A London Hotel You Can Actually Relax In

 Last week we took our wonderful American visitors on a whistle stop tour of London. Since my flat is approximately the size of a postage stamp (and there was four of us) we decided to book a hotel in Central, so we could get an early start (and not have to lug our luggage around all day).

The K West Spa Hotel came highly recommended from a few friends of mine. It's located just around the corner from my uni (and a hop skip and a jump from Westfield White City) so I was familiar with the location, and had high hopes. We booked two rooms totally last minute (ie, the night before) but the room rate was really reasonable, and we had high hopes!

Luckily we weren't disappointed. Located on a quite residential road tucked round the corner from Shepherd's Bush tube station, it's handily placed as well as being really quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of central London. Inside we were greeted by friendly faces and checked in in a matter of minutes. The lobby of the hotel is simple but perfect, a long bar is the focal point, with a large and comfortable seating area around it. Tucked away next to the lifts however was a much more relaxed atmosphere, the 'festival hub', a room packed with books, bean bags and fairy lights. The perfect place to recline after a large meal!

 For a London hotel the rooms were super spacious and well equipped. We booked Executive Twin rooms and it was refreshing to stay in a hotel that is actually well thought out. A dressing table placed facing a large window for good makeup lighting, a large full sized mirror as well as a small one on the dressing table, plug sockets everywhere, an assortment of magazines on the coffee table, big fluffy towelling bath robes, the works. A lot of thought went into the rooms and it shows! I was particularly enamoured with an extension lead on the bedside table, with four plug sockets and two USB chargers. PLUGS NEAR THE BED GUYS, THIS NEVER HAPPENS.

The room was spacious and despite sleeping in a single bed, it didn't feel small. The rooms were modern and spotless and I really can't pick fault in anything. The only niggle is the glass bathroom door, which wasn't really a problem anyway since the bathroom is tucked around the corner. 

I also loved the idea of a tablet on the dressing table, with everything from local weather and tourist attractions to room service and spa menus. Such an easy way to consolidate a wealth of useful information.

 We were totally pooped from a day of exploring, so I decided to make the most of my serene, spa like settings and run myself a long hot bath. On the lovely lady at Lush's recommendation I picked up the Big Blue bath bomb, and it was perfect, the sea salt, rosemary, lavender and lemon all served to relax my aching muscles and send me straight off to sleep when I climbed into my comfy hotel bed!

It's a full thumbs up from me for the K West Spa Hotel, I'm already planning a trip back for one of their infamous Aromatherapy Associates massages, and a go in their Snow Room. Yes, you heard me right, a Snow Room.

Disneyland Paris Hotel New York

 I'm one of these people who likes to research the crap out of every aspect of my holidays before they happen, I like to know all about the hotel, the area, the food, the activities. It's partly an anxiety thing, I'm an anxious traveller, and the more I know about where I'm going, the better I feel, but it's also a fear of missing out thing! I don't want to miss something important!

Anyway, getting to the point, when I was searching for the Disneyland Hotel New York where we were staying, I realised there was very little information about it, a small amount of info one the Disney website and a few less than helpful trip advisor reviews. So, I figured I'd add to the pool in case anyone else out there was looking for information, or if you're nosy like me, you can have a peak inside the hotel!

So the Disneyland Hotel New York is billed as a four star hotel with a 'contemporary art deco' feel. As you can imagine, it's all themed around stereotypical New York imagery, from the bright yellow cabs to the walls painted like subway stations.

Let's start with the good stuff! The rooms were spacious, clean and quiet, and the hotel itself is situated right at the edge of Disney Village, making it the closest hotel to the park (bar the hotel actually in the park!). We were grateful for how close it was after spending all day on our feet! The staff were all super friendly and helpful, particularly at the concierge! The wifi is great too, we were able to stream Netflix easily from our rooms, which is unusual for a hotel!

The hotel has two restaurants, an a la carte and a buffet-style diner, as well as a bar which serves snacks. Our room was bed and breakfast, and we could have breakfast in any of the restaurants. They had a good choice of pastries, cereals and continental meats and cheeses, but they could have done with more fresh fruits and the hot food was a little weird. They had delicious pancakes and good ol' american streaky bacon, but the scrambled eggs were powdered (big no no) and the sausages were veal, which was a bit weird. 

The hotel has a big old swimming pool, with a big jacuzzi at the back, and 3 people steam rooms and saunas in the changing rooms. The pool was a little chilly, but it was nice to get a few lengths in after a long day at the park!

 Whilst there was nothing specifically wrong with the hotel, it definitely didn't quite match up to some of the other 4* establishments I've stayed in. Decor is definitely dated, whilst to a certain extent it fits the theme, some areas definitely needed updating, such as the bathrooms, and in some places the wallpaper was looking pretty tired. It was lacking basic amenities that you would expect with a five star rating, like tea and coffee making facilities in the room, and somewhere to sit in the lobby.  None of this was deal breaking, but the sort of thing you'd expect to see in a four star!

With this hotel, you're definitely paying for the location over anything else! Whilst we enjoyed our stay there, if we were going back for more than a few days, I'd definitely consider staying somewhere self catering, it got very boring eating out in all the not very healthy restaurants!