Disclosure: We received a reduced media rate and free breakfast during our stay. We were not required to write about our stay and as always, our opinions are our own.
Last week I wrote about how we prepared our kids for the long trip to London and Paris from Seattle. Today, I want to shift gears and share how we navigated our first few days and (jet-lagged) nights in London with kids. The modern, luxury London hotel, The Metropolitan London Hotel by COMO was a great place to start our #welltraveledfamily European vacation. Located in Mayfair, just on the edge of Hyde Park, it was extremely accessible to everything on our agenda for a jam-packed three days of sightseeing.
On just a few hours sleep, we arrived and our rooms were ready. The service was impeccable and we immediately felt like we had a home base to rest up and explore London with two young kids. While we also enjoyed our apartment living on our trip, I recommend starting your stay in a new city at a full-service hotel to get your bearings, enjoy the comforts of being pampered at a luxury hotel and leverage the resources and connections of a skilled hotel concierge.
Here are a few highlights from our stay at The Metropolitan London.
We loved the connecting rooms, comfy beds and were delighted to see just how spacious these rooms were at The Metropolitan. Definitely ample space for us to sleep well and spread out. And did I mention that they had the Wii all set up? Perfect way for Mom and Dad to take a quick parent power nap upon arrival to beat jet-lag while the kids (who slept most of the trip), got to jump around a bit and decompress in the other room.
The Metropolitan London has every little detail figured out for families and feels posh, without being pretentious. The concierge team was also extremely helpful in helping us maximize a busy three days of touring London, by allowing us to pre-pay for our London sightseeing tour, Tower of London tickets and charge them to our room. This saved us precious hours standing in line at the gate.
We were looking for a luxury London hotel that was walkable to many of the tourist sights. The central Mayfair location of The Metropolitan London proved to be optimal for our family. There was a hop-on-hop-off London tour bus stop right across the street, the bus stop right outside our window at the hotel (with a small but awesome balcony BTW), and the Hyde Park Corner London Underground [Map here] station a short walk under the pedestrian underpass. Use your London hotel concierge to pre-pay for busy attractions such as London sightseeing tours, Tower of London and museum tickets.
After our power nap, the valet hailed us a black taxi to take in a few sights before dark.
Our room package included a fresh, daily breakfast downstairs in the Nobu Restaurant. We sampled everything from fresh fruit and coffee, to a traditional English breakfast of blood sausage and eggs. We unfortunately didn’t have time to sample dinner at this Michelin-starred, Japanese-Peruvian restaurant, but plan to on our return visit!
After traveling long distances, sometimes it’s the little things that matter most. Like a luxurious shower that drowns you like a rainforest.
For me, it was the dreamy, signature scent of COMO Shambhala Spa lotions, shower gels and candles that exude fragrances of eucalyptus, geranium, lavender and peppermint. This scent permeates the lobby and hallways of the hotel and I loved it so much that I divided up a large lotion bottle in my carry on luggage into all my 3 ounce bottles and bought a candle from the gift shop. Now every time I light the candle, or put on the lotion, it reminds me of our trip. This is where scratch-n-sniff blogging would be super helpful!
There are so many great London luxury hotels. What is your favorite place to stay in London with kids? Do you prefer an apartment over a hotel and why? Leave us a comment and share!