Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road has a Tube theme throughout the hotel, with artworks inspired by the graphic design and advertising you'll see on the Underground. Photo / Booking.com
Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road has a Tube theme throughout the hotel, with artworks inspired by the graphic design and advertising you'll see on the Underground. Photo / Booking.com
Stephanie Holmes stays at Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road
Location: Kensington, London - walking distance to museums, royal parks and the city's fantastic transport links.
Style: Modern hotel in a heritage building with design influenced by London Underground graphics and features.
Perfect for: A few days exploring London when you just need a simple hotel as a base.
Price: Via booking.com, prices range from $177 to $500 per night. We chose a rate with free cancellation up to 2pm on day of arrival, which is a fabulous option in these times of having to be prepared for Covid-related last-minute changes and delays.
First impressions: Location is king at this central hotel in the Underground's Zone 1. We'd arrived early that morning into Heathrow, travelling straight through from Auckland so were feeling a little delirious to say the least. But the journey from Heathrow was as easy as it could be – we got on to the Piccadilly Line at terminal 2 and travelled straight to Gloucester Road, with no need for changing lines. The hotel was a five-minute walk away.
Close to museums, Royal parks, public transport and eateries, Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road is a great choice for tourists. Photo / Booking.com
It's set in an old Kensington mansion house, five storeys plus basement, with lots of staircases and narrow corridors. Luckily there is also a lift, but only up to the fourth floor. If you're allocated a room on the fifth floor – as we were – you'll need to haul your luggage up a small flight of stairs to get to your room.
The reception area was bright and welcoming, with a staff member sitting at a high leaner table in the bar area, rather than behind a desk. She checked us in easily and quickly, and had a room ready for us straight away, even though we were four hours earlier than check-in time.
There's a London Underground theme throughout the hotel, with artworks inspired by the graphic design and advertising you'll see on the Tube and its stations, as well as lamps and fittings that seem to have come direct from Gloucester Road station itself.
Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road has a Tube theme throughout the hotel, with artworks inspired by the graphic design and advertising you'll see on the Underground. Photo / Booking.com
Rooms: In the eaves of the hotel, our room was small but bright, with two street-facing windows. A bed, two bedside tables, wall-mounted flatscreen TV and desk made up the main space, with hanging rail and small cupboard in the entranceway. There's not much space for luggage storage, so we ended up with our cases open on the floor under the windows – fine for a couple of nights' stay but might get annoying if you were here for longer.
The bed was incredibly firm, which might be too much for some people, and there was only one pillow each, both a little lumpy. But I loved the bold colours of the headboard and bedside lamp and the Underground-inspired artwork.
Bathroom: Again, a small and simple space, with walk-in shower (a step up to get into it), toilet and one basin. Our bathroom had loops for a shower curtain but no curtain – I'm unsure if that was an oversight or meant to be like that. Toiletries were wall-mounted refillable dispensers in Ibis' own "Press to impress" range.
Food and drink: A kettle and sachets of Nescafe coffee and Tetley teabags with individual long-life milk were provided, but there was no fridge in the room. There is a range of pubs, cafes and restaurants in walking distance of the hotel, as well as Waitrose, Tesco Express and Sainsbury's supermarkets but if you do want to eat in your room, you'll need to ask the hotel to borrow plates and cutlery (or buy disposable items along with your groceries).
Continental breakfast is available at the hotel, which we purchased as part of our room rate, and it was perfect to set us up for the day. Freshly baked croissants, breads and pastries, cereals, fruit, yoghurt, ham and cheeses were all excellent and the coffee machine, while not barista standard, was perfectly fine.
Breakfast at Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road consists of freshly baked croissants, breads and pastries, cereals, fruit, yoghurt, ham and cheeses. Photo / Booking.com
Facilities: Free Wi-Fi is available, but it didn't work in our room on the fifth floor. In the lobby bar and basement dining room it worked well.
In the neighbourhood: The Natural History, Science, Victoria and Albert Museums, Royal Albert Hall and Hyde Park are all less than 15 minutes' walk away. There's a bus-stop right outside, and Gloucester Road tube station just round the corner. Take some time to wander down the side roads to discover beautiful mews with gorgeous Victorian terrace houses, private gardens (like the one Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts discover in Notting Hill), and neighbourhood pubs.
Accessibility: Accessible rooms are available, with features including roll-in showers, shower chairs, lowered sinks and toilets with grab rails. However, there are steps from street level to the main entrance, so guests with limited mobility will need assistance getting to the front door.
Close to museums, Royal parks, public transport and eateries, Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road is a great choice for tourists. Photo / Booking.com
Sustainability: Towels are changed only on request and bathroom toiletries are provided in refillable bottles. However, the tea and coffee supplies were all single use, and there were some plastic sachets of Marmite, Nutella etc. at breakfast, so there is still room for improvement.
Contact: Search "Ibis Styles London Gloucester Road" on Booking.com
