The Bedford Hotel

The Bedford is a clean-cut and contemporary hotel hidden behind an interesting brick building that juts out like spikes in a wavy pattern. Lit by a constellation of tiny spotlights and floor-to-ceiling windows, the lobby has gently curving armchairs in various purples and lilacs set around circular green coffee tables. Over in the hotel’s attractive restaurant, natural materials, cool neutral fabrics, stone, and different types of wood predominate the bright space. French doors lead out to a pretty terrace garden where guests can eat during the warmer months. Unfortunately, dated red patterned carpeting in the hallways has yet to be modernized like the rest of the property. The Bedford attracts an even mix of business guests and tourists, both attracted by the hotel’s exceptional location and reasonable rates.

The Bedford Hotel is set in the center of lively and literary Bloomsbury, characterized by quiet garden squares and handsome Georgian terraces that are home to the capital’s intellectual and cultural heartland. The area is home to the British Museum, a three-minute walk away from the hotel, art-house cinemas, antiquarian bookshops, bars, and restaurants. It’s a two-minute walk to Russell Square tube station, on the Piccadilly line, which provides direct access to St Pancras International (a five-minute journey), and in the other direction, Heathrow Airport (an hour’s journey). 

By tube, Leicester Square station is an eight-minute journey, and is convenient for Covent Garden (as well as less crowded than the station that bears its name) and the West End’s theaters, while Oxford Circus is 10 minutes away. Expect transfers to Heathrow Airport to take an hour by tube, or 45 by the faster but pricier Heathrow Express, which departs regularly from Paddington Station. Alternatively, the journey takes between 70 and 90 minutes by car. Trains to Gatwick Airport take an hour on mainline trains departing from St Pancras International, or it’s a 90- to 120-minute journey by car.

The 184 rooms at the Bedford are smartly outfitted, with brown carpeting, light-wood furniture, white walls, and brown drapes. Grayish-blue headboard prints with blowing dandelions add the only real decorative touch. They're sizable for central London, with space for either two twin beds or a double, a wardrobe, and a large desk and a chair, nestled in the room’s bay window. Some single rooms are available, which are smaller and cheaper, but only sleep one. Executive rooms are larger, with space for a pullout sofa, while Junior Suites have a couple of couches. Unfortunately, many of the rooms look out over the busy Southampton Row and pick up a lot of noise, while rooms to the rear have views of the terrace garden and the backs of the Georgian houses characteristic to Bloomsbury. Bathrooms are small but clean, and feature a shower/tub combo with a plastic curtain, and a toilet in an adjacent room. All rooms have a flat-screen TV, safe, kettle, hairdryer, basic toiletries, and free Wi-Fi. Guests can request fridges should they need them.

Without a pool or a gym, the Bedford Hotel doesn’t offer much in the way of amenities, but given the hotel’s location, it’s likely that guests will spend more of their time out exploring. The restaurant, Bloom & Willow, serves three a la carte meals a day, with fare like salads, Mediterranean platters, and steak, plus afternoon tea. A bar has a menu of drinks and light snacks. Guests staying for more than two nights get a free evening meal. There is a secure parking lot at the hotel, which is a rarity for this part of London, but unsurprisingly, it comes at a cost. Wi-Fi is free and accessible throughout the property.