REVIEW: Club Quarters, Trafalgar, London

Sue Perkins presiding at the Awards

I went to London for the Museum and Heritage Awards last week. Sadly, we didn’t win, but I did get to stay at the Club Quarters in Trafalgar. It was such a fabulous hotel that I thought a review was in order, so you can consider staying there yourself. It is luxurious and offers fabulous service.

The hotel is situated at 8 Northumberland Avenue, about 2 minutes walk from Charing Cross station. So essentially, you couldn’t hope for a more centrally located spot. Looking up the road, Nelson’s Column and Trafalgar Square is plainly visible. And although it’s in such a thriving, busy area, the hotel itself is peaceful and tranquil. Club Quarters has 17 locations worldwide, all of them in absolutely stonking prime locations.

I was greeted on arrival by Bilge, the receptionist. She was smartly dressed, friendly and efficient and really couldn’t do enough for me to make sure I had everything I needed. Sadly all of the standard rooms with a view of Big Ben had gone by the time I arrived, but she still put me in a room with an excellent view out over London. I also discovered that (as I am an idiot) I had forgotten my hairbrush, and she immediately found me a comb from the hotel stocks, which she gave to me for free. Checking in and out is really simple as they have fast machines which save a lot of hassle. The keycards are neat and work well, although I stupidly put mine next to my ipod with its magnetic fastener which meant I wiped the data and had to return it to reception to get it reprogrammed (I went to reception a lot it seems).

My room was a decent size, beautifully furnished and spotlessly clean. The bed was comfortable and the facilities in the room were awesome – free wifi throughout the hotel, plenty of charge points (including wall fitted USB chargers), good sized TV, a comfortable workstation, nice quality tea and coffee making facilities and even a selection of books, some about exploring London and some general fiction, which I thought was a lovely touch.

Each floor has a purified water dispenser, with bottles to allow you to take it away with you as you explore the city. At these areas there are also cupboards which have additional resources that you might need – extra supplies of tea and coffee, ironing boards and the like. You can also ask to borrow an ipad, if you don’t want the hassle of bringing your own laptop and they offer complimentary sleep kits, fitness room access and you can even have yoga kit delivered to your room!

The bathroom had a spacious shower and meticulously clean fittings. There was a wide range of high quality toiletries which meant I had a very relaxing shower! I think you can tell a lot about a hotel by the quality of these products, and the vast selection that I was given left me spoiled for choice.

Drinks and snacks in the Living Room

My favourite aspect of the hotel was the Club Members Living Room, which is a really cosy space stuffed full of books and comfy chairs. It is a great place to relax or to work.They offer drinks and snacks throughout the way and my top tip is to head there for your coffee as the machine is brilliant and makes a fab latte. They have proper mugs as well as takeaway cups with lids available. I found this really handy for grabbing a cup of tea to take out with me in the morning, and the cereal bars that had been laid out in the morning were a great snack.

The Living Room also has a television, powerpoints and chairs with laptop stands for comfortable working. If you haven’t brought a computer, there are also freely available workstations if you want to jump online to check your email or boast to your friends what a lovely hotel you are staying in!

Living Room

I think that the hotel is sort of separate, although still associated with, the rest of 8 Northumberland Avenue. Their ballroom was where our awards were held and I think it’s just worth mentioning the delicious food we were served during the event, which I thoroughly enjoyed, especially the guinea fowl main. All served in truly opulent surroundings, I was very impressed with the whole thing. There is also a brasserie on site, in case you fancy a meal or alcoholic drink while you were there. The deco of this is classic London brasserie – understated, but classic.

Souffle starter

Guinea fowl main

Trio of desserts

Naturally, Club Quarters is really made for its member organisations, and these guests receive additional services and facilities. However, that said I did not feel like a received a second class service as an individual guest. You can book rooms on the Club Quarters website from around £190 per night for a standard room. Happily, we got a reduced rate as I was attending the awards, but either way it is still excellent value for such a high quality of accommodation in Central London. I looked all around for an alternative (cheaper) hotel in the same area and simply couldn’t find anything that would beat the rate and mean that I didn’t have to travel across London on my own in the middle of the night!

I would give Club Quarters Trafalgar 10 Extreme Points out of 10, because I simply couldn’t find an area to criticise! The facilities, the service, the ambience and the decor meant that this was an excellent stay in a prime location. Faultless!