Rafayel on the Left Bank, London Review

The Hotel Rafayel in London is a five-star venue on the banks of the river Thames. It is a little way out of the centre, with the nearest tube being Clapham Junction. Don’t let the location put you off, this is an excellent place to stay, and the hotel provides a shuttle service to get you to the tube station.

The hotel itself is a new building with modern architecture and fittings. The lobby is light and spacious with polished floors and surfaces everywhere. The décor is very modern, with the only curves being the columns supporting the ceiling. Everything is square with defined corners and edges, and this look pervades the entire building.

All the rooms and suites are river-themed. There are the Mississippi, Yangtze, Amazon, Thames and Nile accommodation at varying levels. We had a Nile suite, which was large and had a river frontage. The floor to ceiling windows gave us an excellent view of the river and was a great scene to wake up to.

"With excellent service, friendly staff, helpful concierge, the Rafayel hotel has a winning formula"

The rest of the room was very well appointed. The décor and furnishing continues the modern theme throughout and is done very well indeed. The sleeping and living areas were combined, but not in a squashed or space-intensive way. There was plenty of space to go round.

Decoration was light and neutral with dark wood furniture. Like the lobby, everything was squared, and quite masculine. The overwhelming feature of the room was the light and the view. They really made the experience.

The bathroom was equally spacious, with high quality fixtures and fittings throughout. It had a separate bath and walk-in shower, twin sinks and an LCD TV over the bath. Everything was spotlessly clean and the products plentiful. The room itself was almost as large as the living area, and gave a great feeling of space.

Unusually for a city hotel, the Rafayel has a car park on site. This adds extra utility to those driving anywhere. Add to this the excellent service, friendly staff, helpful concierge and you have a winning hotel formula. We would happily stay in the Rafayel hotel again when we’re next this side of the river.