Ember Locke, Kensington — Hotel in London

When I arrived I immediately felt like I was transported to somewhere in the Mediterranean! There’s a lovely row of green trees lining the road outside. You see beautiful plants and greenery all around the hotel welcoming you into Ember Locke. The interior design and decor is exquisite. There’s a seamless flow from outside to inside and the space feels integrated with the surrounding environment.

Location The location is excellent. The Mosaic Rooms contemporary art gallery and cultural centre is right beside the hotel (by the corner in front of traffic lights) and has a wonderful bookshop worth checking out. Leighton House, the Design Museum, the V&A and other museums are all near by. Earls Court Station is an approx. 5 minute walk away.

Customer experience The gentleman at the front desk was polite and friendly. He stored our bags prior to check-in and then brought them up to our room for us which was very kind. Isabel and Jess were wonderful to speak with and a credit to the hotel.

The check-in process itself (with other members of staff) took longer than expected and didn’t make for a seamless arrival. I wonder if new staff are still undergoing training.

An early check-in / late check-out was not available to us during our stay.

Hotel room The decor of the room was excellent. I particularly appreciated the hidden luggage storage space under the bed.

In terms of lighting, the room was dark and additional lighting or floor lamps would highly improve the space, particularly where the living area is. For the cost of the room reservation itself, the least you’d expect are working lights and bulbs:

• The dark-green tasseled lampshade over the kitchen table was not functional due to a missing lightbulb.

• The wall light next to the mirror was dim and flickering by the end of our stay (video attached).

There was a small window with a lovely view of trees. It might also be a nice touch to add small plants into the hotel rooms themselves.

Amenities All the amenities needed were there (kitchen utensils, cleaning products). The bespoke Kinsey-Apothecary designed toiletries were lovely and ones you’d love to purchase for your own home!

Bathroom slippers and robes are not provided upon request (other Locke hotels offer this).

Noise disturbance We experienced construction noise on the morning of our last day.

Lost property Once I’d arrived back home, I realised I’d left a book that is of sentimental value to me in my hotel room. I appreciated the helpful staff who confirmed via WhatsApp that they located my book and stored it in their lost & found ready for collection.

I don’t live in London so arranged for a friend who happened to be in London to collect it for me in person. I texted the hotel the evening before and the staff informed me via WhatsApp that it could be collected any time and there isn’t a closing time.

That said, my friend travelled all the way over London to collect my book from Ember Locke. When she arrived it wasn’t available for collection, as promised by the hotel.

The hotel called me unexpectedly at 9pm requesting a second description of my book (I’d already provided this information a week before and had been notified it was being kept safely ready for collection at any time).

My friend had went out of her way to collect it for me that evening and was then sent away empty handed by the front desk. They couldn’t find where they had stored my book and then said it was locked in a building next door and would only be available tomorrow morning; contrary to their previous correspondence.

With thanks to Isabel, the super lovely manager at Ember Locke for contacting me personally and arranging for my book to be shipped out to me the next day. It was a pleasure to speak with Isabel. I was so pleased with her impressive and excellent customer service. She really went above and beyond to ensure that my lost properly was returned to me. I appreciated her calm and lovely demeanor and positive attitude. She deserves a raise for her 5-star service. Thanks very...

I stayed here in late September and was really impressed with the quality of the service, the amenities and the property itself. The hotel is well-decorated, lending a cool city atmosphere. The staff is kind and helpful. They assisted us with bringing our heavy suitcases in on arrival and provided a through overview of the hotel amenities, including how to get help in our room (through WhatsApp).

The room was small but cozy, clean and well-designed. There are blackout curtains that pull across the kitchen area to separate it from the sleeping area if needed. The kitchenette has two burners, a fridge and a deep sink (great for cleaning in a small space). The kitchen had everything we needed, even small, single-use paper packets with salt, pepper, sugar. There was even milk for the (organic) tea!

In bed, we were easily able to watch Netflix with Chromecast. The bed was comfortable, and the adjustable thermostat kept the room at a good temperature for sleep. The walls seem well-insulated as we did not hear any neighbours although it was clear there were many other guests on our floor. We also did not hear any road noise!

We had drinks at the bar and the wine selection and mocktails were excellent. The coffee at the cafe was on par with any great coffee shop in the city.

The laundry room was well-arranged with laundry detergent (although I brought my own) and new appliances. It was easy to access and I was grateful to be able to easily do some laundry on our week-long stay. I did not use the gym, but it looked clean and well-equipped.

The location of the hotel can’t be beat, right in the heart of Kensington and close to shops, a metro and bus station.

Finally, the front desk staff collected several packages for me and sent me WhatsApp messages when they arrived. They also collected a grocery delivery - very useful!

My only complaints - quite minor - are that the shower sometimes did not drain very well and that the elevator could be cleaned more often, as the flooring quickly showed footprints.

In total, I would highly recommend the Ember Locke and look forward to staying here on my next trip to London!

Update November 2024: I still really love this hotel and would stay here again. However, some things have changed from my last stay in September 2023.

The bar is gone - this is such a loss, as the hotel had the best bar I’d seen at a hotel at this level. Now they only offer disappointing pizza, bad wine and four cocktails (and when I was here, they couldn’t make three of those because they were out of vermouth).

The housecleaning didn’t restock tea and sugar and bathroom products, which was disappointing for a two-week stay. By the end we were running out of soap and toilet paper. Also no salt and pepper was provided for the kitchen, so we had to buy our own. Last year that was provided.

Overall, the hotel is still nice and worth the price. The staff are really great and helpful. But if these few things would be changed, it would really help to...

Ember Locke- very bare bones. I did NOT realize this was essentially a self service hotel meaning- no room cleaning, no room trash pick up, no fresh towels... no service what so ever. ||I stayed there with my best friend 4 nights and five days. I had to go down to the front desk twice to request toilet paper. Each time they would only give me a single roll each time- stingy. I had to request a fresh towel twice in order to get one. There one was VERY small recycling and trash can in the room. Trash filled up very quickly. I asked the front desk where I could dispose of it and they said put it in the hallway. I did but the next morning it was still there. It took 24 hours for it to be taken away. ||If you did wanted sheets changed or room cleaned you had to pay for it. ||Each room had two cups, two plates, two forks, two very shallow bowls. The dish towel provided smelled sour. There was a washing machine on premise but you had to download an app to use it and pay (per front desk) 5 pounds each use (that's 7 USD). ||Soap in room lasted one day then ran out as bottle was not full. This was considered part of housekeeping and was not refilled. ||For this reason I didn't love it- I didn't realize that it was "self service" at the cost of a proper hotel. ||That said the design was cute although it will soon need a refresh by whatever firm they used. Rugs and curtains in lobby are looking tattered. ||TV had a decent amount of channels but heads up they are all in English for any international travels. Good assortment of news, special channels and movie channels. ||This hotel is trying to turn a higher profit by cutting corners and not actually caring about in room experience. ||Lastly, there are steps leading up to the hotel which is very hard for heavy luggage and no one to help. The chair lift (for those who cannot use steps did NOT work). Although GB does not have any laws similar to ADA in the US this was a poor look. ||The best part was George at the front desk he was the super star of the property and a fabulous person. ||Mattress was firm, pillows very flat. ||Overall I would only stay here again if it was around 200 GBP a night not 400+. Value is not there for cost. Go somewhere that understands what...