Hotel Russell Review

This week just gone my company happened to send me to my second favourite city in the world so far (Los Angeles is my first) LONDON! As I would be based on Tottenham Court Road for three days, the company booked me into a nearby hotel... Hotel Russell is a 373 bedroom situated in the picturesque Russell Square, not a five minute journey from the Russell Square tube station. Upon walking into the hotel, I genuinely thought my company had made a mistake and thought that a director was going to London instead of me, because it was so grand and majestic!

*Impressive, right?*

As I walked up the steps to enter the hotel, a doorman held the door open for me and welcomed me inside. Upon stepping through the doors I found one of the most beautifully decorated lobbies I have ever seen in a hotel. The mosaic floors, the sparkling chandeliers and the traditionally decorated Christmas tree contributed to the warm and luxurious atmosphere and I automatically felt at home.

*So pretty!*

*I definitely want one of these for my bedroom*

After checking in and paying the (reasonable) £12 for my breakfast for the next day, I headed up to my sixth floor room where I was greeted with the most unique and sweet room I've stayed in thus far. Plus deep red carpets lined the floor with matching bedding and pillows providing that extra attention to detail that you would expect from a £179 hotel room. Something I found to be quite unusual was the fact that I had a single bed as opposed to the usual double. However, I'm not complaining because the rest of the hotel more than made up for the lacking few inches of mattress width!

*This is what the room looked like before I properly make myself at home and made the whole thing as messy as my bedroom back home...*

*I love the decor. Although it is undoubtedly mis-matched I think it looks so gorgeous*

*This was the view from my bedroom... Look, you can see the BT Tower!*

*Russell Square look so very picturesque with all the frost sitting on it*

*I went to explore my bathroom which I found to be surprisingly large, which works for me as I spend so long getting ready in the bathroom in the morning!*

*The shower was really powerful and easy to control in terms of temperature... call me an idiot, but this is something that I often struggle with!*

*I took a quick snap of the toiletries I got provided with. I had a shower gel, shampoo, body lotion and shower cap. As a matter of interest, I didn't find any of these products to be of very good quality... the shower gel and shampoo didn't really lather and none of the products smelt particularly nice although they didn't smell bad either. However, as someone who loves really strong smelling toiletries, this bothered me a little but is practically the only blemish on my stay at Hotel Russell*

It was nearly time for bed and I hadn't eaten or showered yet, so I opted for room service. I called down to reception and ordered the hot cheese and tomato baguettes and a tonic water. I took a twenty minute shower and by the time I'd dried off and gotten into my pyjamas I had a knock on the door, paid the £19 room service bill and settled down to eat. Sadly, I found that my 'hot' baguette simply was not hot, but on calling down to reception the hotel manager called back within minutes with his sincerest apologies. He asked if I wanted another sandwich and told me he'd give me my money back too. He dealt with me very efficiently and respectfully, so top marks Hotel Russell.

*My sandwich was lovely even though it was cold*

After a good night's sleep I headed down for breakfast. The breakfast room looked like small ballroom with a nice big open fire. Again, the room was appropriately decorated from Christmas which put me in such a happy festive mood. The clientèle in the breakfast room appeared to be well-to-do tourists from both inside and outside of the UK. I didn't notice many children... in fact the youngest person I saw in the hotel throughout my three days there was maybe 25 years old. Then again, this could be due to the price tag on a room which I'm sure not many under 25s could afford. The atmosphere was so friendly and almost as soon as I sat down I was offered a steaming hot teapot. The breakfast buffet was literally fantastic and set me up for the rest of the day!

*Another pretty tree! I love the colour scheme*

*There was a variety of fruits on offer including prunes, apples, pears, oranges, pineapple and more. Beside the fruit was a couple of different types of yoghurt*

*The bread and pastry section had white and brown rolls, croissants, pains au chocolat and muffins amongst other things*

*There was everything which you would expect as part of a full English breakfast... Eggs (both fried and scrambled), mini hash-browns, fried bread, black pudding...*

*...two types of sausage, bacon, beans, mushrooms, chopped and grilled tomatoes and so on. Plus, there was ketchup, brown sauce and mustard for those that want a bit more flavour. My sauce addiction was satisfied*

 

*My favorite area of the buffet was the cold section which included continental meats and cheeses, smoked mackerel, and a variety of cereals and muesli*

*This was plate on the first day. Each day I tried something different and I can honestly say that everything was very tasty, fresh and hot. I didn't even need lunches while I was at work because I was still so stuffed! Not bad for just £12, is it?*

The surrounding area of the hotel is great. Although I was in Central London due to the beautiful Russell Square I felt at times like I was staying in some kind of country area. The tube station is literally next door so you can be anywhere in the centre of London in a matter of minutes and if you are interested in walking (as I apparently am) you can be at Oxford Street in twenty minutes by foot. Furthermore, there are numerous restaurants within a five minute radius of the hotel that are really reasonably priced... my friend and I found a little independently-owned Italian restaurant where I managed to get a huge plate of pasta for just £8.

The general atmosphere of this hotel is very comforting and made me feel like I was someone special being treated to luxury. Even though the hotel is large and has been open for quite some time, the customer service was top notch and the attitude of the staff was reminiscent of that which you would expect from those in a brand new boutique hotel, working hard to impress new customers. My stay at Hotel Russell was a very pleasant one, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a well-located London hotel and I hope to return very soon.

Have you ever heard of this hotel? What would you have chose from the extensive breakfast buffet? Would you stay at Hotel Russell having read this review?

Love and snuggles
GabriellaSofia
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