Blakemore Hyde Park

The Blakemore Hyde Park is an independently run hotel situated within a row of classic Victorian town houses with cornice details, top dormer windows, and elegant lintels. Lobby decor is ritzy and sophisticated with marbled floors, a huge chandelier light, and wood paneling with gold details. The hotel's bar extends into a large lounge area where gray upholstered armchairs surround marble cafe tables. Compared to many of the non-renovated hotels in the immediate area, this property stands out as a fresh and elegant option. Clientele here are mostly tourists, particularly couples, but the hotel attracts its share of business guests, too.

Blakemore is located on a relatively quiet street along a long row of Victorian town houses, which mostly hold other hotels. The Bayswater neighborhood is clean, wealthy, and largely residential, and popular neighborhoods, like Notting Hill and Paddington are in walking distance. The main attraction nearby is Hyde Park, just a three-minute walk from the hotel. Paddington Station, which offers tube connections (Bakerloo, Circle, District, and Hammersmith & City lines) and regional access, is about a 10-minute walk away and can take guests to Heathrow Airport in under a half hour. Most city's major attractions are reachable via public transit in 25 to 40 minutes.

• 10-minute walk to Lancaster Gate Station (Central Line)
• 12-minute walk to Kensington Palace 
• 27 minutes to Palace of Westminster via public transit 
• 27 minutes to National Gallery via public transit
• 30 minutes to Buckingham Palace via public transit
• 40 minutes to Tate Modern via public transit
• 40 minutes to Tower of London via public transit
• One hour to Gatwick Airport via public transit

Rooms are individually decorated in a sophisticated, contemporary style, often featuring earthy neutral tones, wood furniture, and sage-green accents. Neutral beige tiled bathrooms tend to be compact, but they're outfitted with granite sinks, LED lighting, and walk-in rainfall showers. Entry-level rooms are the most basic decor-wise, and can also be quite tiny (not for London in particular, but for a hotel at this pearl level). Higher-category rooms add more space, plush accents like button-tufted headboards and velvety fabrics, and other extras like separate showers and baths or furnished balconies.

All rooms are air conditioned and include desks with work chairs, safes, and coffee/tea service (electric kettles), and irons and ironing boards. There are mini-fridges, but no minibars snacks. Rooms also offer thoughtful details, like a selection of magazines ("National Geographic," "Time Out London"). LCD TVs have media hubs and Wi-Fi is free, though guests sometimes complain the service is spotty in rooms. Bathrooms have hairdryers and free individual toiletries. 

The amenities here -- which many central London hotels lack -- are part of what bump this property above the pack. The Terrace Restaurant is a fine-dining establishment serving seasonal dishes using local ingredients. The restaurant also serves afternoon tea and features some nice outdoor terrace seating right along the street. There's a sophisticated bar and lounge off the lobby and a pleasant breakfast room. A basic continental breakfast is included in the room rate, but for guests who stay more than a night the static menu can get old. A hot breakfast is available for an extra fee.

The hotel also has a small but nice exercise room with weightlifting equipment, dumbbells, medicine balls, and three cardio machines (an elliptical, treadmill, and stationary bike). 

There are three meeting and event rooms and Wi-Fi throughout is free, though guests sometimes complain about poor connections in rooms. The front desk is open 24-hours, and the hotel offers concierge services, laundry service, and room service (limited hours).