Conrad London St. James — Attraction in London

I've wanted to stay here for such a long time now and I specifically flew in to London so I could finally get the chance! I am a collector of Conrad and Waldorf plush toys and knew that Monty the bulldog was a dream plush to collect! I reached out to guest services prior to my visit and they held one aside for me. Unfortunately, they only had one, so my guest was unable to go home with his very own.

CHECK IN * I arrived to the property around 1 PM and knew that early check-in might not be possible. Still, I figured I would at least try to see if it was ready and if there were any complimentary upgrades. They unfortunately did not have any prior to my arrival nor by the time I checked in, but they were able to let me into the executive lounge while I waited for my room. The bell desk also took my baggage during this time.

KING DELUXE ROOM * The room itself is quite nice, though a bit subtle in color. It features a king size bed with a view of the underground (I was in room 518), separate bath and shower, and branded robes but plain slippers. I believe there were 2 glasses of complimentary waters as well.

I believe they also provided me with a touch of chocolates as I let them know it was my birthday and by the time I checked in to the room, they had also brought my luggage in.

EXECUTIVE LOUNGE * Truly one of the better lounges I've been to, but no surprise for a Conrad hotel.

The breakfast spread had scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, and an assortment of fruits, granola, and pastries (like pain au chocolat, mini croissants) for you to choose from.

They also have a small selection of cold and hot drinks that are in glass bottles like still and sparkling water, sodas, and beer/wine for the afternoon service.

The coffee and tea machine has a decent selection as well and you can brew a teapot on your own.

The afternoon service includes light refreshments. I enjoyed the smoked salmon and cocktails, and overall it was a decent light snack.

One of the best features of the executive lounge is that they have 2 separate toilets with a walk-in shower. It really helped to be able to shower right after landing, because my room wasn't ready yet and I was able to explore the town quickly.

OVERALL * Overall, I had a short but rather enjoyable stay. I felt that for the experience I had, it definitely warranted 4 stars but could have been improved by the customer service. Though I felt that they made efforts to accommodate me as early as possible, the housekeeping was rushed and the bath amenities had no product in them, and it was a bit disappointing that Monty was just left on the nightstand covered in plastic with a box of chocolates that I had no idea was for anything celebratory as there was no handwritten note. I understand that this is a bit nitpicky, but felt that the overall tone of customer service could have been improved.

However, despite all things, I still had a lovely time and hope to return in the future and am still appreciative of their collective...

My partner and I stayed using a gift purchased for us. Positives - the staff overall, on the front desk and those we saw around the hotel were very warm, helpful and polite. The room was clean and had a bath, separate shower and separate toilet. Large lit mirror in the bathroom and a good sized TV if you are looking to relax in your room. The bed was comfortable and plenty of pillows. The issues - there is a green light that is very bright in the dark in the bed area - i suspect the fire / smoke detector - the phone was extremely bright but i put some clothes on top of that to block it out but the green light really caused issues with my sleep even though i tried to cover my head with the duvet! It could have been located in the door way or behind a curtain but it was just too bright where they have located it. The other issue was breakfast - I suspect usually there would be a designated host to tick off your room number and explain the breakfast set up and seat you - on the day we visited (August) no one seemed to have a set job, there were a number of staff at breakfast but they all seemed to be doing multiple jobs and it just did not work. We sat down and there is a buffet but there is also a small menu that you can order items from but no one explained that. We kind of just waited and when we were offered juice or hot drinks we asked and were advised someone will come to see if we wish to order from the menu. It did take some time for another person to come, as it did for the coffee to arrive. It seemed to be a theme as a gentlemen behind us ordered an omelette and we ate our breakfast, drank our drinks and were leaving before he got his omelette. His companion also finished their breakfast and left before it came! I think it was forgotten as he did complain to several staff and someone checked an electronic order and asked him what omelette it was. We also witnessed a bit of a fracas behind us over toast, (a guy who had waited a long time and a table who sat down after him taking what seemed to be his order of toast) I noticed a gentlemen sitting alone further up that most staff seemed to be making a fuss over - don’t know who he was but the time some of them spent talking to him was causing issues within the restaurant. It seemed that if everyone had a set job to do it would have worked better but on this day they all seemed to be doing a bit of everything but not working as a team. It may just be after C-19, maybe the normal staff were not there, maybe some were training but it just seemed a bit chaotic. I would stay there again to see if it...

My second visit to the Conrad at St James, having previously stayed in October 2021. Last time I stayed they were mid refurb in the foyer but still managed to run it well. This time they were doing one of the restaurants but they had emailed us prior to warn us of this, giving us the opportunity to change hotels if it would have inconvenienced us. As it's London and there are literally hundreds of places we could eat at within a five minute walk, it didn't bother us. As Diamond members , following a fast, friendly and informative check in, we had an upgrade to a room above the level we'd booked and therefore a Junior Suite. The room was a good size (by London standards) and had both a bath and a separate shower. One of the things I gauge the quality of a hotel on is how well they anticipate needs, simple things such as "are there charging points by the bed, is there night lighting so that I can see the way to the loo in the middle of the night without first blinding myself?" The answer to both of these questions was a very happy "yes". The other thing was the swivelling TV that you could watch from the seating area or twist it to watch from bed if you desired. Also pleased to see that the miniature toiletries had been now replaced with fixed, large bottles. End of an era of millions of tiny bottles of half filled tiny bottles in landfills all over the world. The minibar was well stocked with a variety of soft drinks and alcohol and had complimentary (glass) bottled water. The exec lounge was excellent and was stocked with a fantastic range of soft drinks from peach juice and London Essence sparkling drinks such as Jasmine and peach to bottles of Coke. The food was superb, with scones with cream and jam, small finger sandwiches and lovely little cakes. Alcohol served from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. If you have access, you can choose a limited breakfast buffet in the lounge or full a la carte (or buffet) in the main restaurant. We opted for the full option with a bigger selection. The fresh fruit selection in individual bowls (as opposed to a kitchen mixed or worse still, canned fruit salad) had a never ending supply of strawberries, blueberries, melon, pineapple and others. Coffees are small cups but made fresh and brought to your table as opposed to you getting from a machine. Service was probably one of the best I've had in the world and comparable even to the Conrad Centennial in Singapore. A big thank you to Cherif in the breakfast restaurant who ensured we were well looked after (as well as everyone else in there!). (Review also to be posted on...