Seeing as I arrived by train at St Pancras station from Paris, I figured I might as well save myself the hassle and stay at the Rennaissance St Pancras, which is part of what used to be the old station building. The St Pancras is a Marriot Bonvoy property.
The location of the hotel is excellent. The British museum is in walking distance and there is a tube station literally just down the road.
There are two wings to the hotel. The Chambers wing is in the old building. The centrepiece of which is a very grand old staircase that doesn’t look unlike the oppulent staircases I’ve seen at Fontainebleau or Versailles.
So, of course I’ve decided to stay in the old Chambers wing. My room is very spacious. Even though it’s not what I booked, I’ve been given a wheelchair accessible room. So I’m not sure if this is the standard size of a room in the Chambers wing, or if I just got lucky.
The design of the furniture is nice, and the room feels comfortable. But I think that gradually it’s starting to show its age. The bathroom is large and spacious. Of course, being an accessible room there is no bath. But that suits me just fine.
As in probably most hotels in London and the UK, there are tea and coffee making facilities in the room. What I do find a bit odd though, and not just a bit cheap, is that there is a Nespresso coffee machine and even a Nespresso coffee box next to it. But the capsules inside it are not Nespresso, but some other brand. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a coffee snob, I’m not even particularly fond of Nespresso. But I do think it’s more than just a bit shabby of the hotel to “pretend” they’re offering Nespresso to their guests in the rooms, when in fact it’s clearly not. I’m also not sure what Nespresso would have to say about this either.
Other than that, the staff at the hotel seemed a bit disoriented and were obviously not very well trained. For example, I only found out by accident after I checked in that my rate gave me access to the member’s lounge, which the guy at reception was oblivious to.
Access to the lounge is through the restaurant, The Booking Office. Funny thing is though, when I wanted to get a drink from the lounge before I headed out, the young lady at the restaurant’s reception had no idea about the lounge and wouln’t let me in.
All in all, the St Pancras wasn’t a bad place to stay. I don’t think it was so overwhelming though that I’d definitely stay here again in future.
knightofmalta 