Gloucester Road is an area in West London that’s packed with hotels – possibly due to its quiet, leafy surroundings and proximity to Central London. TLE recently spent the night at the newly-renovated ibis Styles Hotel to see how much bang for your buck you get for £150 in this popular area.
Gloucester Road is a quiet location within easy reach of Oxford Circus, Soho and Covent Garden. The ibis Styles Hotel, with elegant Victorian facade, is less than a five-minute walk from Gloucester Road tube station, which is served by the Piccadilly, District and Circle connecting West London to central London in under 20 minutes. There are plenty of places to eat and drink near the hotel (mainly chains) – like Ask Italian, Nandos and Byron, as well as a handful of independent cafes and bars.
The hotel’s facelift has seen it elevated to the higher end of a budget hotel with a modernist, Scandinavian feel. With no formal reception area, the entrance is an open-plan bar area with yellow chairs, breakaway areas and a well-stocked bar. Walls are adorned in stylish pictures of London’s iconic tube stations and crisp white tiles with hints of green and blue replicate those you’d find underground on the most tube platforms.
The slightly OTT London tube theme is continued throughout the hotel with carpets instructing you to ‘Mind The Gap’. All 84 rooms are in kitted out in similar IKEA meets Tube Station feel with Water + Loo signs to the bathroom and quirky motifs. Space is limited, given the expensive postcode no doubt, so rooms are pretty small but functional. The amenities are basic but meet the needs of a budget hotel – large TV, coffee and tea making amenities and a big, solid bed. Lighting is relaxing and long blackout curtains aid sleep, although street facing rooms mean you’ll, unfortunately, hear some car noise.
The hotel is designed to suit those not wanting too much fuss – like business travellers and those less concerned with over-the-top customer service, fancy gadgets and indulgences (spas etc.). Staff pull you up a chair on arrival – as opposed to a formal reception desk set up – which is refreshingly laidback and personable. The check-in process is very smooth – I was in my room within three minutes of arriving. A very basic breakfast is included and staff are on hand 24:7. But overall services are kept to a minimum (and there’s no gym).
The hotel offers a modest breakfast within its room rate, which you’ll find below ground. Guests are able to grab what they need and go from the fairly sparse continental style buffet (croissants, muffins cereals, cheese and ham, orange juice etc.). And on the ground floor, there’s a small bar/ cafe.
Adam was a guest of ibis Styles, 110 Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 4ES, UK.
Rooms from £149.15 – www.ibis.accorhotels.com
