Hotel Russell, London

We booked this hotel online while searching for something close to the Covent Garden area. This was our first trip to London and it looked like most of the attractions that we wanted to visit in the evenings, were within walking distance from the hotel. We weren't mistaken.

From the airport, the Picadilly line brought us straight to Russell Square station which is not even a 2 minute walk to the hotel. We booked the shopping package which included full breakfast buffet and a 20pound Harrods shopping card.

The building is absolutely beautiful and staff were very helpful. However, being used to hotels in India, South East Asia, USA, Africa and the Middle East, we were horrified when we first looked into the room. It was so tiny! The bathroom was bigger than the bedroom! The bed was pushed into a corner, so when sharing a bed, one person has to literally jump over the other if they need to wake up at night. However, after subsequent hotel stays in Europe, we realised that the room was a fair size for its location.

Location was wonderful. The train station is next door. the Big Bus stop is less than 3 minute walk. We took an Evan Evans tour to Stonehenge and their pick up location was in a hotel opposite the dining room. The British Museum is less than a 7 minute walk. Kings Cross station is about 12 minutes walk. And the walks are wonderful, around these historic buildings and lovely gardens. We were really lucky on our August trip as it was bright weather throughout.

Breakfast buffet had a huge spread of hot and cold items. tea, coffee and toast is served at your seat. The dining hall is very busy, so you need to mind your belongings as you really can't expect the staff to keep an eye with so much going on.

Plenty of restaurants in the area, we discovered a couple of really lovely Italian family run places that served outstanding food until quite late at night (11pm). There are a couple of 24 hour stores around, if you want to pick up crisps and drinks.

We absolutely loved the hotel and the only reason we did not stay here on our September trip was because we wanted to explore another part of the city.

Also published on TripAdvisor.com