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The Kensington Hotel is located in a residential backwater of London, but this four-star property with a white stucco façade and a vague Pride and Prejudice vibe deserves a torrent of praise.
Especially because of the torrent of water that gushed through our rain shower.
I don’t usually start a hotel review by waxing lyrical about a shower, but this was something special, so powerful that I was left wondering if the hotel had diverted a tributary of the Thames through the first-floor pipes into our bathroom.
At first, I was almost too scared to stand under it, fearing that the few hair follicles left on my head might be ripped out.
It turned out to be wonderfully invigorating, a welcome awakening to a day that would require us to be on top form, as we were taking advantage of the hotel’s proximity to the V&A and taking our young daughter to the museum. ‘Gabrielle Chanel – Fashion Manifesto’ exhibition (which will run until March 10). And who knows what tantrums we’d have to deal with, French couture isn’t necessarily a priority for a six-year-old.
MailOnline Travel’s Ted Thornhill checked into the Kensington Hotel in west London and stayed in a room similar to the one above.
Ted writes: “The Kensington Hotel is located in a residential backwater of London, but this four-star property with a white stucco façade and a vague Pride and Prejudice vibe deserves a torrent of praise.”
Fuel for the raid came in the form of a downright magnificent breakfast at the hotel’s elegant Town House restaurant.
For £40, we were able to select a real feast: croissants, eggs Benedict, fruit, cheese and cold meats.
The friendly waiter forgot our sourdough toast twice (he forgot the reminder that he had forgotten it). But it turned out to be for the best: the eyes on the menu were too big for our stomachs and we practically rolled out of the double-framed doors of the hotel.
The V&A helps form a group of world-class museums, along with the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum, which is just a 10-minute walk from The Kensington.
Additionally, the hotel can provide guests with tickets to sold-out shows for the general public.
Ted praises his room’s bathroom, noting that the shower was particularly powerful.
Ted enjoyed a Sunday roast at the hotel and a ‘real breakfast feast’
All tickets to the Chanel show had been sold out months before we checked in, but the property was able to issue us three passes.
Not that my daughter appreciated this. She declared herself bored within three minutes of seeing the impressive display of Chanel clothing and she writhed on the floor to press the issue.
But my French partner was in heaven.
Ted describes The Kensington as “a gem of a hotel in a gem of a location”
The hotel provided Ted and his family with tickets to the V&A’s sold-out ‘Gabrielle Chanel – Fashion Manifesto’ exhibition.
Rooms at The Kensington cost around £250 per night.
Satisfaction was evenly distributed throughout the hotel, where we all reveled in the elegant luxury of our room.
Our rooms housed not only an epic shower, but also a clawfoot tub, a four-poster bed, and striking floral wallpaper and similarly patterned curtains. And little Ella loved the tippee that served as her own mini “bedroom.”
We weren’t able to have a drink in the hotel’s decadently styled bar, with its plush furniture and polished wood paneling, but before returning home we tried an impressive Sunday roast, served to our parents as an attractive meal for two.
It was a little lukewarm, but the cuts of meat were delicious, as the waiter promised.
Are you thinking about a stay in London? Put The Kensington on your radar – it’s a gem of a hotel in a gorgeous location, and guaranteed to make a splash if power showers are a priority.
Kensington has upcoming partnerships with the V&A for ‘Fragile Beauty: Visions from the Sir Elton John and David Furnish Collection’ and ‘NAOMI’. Guests can enjoy an overnight stay at the property, including a full English breakfast in the Town House restaurant, and receive two tickets to the exhibition.