been maintained in the restaurant upstairs and the grand staircase.

What We Liked about the Grand Royale:
Its heritage features and character and the free internet access in the room.  It is close to two Tube stations and is just two minutes walk to Kensington Gardens which is next to Hyde Park. The staff are helpful and Justin the front office manager was very friendly.

What We Weren’t Keen on about the Grand Royale:
What passed for a ‘deluxe’ room was actually a very small room.  We were working in the room during our week at the hotel, so it did feel quite claustrophobic.

The Grand Royale London Hyde Park is located at 1-9 Invernesss Terrace, a quiet residential street in the Bayswater area. Although the hotel name has Hyde Park in it, it is closer to Kensington Gardens which joins onto Hyde Park. Queensway (Central Line) and Bayswater (District and Circle Lines) are the two tube stations that are within few minutes walk to the hotel making this a convenient location for getting about on the Tube.

In spite of the small rooms, I would stay here again if I needed to be close to Hyde Park because I absolutely love the hotel’s Edwardian features.

To check room rates and book the Grand Royale London Hyde Park, see here. >

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