It seemed to offer a good mix of a nice boutique hotel in a good location but at a decent price given the last-minute booking. I was interested to see what this boutique hotel had to offer.

*Unsponsored review

Finding a decent way to spend New Year’s Eve is usually a tricky one – especially when you live in a big city. The choice tends to fall broadly into one of two camps. Either you decide to go out-out and find an event to attend where you can get dressed up and party the night away in style. Running the risk of spending tonnes of money for a night that doesn’t quite seem to live up to expectations. Or you opt to stay at home. Grab something bubbly to ring in the new year, watch the fireworks from the comfort of your living room and be in bed by 12:30am! Right up until 30^th December, the latter was my preference to see in 2023 as after weeks searching I couldn’t find an event that made me want to dress up and head out. And then..FOMO hit. 9.00am on the 30^th December came around and I decided in a split second that I wanted to do something ‘fun’ for the new year outside of my (perfectly formed and which I love) small flat.  So then came the rush to find somewhere to stay in central London so that we could experience the fireworks and the general buzz of NYE in the city – bring in the new year London style. The only problem. We had no hotel.

So I set about searching for a hotel that wouldn’t break the bank but that was still centrally located. After a morning of searching, we settled on the Ampersand hotel which is located in South Kensington, London. It seemed to offer a good mix of a nice boutique hotel in a good location but at a decent price given the last-minute booking. I was interested to see what this boutique hotel had to offer.  

The room

Booking so close to our stay we had few options of rooms to chose from and so we opted for a superior room. We were allocated a room on the ground floor which I’m not always a fan of but given it was only a one-night stay and it was a raised ground floor it ended up being a non issue. The room was small – even just for just two people but on the flipside a lot of attention to detail has been paid to the room to make sure that you have (almost) everything that you could need in the room (see my video review at the end of this article).

The bed was a king size bed with one of the biggest headboards I think I’ve ever seen, and although we found it comfortable, it was very soft which may not be to everyone’s liking. To the left of the bed was the wardrobe with a safe for valuables, a full length mirror and plenty of hangers. A great thing about this hotel room is that there’s no searching around for plug sockets. There are plenty of options in the room including USB chargers for your phone.

When booking, I requested a room with a bath / shower rather than just a standalone shower which they did allocate to us on check-in and I have to say the bathroom was my favourite aspect of the room! They offer one of the best amenity kits I’ve seen in a hotel – even better than some of the very fancy hotels we’ve stayed in, and yep, that includes the Bulgari hotel. You’re given a body loofah, make up removers, L’Occitane toiletries, fluffy towels, slippers and robes. The shower pressure was good, and it had a rain head shower as well as a hand held option. The pièce de resistance? The underfloor heating in the bathroom. A dream for cold feet after a day out in the rain pounding the London streets.

An extra plus was that all the soft drinks in the mini bar were free. The only downside I could find was that no iron / ironing board was provided in the room as standard but this was a minor point as it was easily requested but it’s always nice to not have to. Also, as usual the air con was a little tricky to figure out and so we ended up switching it off in the end.

Service

Check-in was swift and uncomplicated. I don’t remember his name but there was a lovely gentleman that showed us to our room and gave us a great run down of all of the different amenities the room had to offer. We didn’t order anything, but the hotel also offers room service and can help to plan activities for special occasions if needed.

Anything else…

Given the lengthen of our stay we didn’t eat in the hotel. However, I have heard that the afternoon tea is good. They also do themed afternoon teas, some with kids in mind and so this could be worth checking out. It’s also in a great spot, right opposite South Kensington tube station, close to some of the best museums in London such as the science museum and a short stroll to Hyde Park.

Verdict:

I must admit that I had fairly low expectations for this hotel. Booking so close to our stay and with few options to choose from, on any other day I’m not sure I would have chosen this hotel. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Between the location and the little touches this boutique hotel offers, our stay here was the perfect little luxury to close out 2022.

Average room cost per night:

Rates from £240 per night.

Watch the video review

Looking for another getaway hotel? Take a look at our review of the Galgorm Resort & Spa in Northern Ireland.