I needed to find somewhere to nightstop in London, to make it a little easier for me to get to the Royal Marsden hospital in Chelsea for an operation at 7.30am.  So I looked for a luxury hotel not far away.  Knightsbridge, Hyde Park and Park Lane hotels were quoting me over £500, which seemed a bit high, so I extended my search into Mayfair.  I first saw The Westbury last year when I dined at their principal restaurant, Alyn Williams @The Westbury, and thought the place looked smart and stylish.  So after confirming that I could eat there again on the evening of my stay, I booked a “Signature King” room for £294.98, room only; the SPG member rate.

The Westbury is on the corner of Conduit Street and Bond Street, just a block from Berkeley Square and surrounded by luxury shops and ateliers. (I was able to pop into Prada on my way there!).  The hotel is rated by the AA as 5-star and it’s part of the Starwood group’s Luxury Collection. It has 225 rooms, fewer than many 5-stars in big cities, so it’s able to create a pleasant level of intimacy, close to that of a ’boutique’ hotel. That’s certainly the feeling I got when I entered the reception area.

Check in was uncomplicated and friendly and I made my way up to room 307.  Plush carpets in the corridors looked and smelled very clean or brand new.  At first sight the room appeared a little smaller than I’d expected, but maybe I just didn’t read the room details which told me it would be 24 sq. metres.  The bathroom was pretty

small too and the rain shower was within the bath, so I had to take great care not to slip over, getting in and out, as there wasn’t an anti-slip mat provided, though there were a couple of grab rails for those of us who aren’t that steady on our feet.  The toiletries provided were Le Chemin by Byredo, a brand I’m not familiar with, but I can’t tell you what they were like because I had to use an anti-microbial body wash sent to me by the hospital, for my operation prep!  The sink didn’t drain very well.

The cosiness of the room wasn’t an issue, as I was on my own. The bed was spacious and comfortable (soft but supportive) with nice soft pillows and a thin but adequate duvet.  On the wall facing the bed was a large TV, there was a comfy chair and a work desk with chair.  There was a mini bar and some snacks, which I didn’t make use of.

My biggest challenge was trying to work out what to do with my clothes, because there weren’t any drawers to set them in. This is an issue I have with many hotels, it’s not just a Westbury thing.  I was only staying for 1 night, so I can’t think what holiday makers on a longer stay would do!  Even if they could give me shelving to place my clothes on, rather than a chest of drawers.  The size of the room was not conducive to ‘living out of a suitcase’.

One strong positive for me was the provision of two 500ml (plastic) bottles of Harrogate mineral water.  But the bedroom was a little warm for my liking, and as I couldn’t open a window, I woke in the morning with a headache, feeling very dehydrated.

A couple of days later I realised I’d left my I-phone charger in the room. It was disappointing that The Westbury didn’t call me about it. I phoned them and had to wait 24 hours for Housekeeping to call me back and confirm they had it.  I had to email them my address because they didn’t have access to the hotel booking system. The next day the Concierge emailed me to say he was posting the charger to me, but surely he had access the system to get my address?

When I had my small hotel in Brighton I always phoned my guests to confirm where to post left items, as soon as we discovered them in the bedroom, and posted them back without cost to the guest.  I thought that was good service, but I can’t recall any of these guests posting a positive review on TripAdvisor on the back of my generosity! Maybe, if they’ve faced similar ingratitude, The Westbury has decided “sod them” and doesn’t make much effort to reunite their guests with their personal items??

The hotel has two restaurants: The 1-star Michelin ‘Alyn Williams @ The Westbury’ serving high end British/European cuisine, where I dined, and also a small Japanese restaurant called ‘Tsukiji’ which looked good too.  The hotel’s bar is called Polo Bar and it appeared to have a decent atmosphere when I passed it.

Overall the Westbury is a decent and comfortable luxury hotel in a great central London location.  In my short stay I didn’t see anything that was particularly special about it, but the room rate I got was definitely a good one, in comparison to the other 5-star hotels near-by.  7.5/10