Sanderson

We booked the hotel through the website and had problems with our booking. They were very good, Ama in particular as absolutely brilliant. She made every effort to accomodate us and went above and beyond the call of duty!

We looked on the website and saw some of the special offers - well worth doing! We found a 'Suka Package' which gives you the room and £100 credit for use in the Suka restaurant.

Upon arrival to the hotel, the room was ready 3 hours before we were scheduled to be in it! We arrived at 12pm and our room shouldnt have been ready until 3, but they gave us the key straight away so we made our way up. The lifts are awesome but you really need to experience these for yourselves so I wont ruin it for you - but they are out of this world!

Making our way down the corridor, they are fairly dimly lit but it gives a relaxing atmosphere. We stayed in room 122 which was apparently a Loft King. All we could say was 'wow'. From the super king size sleigh bed in the middle of the room to the bathroom separated by flowing white and pink curtains. The facilities themselves appear very nice, the bath for example is big enough even for me (6'5'', stocky chap!), but the shower connector in the bath fell off and the main shower looked like it may fly off at you whilst you are in it! However, these are only very small issues and dont let this distract you from the hotel. You really do feel a world away. The rooms are very, very relaxing indeed. The bed is the most comfortable bed I have ever stayed in, with pillows you can just sink into and a quilt to match. The blinds also block out all light, we woke up at 8:30am and you would have thought it was 2am it was so dark! The room was immaculately clean, but be careful when in the bathroom as some of the toiletries are there for your use but you may be charged A LOT of money. A sponge, for example, was £14 and a plain white t-shirt was £25.

The staff are very attentive, however, there was some confusion caused with the type of package we booked and we felt we had to explain ourselves to every person. Instead of having dinner at Suka, we used the £100 credit for a couple of cocktails and also for breakfast the following day. If the cocktails are a 'must try' then breakfast is even higher on the list. I had a full english which was amazing. It doesnt look like a huge breakfast but it is certainly filling. My fiance had eggs benedict which she pretty much inhaled within seconds! It really was fantastic. If dinner is as good as breakfast then you wont be disapointed.

We also had drinks in The Purple Bar - definitely try the 'Divine Chocolate' cocktails. AMAZING. Very romantic, intimate space which is great for relaxing in after a night out.

Overall, we had a very relaxing couple of days and if we could live there we would! It is in a fantastic location for shopping (literally 30 seconds off Oxford Street) and is within 5 minutes walk of 3 good tube stations. The staff are friendly, attentive and make you feel extremely welcome and we are already thinking about our next visit.

The Boyfriend and I had two nights at the Sanderson as part of our holiday this year. We like to 'do' London from time to time. I had stayed at the Sanderson before, but as a prize through my company, so it was interesting to assess it when I was actually paying for it.

Be aware that you will only get a discount on your parking if they park your car for you. We wernt informed of this so they relented and gave us reduced parking (still £85 for 2 days!). Not even sure if that was the discounted rate. Ho Hum.

The lobby is impressive, modern and cool. I was put in the bauble thing hanging from the ceiling and left spinning around much to The Boyfriends amusement! Was fun sitting on a pair of lips waiting for a taxi. The staff were welcoming, helpful and personable, even when part of my luggage was a Tescos carrier bag (dont ask - we all need emergency chocolate!).

The rooms are clean, modern and I happen to like the floaty curtain thingy ying yang effect. Pressing the buttons kept The Boyfriend amused for a while (he's a boy and a lovely man what more can I say!?). However, not much privacy when you are in the loo unless you turn the TV up!! THE BED IS THE BEST and I didnt want to get out of it - huge, comfortable with lovely pillows and linen.

The concierge was helpful, managed to get us a table at the Gaucho Grill at the time we wanted in preference to our own attempts to book in (odd as they were half empty anyway but thats another story!). If you want theatre tickets, make the effort to walk to the theatre yourself - you will save £30 per ticket (in other words £60 for us for the sake of a ten minute walk) rather than pay the agents pemium.

The down side is the price. Is it worth the £300 + per night standard rate? Even at £266 per night that we paid via lastminute.com it seemed steep for room only (went to Harvey Nicks instead for brekkie!). The crowning moment was the price for one champagne cocktail and vodka and orange at the bar - £23 AND they charged us over 2 quid for the privlige of serving it to us!! The Boyfriend is still in therapy!

Also, I was shouted at by a barman for standing the wrong side of the rope thingy. Not very respectful way to treat a paying guest methinks. As for the people in the bar - well it was more middle aged businessmen looking for a bit of young totty to throw wads of cash at - but each to their own.

The room we had overlooked the central bar/restaurant area and was noisy up until closing time but thereafter was fine.

I admit I do like the Sanderson - it feels cool and I like the quirky way it is done. However, worth the inflated costs? Only you can decide?!