The Athenaeum Hotel & Residences

Went here for afternoon tea for me and my sisters birthday with my mum. Had a lovely time and staff were really accommodating and bought us a birthday dessert which was very nice. Ellie and Jess were helpful and there was a guy (can’t remember his name) who made us a customised tea which was lovely ! The scones were also delicious, me and my sister came back for them especially , they were really warm and just melt with the cream so easily ! Lovely time there thank you :)

Savoury afternoon tea at The Athenaeum… … What a great London teaI experience and I have enjoyed quite a few! Loved the savoury variant- the food was utterly delicious. The tea menu was exquisite and we could mix it up and try any that floated our boats. Great gin cocktail (I had Seedlip non-alcoholic, a thoughtful touch that not all hotels accommodate. Why???!.) Best of all was the attentive Athenaeum service, we loved all the staff who looked after us. Thank you Afternoon Tea crew xxx

We booked the Athenaeum for 2 nights at the tail end of our European vacation and to sum it up, my kids have now officially banned me from selecting hotels on our future trips. I was so disappointed as this was one of my go-to hotels in London for work trips back 15-18 years ago. It was the quintessential boutique hotel back then - quaint, clean, modern, upscale. Fast forward to today and the condition and aesthetic of the Athenaeum is starkly different. While I recognize quite a bit of time has passed, if management had prioritized the upkeep and quality of the hotel, the deferred maintenance and deterioration of this property would not be as obvious. Let's start with the physical condition of the hotel: 1) Air odor in the rooms and on the room/ lounge floors - smelled old and not at all inviting. I wanted to get off the floors and get outside as quickly as possible. It's as easy as putting out some mild diffusers on all of their floors. 2) Rooms are in need of some serious upgrades - raised carpeting throughout in both rooms (see photo), stains on the furniture and shades, dirty bathmats. Seeing the rooms in this condition were an immediate turn-off (my kids included). Floors were creaky but that's understandable given the age of the property. But they need to get the decor right. 3) Breakfast buffet - we all rated the quality of the buffet spread as a 2 out of 5. The only thing good about it was the espresso and cappuccino. Deli spread looked like it had literally come straight out of a cheap convenience store package, the "hot" items were lukewarm at best and hardened from sitting out for so long (we were at breakfast before 9am). My son who eats just about anything even spit out the hash browns after the first bite. We skipped the inclusive buffet altogether the next day. 4) Lounge - you would think access to their top floor "lounge" would carry some worthwhile benefits but the only items we ever found there was a fridge with water and soda and a small tray of cheap bagged snacks. Same variety all 3 days. No other spread although they did note hot food for an hour in the evening. Now onto the service: 5) Snafu on reservations. I had called the hotel on two separate occasions to note that I had 2 rooms reserved that needed to be next to each other given my kids were staying in a separate room. First time was straight after my online booking and the second time was a week prior to our check-in date before we left the US. Both instances I was assured they would do everything possible to accommodate and would note in both reservations. I understand not everything can be absolutely guaranteed on location of rooms but I was amazed to find at check-in that the 2 rooms under my reservation were located on separate floors. What then was the point of calling them twice before?? Fortunately, the woman who assisted us at check-in (young blonde) went out of her way to try and accommodate. We ultimately ended up with rooms next to one another but the hassle of explaining what we'd requested and having her research and check with her supervisors etc was time consuming and annoying. 6) We'd inadvertently left our Do Not Disturb signs on the door when heading out for the day. No message from housekeeping or a card slipped under our doors to indicate they had skipped service and to call if we needed anything from housekeeping. This should not happen at what is being called a "5 star" hotel. 7) Check-out process - it took close to 30 minutes to check out given the scores of errors on my bill. No adjustments for F&B credits which came with each of the rooms, no adjustments for the room rates they had told me they would fix when they messed up our room resos at check-in. I had declined the "discretionary" service charge for obvious reasons and today I get an updated invoice for the service charge on both rooms and the bar bill again which should have been cleared out with my F&B credits. Obviously infuriating that I apparently wasted 30 minutes of my time trying to correct for all of this at check-out. All in all, after what has turned out to be a way longer review than I was expecting, we will never be returning to this hotel. What a disappointment given how great this property once was back in the day.

Extremely slow breakfast service (25 minutes including queueing even to get tea and coffee) due to poor organisation and low staff numbers. One member of staff did try her best. Poor buffet offering also. Small quiet (superior double) room which was spotless. However creaky uneven floors with very ruckeled carpets. Quirky. Service other than at breakfast was very good. Generally spotless with notable exception which was surprising (see picture). Others have had very good experiences but I would not return simply because of the breakfast issue. Who wants to waste time in London waiting a long time for coffee and breakfast?

With all gratitude and appreciation, I would like to thank Ms. Sonia at the Athenaeum Hotel for her outstanding service and helpful spirit. She has always been extremely kind, supportive, and attentive to our needs, as well as to all the guests. I would also like to extend my thanks to Mr. Yasser and Mr. Jason for their unlimited support and continuous efforts to ensure our comfort. You truly make a difference—thank you for such a wonderful experience!