The Stafford London — Hotel in London

Our family (2 adults and 17 and 12 yo) chose to spend Christmas in London, a first for us to be away from home for the holidays but we were excited about the adventure. We chose The Stafford due to its amazing location and positive reviews. And we are so happy we did! Firstly the communication prior to the visit was warm and friendly, then we arrived to this beautiful place off a small side street that looked right out of a movie. Holiday lights glittering, Christmas trees in every corner and truly wonderful staff that handled everything with stealth grace. Where to begin:||- having arrived after 10pm (thanks to a delayed flight) we settled our bags and visited the American Bar on the main floor. An absolute gem, with comfy seating, delicious drinks and snacks, staff dressed in suits and dripping with ambience. In fact every corner of the hotel was so pretty. This isn't a cavernous cold hotel, it's intimate, cozy, gorgeous and very graceful. |- we had a wonderful breakfast the next day, so good I'd place it best ever! Think toast in silver toast holders and tea pots with delicious loose leaf blends and steamed milk for a splash in your coffee or tea!!!!! YES!! Between the 4 of us over the 5 days we had practically everything on the menu and it was all perfection.|- Christmas Eve we had dinner in the restaurant. It was about 5:30 and we made no plans and asked if we could eat there, the restaurant was booked for reservations but since we were staying they squeezed us in before a 7:30 reservation and the dinner was incredible. Full on Christmas feast with turkey and all the fixings! They offered us bread to start and this was no bread I'd ever eaten, it was so light, warm and fluffy absolutely delicious with butter presented so beautifully! And quite possibly the best sticky toffee pudding I ever ate. The staff are so attentive - David was friendly and absolutely lovely!|- We booked two rooms and our room placement could not have been better! It was the end of a hallway with a door that led to our 2 rooms opposite each other. Everyone had privacy but we could also leave our doors open, it could not have been better! Plus we had a little outdoor space, amazing! Beds were comfy, bathrooms had everything you wanted including a rain head shower (YES!)|- Our family celebrated Christmas before going on vacation and we did not think of bringing at least one small gift for the kids to open on Christmas Day, (oops) which made it all the more surprising and exciting when the staff of the hotel left 2 gifts and stockings for the kids in their room! I'm not joking! The kids LOVED their gifts they were so thoughtful almost like they were from an aunt or uncle who knew them well and the stockings had delicious treats plus the obligatory tangerine - priceless. We could not thank them enough for this thoughtfulness!|- One night after a full day of walking around we decided to order in room dinner and oh my goodness, amazing. Please order the 3 times cooked potatoes, we ordered it the night after as a pre dinner snack (LOL), they are potatoes which are boiled, steamed then fried. The best I've ever eaten, the burgers were amazing, Mac and cheese all of it - absolutely delicious! Our kids who are quite snobbish about their food LOVED everything. (as did we!)||Our family is usually adventurous and try not to stay at the same hotel twice BUT in this case we would not ever consider staying anywhere else in London. It's in a perfect location away from the hustle and bustle yet walking distance to all the action. ||The Stafford Team, our hats off to you and your generous hospitality, we cannot...

I'm reviewing the Afternoon Tea only.

An underwhelming experience. I should have trusted the earlier review that warned about the poor quality of the afternoon tea served at this hotel.

Let’s start with the positives. The tea room is elegant and spacious, furnished in a classic style that avoids being overly chintzy. Service was excellent. The cappuccino was well made, and the St James tea—smoky and evocative of leather car seats—was a real standout.

The finger sandwiches were fairly decent. The tomato and cheese, and the ham and cheese options were the most enjoyable. The coronation chicken sandwich, on the other hand, was the worst: too sweet, too watery, and lacking any real curry flavour. It was disappointing—and frankly, outdated. When was the last time anyone actually bought a coronation chicken sandwich? Exactly. We were hungry, so we reluctantly went back for seconds.

Then came the sweets—visually promising but ultimately a let-down. The highlights: the scones were excellent, as were the jam and clotted cream. Portions were small for two people, but they brought us more when we asked.

The purple daisy-shaped macaron was decent, but the rest of the limited selection fell flat. A white mouse with a pink hat was filled with bland, watery mousse and lacked any real flavour. A small biscuit topped with what I assume was a lemon-flavoured mousse (I couldn’t actually detect a distinct flavour) was finished with a white chocolate daisy. The plant pot dessert—complete with a ‘growing flower’—was nicely presented, but didn’t deliver the burst of flavour or element of surprise I was hoping for.

Ultimately, none of the sweet or savoury offerings justified the £78 per person price tag.

I simply don’t understand how they can justify such exorbitant prices for something so pedestrian, average in flavour, and limited in scope.

I left very...

When looking for a place to stay in London(our first time here), of course we wanted the best. We had only 1 night in London and wanted to make the most of it.

The location of The Stafford was close to everything we wanted to see and do while here.

We arrived just before noon. There was no wait, we wanted to drop our bags and explore the city before our evening dinner reservations. The lady in the front checked us in with ease. She said our room was already ready, a seemingly great start.

I specifically booked a “Carriage House Deluxe King Room.” As she is walking us to our room, she says “you’re in luck, you’re getting an upgrade.” Which sounds great, but it would’ve been nice if she told us at the front desk. I was caught off guard so I didn’t say anything. She brings us to a room across from the carriage house in the main house, 1st floor. But when you get into the room, there are stairs going down so you’re almost just in a basement.

The suite was spacious, more room than we honestly needed. It seemed outdated and just okay. It lacked natural light and a view. Overall was not impressed. I didn’t make a stink about it because we were eager to just explore the city anyway and not have to worry about the room.

Another thing was someone walked into our room without knocking and didn’t announce themselves. It was very odd and again, I didn’t bring it up at the time. The staff seemed unapproachable, so we honestly just scratched our heads in confusion. Hindsight, I should have said something.

I was already uncomfortable with our stay there so I didn’t see a point in checking out what the property had to offer.

Overall, a great location, but pricey and an underwhelming experience. I would stay at the other luxury hotel only a few steps away from this one next time we’re visiting.

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