City Inn Westminster, London Review

The City Inn Westminster is ideally located in the centre of the city a short walk from Millbank, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and central London. It is off the beaten track, but for people who don’t mind trading a short walk for relative peace and quiet, it’s ideal.

Externally, the hotel is modern with smooth lines built of steel and glass. This theme is repeated inside with a consistent modern feel throughout. Overall, the architecture and design is completely modern, without seeming cold or minimalist.

The front desk staff are extremely helpful and friendly, willing to assist in any way without being overbearing. The service throughout was polite, efficient and gave the impression of a well oiled machine. Waiting staff were polite and respectful without coming across as obsequious, which is a difficult, but important, balance to strike. They cope with being busy very well, as the hotel gets very busy.

The rooms are modern, clean and airy with an iMac as the entertainment system. This novel approach adds to the quality feel of the room. It offered free internet, free WiFi, free in house movies, and the usual TV channels. The ability to email home, surf the internet for attractions or events is a useful one. You can even print from the computer and collect it from reception. We used that a bit when staying. We printed out itineraries before leaving. A simple, but incredibly useful feature.

The standard room, which we had on our first stay at City Inn, is okay but nothing that will blow you away. For our second visit, (yes it is that good) we were upgraded to a suite. I’m glad we were, as the bed and pillows were incredibly comfortable. The bathroom was a bit on the small side in the Standard, not so in the suite. In the suite there is a full-sized bath and a separate shower cubicle. The towels are huge and there are his and hers robes as well.

The rest of the suite was equally well appointed. There is ample storage for clothing, an ironing board and a hair dryer. You have plenty of space to walk around and a large window from which to take in the views. We stayed on the 5th floor, which gave us a great view of the Thames and the City. It allowed us to get a real flavour of the city.

The standards of cleanliness were very high. Even in the public areas, everything was spotless. We didn’t see the cleaning staff, so they must only come out at night or when nobody is looking. It gave the hotel a polished, professional look that adds a lot to the feeling of quality.

The room included continental breakfast, which was a decent spread of bread rolls, cheeses, meats, cereals, and fresh fruit. If I had to pick holes, I would say that the coffee wasn’t of a particularly high standard, and the toast seemed perpetually cold, even when freshly made. The restaurant does dinner too, but we didn’t try it.

A word of advice for those staying over the weekend is to get to breakfast early. It was really busy on the Sunday morning.Even when busy, the staff are polite and helpful.Our server made sure we had everything we needed even though the room was full of other guests. That’s the mark of a true professional in my book.

Overall, I think the City Inn Westminster is a great place to stay. It isn’t too pricey but provides excellent value for money. Once inside you would be forgiven for thinking it was a much more expensive hotel. The staff are professional, efficient and courteous and we wanted for nothing.

The standard rooms, while not outstanding were perfectly adequate and scrupulously clean. The suite we had was much better, offering a truly excellent place to stay. The view was great, the bed was amazingly comfortable and there was very little noise from either outside, or the other rooms.