HotelChatter

Room Reaction
The rooms are a little less glitzy, more traditional, but they still have cute touches like fussy lights; we saw one room with the bedside lamp masquerading as a tree branch with a pair of birds on it, and others with subtle pearl-encrusted lights on the ceilings. Don't be fooled, though - these are still highly traditional - just chic, not flouncy. The carpets are patterned, there are crystal decanters for your minibar purchases, and the furniture's plain; all the better for setting off the baby pink that you'll find on the notepaper and boxes of info sheets and toiletries.

What We Liked
The powers that be have taken a lot of trouble in the refurb. Not only have they nixed 50 rooms to make the suites larger (and they're really pretty large, with monster TVs and standalone baths in the bathrooms) but they've gone all out for soundproofing — recessing doors to cut out noise from the corridor, and even installing special drawers in the tables — however hard you whack them shut, they'll catch on themselves, bounce back a bit and shut quietly. All without making a peep.

A boon for those who like to work — instead of having to call down to the front desk when you forget your adapter, or go out and buy one, each room has a socket which takes US and European plugs as well (see it below). Also, on a geek note, there are some very cool new phones by Nortel, which allow you to check your flight times and cruise the stock market as well as call reception. Although they've not been wired up yet for the good stuff, when that happens (in the next couple of months), this will be a first for Europe.

Don't confuse it for a business hotel though: they've built a new wing, next door to the main hotel, to house conferences, which should do wonders in keeping the suit factor down. Nice work.

And for relaxation time, they're going to employ a "Book Butler", to whom you can describe your literary tastes upon booking, and you'll receive some books that should appeal to you in your room when you arive. A slight rip off of Andaz's Reader in Residence program, but a nice touch nonetheless. There's also a hefty tome on the history of the hotel in each room, which is yours to take.

What We Didn't Like
It may have been due to the fact that we viewed the suites first, but the standard twin room that we saw (photo below) was a bit on the small side for our liking. And although we loved the glitz in the rooms, we would have preferred Palm Court to look a bit more traditional; that room has to shoulder the history that comes with being the place where afternoon tea was invented, after all. Finally - to really quibble - the book butler idea is a wee bit cheeky. Surely they could have found something a bit more original to make hay with? How about a sleep concierge, or an artist in residence?

Bottom Line
If you keep your eyes on the sandwiches in Palm Court, this is a fantastic refurb; despite its big size (380 rooms), the rooms still feel pretty individual. And right now, everything looks lickably clean. You'll have to dig deep - rooms start £199 ($316) plus VAT, although the cheapest we could see was a whopping £358 ($569). But if you're in that price bracket already, it'd be worth splurging on a suite - especially as they've got a package, Suite Dreams, running until the end of the year, which knocks 40 percent off the cost, meaning you can nab a Grand Junior Suite for £423 ($672).