The London NYC Rating: 4.5 Pearls

Midtown West, Manhattan, New York City

The lobby

The London NYC isn't so named because it has a sister property near Buckingham Palace, though it does have a sister property in West Hollywood. The Union Jack flies out front, next to a flag bearing the hotel's name in a stylish sans serif, and Scottish celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has two restaurants here, but the hotel doesn't feel distinctly British -- at least not in the "God save the queen" and "tea time while reading Jane Austen" sense.

Rather, the hotel's name seems intended only to make it feel hip and international, or at least more unique than, say, the W Times Square, with whom it shares a bright, modern aesthetic. While it's managed by LXR Resorts & Hotels -- a large company with properties in the US, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean -- the London brand isn't a "chain" in the sense that the W or the Marriott is.

The hotel's guest rooms are all large, 500-square-foot suites, stylishly decorated by Irish designer David Collins with mod velvet couches and bathrooms shimmering with white mosaic tiles. Despite the hotel's massive size, it feels more like a boutique property thanks to all the stylish touches both in and outside of the guest rooms.

A number of celebrity guests have reportedly graced the hotel with their presence, including Halle Berry, Jennifer Hudson, and Usher. Non-celebrity guests typically include style-conscious business travelers during the week and style-conscious leisure travelers on the weekend.

The London's best characteristic these days, however, isn't style but value. As Puff Daddy would say, it's all about the Benjamins. When the hotel opened in late 2006 after extensively renovating the old RIHGA Royal Hotel building, the standard suites went for closer to $500 a night. But the hotel has since cut its rates significantly to keep occupancy up in the wake of the economic crisis.

The hotel provides daily copies of the Times

• From the bellhop who dove under a taxi to retrieve something that had fallen out of my bag to the engineer who promptly brought me a new remote for my TV, the staff at the London is extremely personable and helpful.
• The touch-screen phones in every room with clear buttons for "front desk," "housekeeping," and the like, make reaching a needed staffer easy.
• The concierges I dealt with were always kind and helpful, but also a bit casual. When I inquired about eating at one of the hotel's restaurants, Maze, my call was simply transferred to the restaurant -- the concierge didn't offer to make the reservation himself.
• Nightly turndown service
• 24-hour room service

View on a Larger Map

The hotel is centrally located near many of the city's top attractions. Times Square is close, but not too close -- about a dozen blocks away. Better yet, Central Park is just five short blocks north. The Broadway theater district begins a block and a half to the west of the hotel and stretches south down Broadway.

• Other sights within seven blocks include the Museum of Modern Art, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, and shopping on Fifth Avenue.
• Both in and outside of the hotel, fine dining options abound. The hotel houses two restaurants from Scottish celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Six blocks away, The Shops at Columbus Circle have some of the city's best -- and most expensive -- restaurants, like Thomas Keller's Per Se and Masayoshi Takayama's Masa.
• The area is also scattered with plenty of delis and cafes for cheap, easy bites. Within the Shops, there's a Whole Foods offering good options for quick lunches.

The London Suite

The 500-square-foot standard London suites -- twice the size of many New York hotel rooms --- are some of the biggest and best rooms for the buck in NYC, at least since the hotel dropped its rates by a couple of hundred dollars in early 2009.

With curved velvet sofas, mirrors and modern lamps aplenty, and a mix of carpet and oak floors, the decor asserts that London (both the hotel and the British capital) equals groovy. The feel is young and fun, upscale but not over-the-top luxurious.

Standard suites have what the hotel website calls an "automated personal bar." This is essentially a minibar housed in its own separate cabinet, topped with multiple bar trays, that stands proudly in the guest-room entry hall -- the better to get your groove on upon entry. Past the entry hall, guests land in a large parlor area decked out with the aforementioned velvet sofa, a coffee table, a large work desk, and a mod rocking chair. The bedroom area is also big. Some standard suites have French doors separating the bedroom from the parlor area, while others have open layouts and less privacy. The cost is the same; guests should request their preferred layout when making reservations.

The long, narrow bathrooms are covered in glistening white mosaic tiles. Some rooms, like my London suite, feature not one but two showers -- one with a rainfall showerhead, one with a standard showerhead -- but no tub; others, however, do have tubs, which you can request when making your reservation. Towels and bathrobes are nice enough, but they're not perfectly plush. The Clear brand toiletries (created specifically for LXR) don't compete with the designer-brand bath products at competing hotels, like the Molton Brown toiletries at the New York Palace hotel or the Bulgari bath products at the Four Seasons. Likewise, beds topped with Italian cotton sheets are quite comfortable but not downright extravagant. Standard suites feature a single king, a single queen, or two twin beds.

Bedrooms have 32-inch flat-screen TVs, and living areas have a second, smaller (20-inch) flat-screen. iHome iPod docks provide the soundtrack, and desks are equipped with touch-screen IP phones, computer and video inputs, and numerous outlets. Free, fairly fast Wi-Fi is offered in guest rooms, something all too uncommon in New York hotels. In lieu of a boring old closet, suites have lovely freestanding clothes racks in a dressing area next to the bathroom.

The standard London suites occupy Floors 4 to 38. For a suite on a higher floor, guests can upgrade to a London Vista suite. They have the same layout as the standard suites but are located on Floors 39 to 53 and come with a better view.

The hotel's duplex penthouse suite on the 53rd and 54th floors is one of the highest hotel rooms in the city, and it has the high price to match.

The fitness center

• The fourth-floor fitness center, or the London Club NYC as it's so cheekily called, is large and lovely. It has windows (a New York rarity), not one but four kinesis machines, numerous Life Fitness cardio machines that have their own cable TVs, a ballet bar, and even a punching bag.
• The hotel doesn't have a spa, but the concierge can arrange in-room massages with a licensed therapist at a cost of $180 per hour.
• The nicely lit business center charges for both Internet surfing and printing. However, guest rooms feature free Wi-Fi.

Suites easily accommodate a family

• The 500-square-foot standard London suites and London Vista suites can easily accommodate rollaway beds, but they cost an extra $50 per night.
• Cribs are available at no extra cost.
• London suites with two twin beds are available.
• Two-bedroom suites can fit families of five (for about the price of a standard room at the Mandarin Oriental).
• The in-room dining children's menu features options like French-bread pizza ($10) and vanilla rice pudding with strawberry jam ($10). Neither on-site restaurant (Gordon Ramsay at the London or Maze) has a children's menu.
• The hotel's hip vibe doesn't exactly feel warm and inviting for younger children, and there are no welcome amenities offered for kids.

In addition to the cleaning fee, two-legged guests must sign a pet waiver saying they'll take financial responsibility for any damage caused by Fido. Cute pet amenities aren't part of the deal (try the Muse or the W for that), but the hotel can provide dog bowls if needed.

My guest room was thoroughly cleaned. Furniture had some slight wear, and there was a bleach spot on the wood floor -- both to be expected considering the fact that rooms haven't been renovated since the hotel opened at the end of 2006. But the lobby sparkled, and I even saw a maid dusting the ultra-suede halls. The fitness center was thoroughly cleaned.

Breakfast at Maze

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is at the London ... sort of. His business ventures oversee all food operations at the hotel: the fine-dining restaurant Gordon Ramsay at the London, the slightly more casual Maze, the London Bar, and the hotel's 24-hour room service and catering.

But although Gordon Ramsay has made quite a name for himself with his restaurant empire and profanity-laden television show, Hell's Kitchen, the quality of the food under his name at the London varies. Since it opened, Gordon Ramsay at the London has garnered mixed reviews. Guests considering dropping $150 for the seven-course menu at the restaurant, or $110 for the three-course menu, might also want to consider dining at some of the city's other fine-dining restaurants. (Six blocks away from the hotel, The Shops at Columbus Circle contains some of the city's best, and most expensive, restaurants, like Thomas Keller's Per Se and Masayoshi Takayama's Masa, along with slightly more reasonable options like Porter House New York and Landmarc.)

The hotel website describes the other restaurant, Maze, as a "less formal and lively gathering spot." It may well be less formal than Gordon Ramsay at the London, but it's still pretty formal and not all that lively. The prix fixe menus are less expensive -- $60 for four courses or $75 for six -- but there's still an emphasis on long, laborious dinners. This isn't the place to simply grab an entree, as a companion and I tried to do late one night. We were made to feel a bit awkward for not ordering wine and multiple courses, and the food itself was disappointing. My Carnaroli risotto of lovage, broad beans, steamed mussels, and chives ($20) was topped with a messy mound of foam, a bit of a cliche in foodie circles, and the overriding taste was simply salty. A companion's roast breast of duck ($24) was better but not amazing. And while the place bills itself as a sharing-small-plates sort of place, our server urged us instead to order an appetizer and a main.

Maze also serves breakfast until 11 a.m., but the "breakfast bar" (i.e., continental buffet) is only available until 10:30 a.m. My eggs were tasty, but service was less than scrumptious: It took a while to get water and then to pay the bill. A team of two servers delivered my eggs on a silver platter, but I wish they would have split up and brought me water in a timely fashion instead. As at dinner, the restaurant has the pomp and circumstance, but it doesn't quite deliver the goods.

Room service is also a bit disappointing. I wanted a beverage one morning, and had originally planned on a green tea, figuring the Anglo influence and Mr. Ramsay would make for a nice cup. Instead I was told that the tea brand on offer was Harney and Sons, a less-than-thrilling brand sold at Trader Joe's. I ordered a cappuccino instead, which came quickly enough, but the presentation was utterly lacking: It was served in a regular coffee mug without a saucer, and no sugar was brought with it. Considering it cost me more than $10, I was expecting a more elegant caffeine presentation, and it didn't taste that great, either.