Rosewood London

Room - We had a Grand Executive Room. Despite the high ceilings, the room seemed small and we did not think it was well thought out: the large round table in the corner served no purpose and just took up space and there was very little space for luggage. The small bathroom had a high step over edge bathtub and it felt like we were taking our lives into our hands every time we took a shower. The rooms need an update. The sense that we got was that once the new Chancery Rosewood opens, this hotel will have to have a remodel to remain competitive. Dining - The pre fixe menu breakfast in the Holborn dining room has a limited menu with uninspired choices: it felt like we were in a cafeteria rather than a high-end hotel dining room. Service was only fair as well. Breakfast in the Mirror Room was a step up over the Holborn. Service - Surprisingly, this is where the hotel really let us down. There were lots of errors including not fulfilling our basic requests and errors in billing. All of them could have been corrected had the hotel staff just said the word “sorry” when they made a mistake. Sorry we billed your friends (twice) for the surprise birthday champagne you paid for in advance and had sent to their room. Sorry we never delivered the requested bag stands to your room. Sorry we did not pay attention to the pre arrival information the property requested that you filled out twice. Sorry we misgendered your friend (also a hotel guest). Sorry we misspelled the name of another friend (also a hotel guest). Location - Excellent location for shopping and Theater and easy underground Tube connections. Overall - We had high expectations for the Rosewood London, but we are sad to say they were not met.

Get ready for the "standard" hotel response on this review. The one where they say we are disappointed to hear you didn't have a good experience and have let management know and certainly hope that you give them another chance. TLDR; we will NOT be given them another chance as they didn't make things right when we were THERE! Positives first. This is a very opulent hotel being a renovated palace. The small courtyard is very nice, the lobby very well decorated. On average, the staff is friendly and attentive. The location is great with easy walking to main attractions as well as to the tube. The negatives. We paid for an upgraded room which on their website has clear dimensions specified. Instead we were placed in a room which was half the size, oddly configured so that you could barely move, and worse, it had elevator noise ALL DAY AND NIGHT. To top it off, this was a hidden room... it was not on the map near the elevator so we had to ask someone from housekeeping to direct us as even the signs with room numbers didn't have our room. When we got there, the first thing that I noticed besides the very odd layout was that the fire map also did NOT HAVE THE ROOM shown! Clearly this wasn't even a real room... looked like a storage area they quickly converted into a room. So, down we go to reception to complain and they say sorry we are full and can't give you another room. I work in hospitality and that is always a lie if it's not after 6pm. There are people who will be arriving but haven't been allocated a room yet so you are not really full. I'm in front of you, paying an outrageous amount per night, and you just brush me off? Talking to the manager on duty yielded an apology, same comment of being full, and an offer of a reduction in room rate. Given the room wasn't a real room by their own maps and signage, they should have given it free instead of $900+/night! The manager offered nothing else and was clearly looking to move on in order to welcome the Asian group that had come down for breakfast. We were second-class citizens for this guy. It's really too bad that we were so mistreated in a high-end luxury hotel as we would have returned for a third time. But this experience was so bad that this management team and overall company deserve no more of anyone's business. This place is a NOGO!

From the moment we pulled into the hotel, I fell in love with the gorgeous building and architecture. But this hotel has a soul too. Everyone we interacted with- from the door staff to the front desk to the housekeeping staff to the wait staff in the restaurant- was genuine, unaffected, kind and seemed actively interested in making sure we had a great experience. This was so refreshing and truly set the mood for our stay (along with early checkin which allowed us to get a quick nap in). We are not “regulars,” sadly- this was a splurge for us, but we were treated as though we were good friends. I was very grateful to get the chance to stay in this remarkable place - although now it will be hard to go anywhere else!

We stayed in an Executive Room for two nights. Pros - Convenient location close to Holborn tube station and with easy access to all parts of the city - Beautiful entrance and driveway - Typical, elegant Rosewood design - Warm welcome and room upgrade - Staff marked the special occasion at bar and restaurant - Cosy atmosphere and excellent drinks at Scarfes bar - Small touches, e.g. housekeeping left a bookmark next to my book - Turndown service Cons - Surprisingly small room size despite room upgrade - Stains on headboard - No mouthwash provided - Odd "oily" water (maybe due to building piping or general water quality issue) - Mediocre a la carte breakfasts (we tried both the Holborn Dining Room and the Mirror Room) - Mixed up cake order - Disappointing cake - artificial flavor and overly sweet - Dingy and oddly freezing hallways with AC on full blast

Only a one night stay but lovely. Stunning decor, smells and building Stylish rooms. Great bar, great breakfast and fabulous spa. perfect location for the City whether for business or pleasure. Bear in mind that it is pricey as a five star hotel and that extends to the costs of drinks and food.