Normally we don’t head away on a Bank Holiday weekend due to the crowds and also prices rise ridiculously high due to everyone trying to escape to warmer climates however there was a super deal through the Secret Escapes website for The Landmark Hotel, London which is a stunning Red Brick Victorian Railway hotel situated in Marylebone just a skip and a hop from Oxford Street.
I had always wanted to stay at a Railway hotel and there are a few dotted around London as they have so much history and built in a time when buildings were graceful, decadent and luxurious.
First Impressions
We walked from Baker Street Tube station which I am guessing is not how most guests turn up to The Landmark. What we didn’t realise was that there is actually no proper entrance for pedestrians and that you need to walk on the driveway to gain entrance to the hotel. We learnt this by walking the length of the hotel and realising there wasn’t an entrance for pedestrians.
Check in
We arrived at 3pm at reception and our room wasn’t ready and we were told it was due to a number of guests leaving that morning and they were trying to clean all the rooms. We did ask if there was another room available or if there was an upgraded room as we had an Afternoon Tea booking at 4pm so we wanted to freshen up. We were offered a complimentary drink at the Gazebo, however when we arrived the Gazebo area wasn’t open for another three days, but never fret we found a bar in the basement before heading to our Afternoon Tea in the Winter Garden.
After finishing Afternoon Tea we went to check in again and received an upgrade after telling Jean about our earlier check in plight.
Room
We received a complimentary upgrade from the Executive Room we had booked to a Marylebone Suite.
The Marylebone Suite was extremely spacious with a large lounge, bedroom and a huge bathroom. All the furnishings were clean and tidy and there was an extremely large TV that we didn’t actually switch on during our whole stay.
The rooms are super sized which in London is not common so if space is a requirement then the Landmark is for you!
The Suite was extremely comfortable and would highly recommend the room for a stay at The Landmark.
Bathroom
The bathroom was extremely large in comparison with some of the hotels I have stayed in while in London and contained a lovely double sized wardrobe to hang up all your clothes.
Towel wise there wasn’t that many in the bathroom for two people, two large bath towels and two hand towels meaning that shock horror you had to reuse them during our stay.
A Vidal Sasson proper size hair dryer was provided however the problem was the lack of plugs in the room as while you have two iphones plugged in plus a kindle it was difficult to locate any more power sockets.
Spa facilities
The facilities were clean and tidy and was a lovely place to unwind. We arrived just before 7pm and there were a couple of families enjoying the facilities which included a heated pool, steam room, sauna and jacuzzi.
I really wanted to use the Meditation Room however this is only used by guests that have had a treatment booked which on the website shows is part of the spa facilities. I did ask if we could use it and was told we could during the quiet period in the late evening or early morning.
Unfortunately the jacuzzi was way too hot to the point of burning that most people dipped their toe in and left again.
There were plenty of sun loungers and beds to enjoy the surroundings however a number of these had used towels on them or magazines and china next to them even though the guests had left and nobody seemed to be clearing away the mess.
Juices, water and the latest magazines are on offer to the guests using the spa free of charge which is a nice touch.
There is a cost to use the spa facilities which i think deters many people from using the facilities. We were lucky enough to have the spa facilities included in our rate.
Restaurants and Bars
We didn’t eat at the restaurant as we had Afternoon Tea and we were pretty full from eating that!
However we did visit the Mirror Bar which is a cute place for a drink and there is a great array of different cocktails starting from £15 a pop! The Rossini was a winner – Strawberries and Champagne!
Breakfast
On G’s authority the breakfast was really good, great selection of items and apparently the cottage cheese was amazing! Due to the high number of guests there was a buffet on offer.
As I am gluten free I informed them of this on my arrival for breakfast, I was told that someone would come and see me and offer me my options however this never happened and I waited for over ten minutes before chasing up the staff. I took some fruit and a smoothie from the buffet table while waiting. I was offered gluten free cereals and toast however what I really fancied was pancakes which were on offer in the buffet; I was informed that these would have had to have being pre-ordered – I have never had this response before in a five star hotel to making gluten free pancakes! There wasn’t even an option of gluten free sausages.
There were plenty of egg options however after getting food poisoning from eggs over Easter I don’t fancy them at the moment so the buffet had really no options bar fresh fruit and cheese.
While G enjoyed his breakfast the same couldn’t be said for me with my gluten free dietary requirements. I was rather disappointed about the lack of choices and think its not hard to whip up pancakes!
Wifi
This was included in our Secret Escapes deal that we received and it worked perfectly well all around the hotel.
Atmosphere
The hotel is a testament of the beautiful buildings that were built during the Victorian period and you can see this from the the design of the hotel. The Winter Garden is a major drawing card and the natural light is a welcome relief in a hotel.
The glass dome was added in the 1920’s and a number of “Gatsby” style dances were held during this time in the atrium; let’s hope we might be able to have a few flapper dances to celebrate the release of the movie! (hint hint!)
G and I went for walk around the hotel after breakfast and we stumbled across the rear entrance of the hotel which we assumed was the original check in point for the hotel – this area is breath taking and such a better area for check in than what is currently on offer which is dark and small and to be honest not that welcoming.
Location
The location is one of London’s best, you are a five minute walk to Marylebone High Street where there is an Ash Footwear shop (they do the best boots ever!) and a number of exclusive branded shops however there is a village feel to Marylebone. Then if you want to shop in chaos then Oxford Street is a ten minute walk away – make sure you visit Liberty for some pretty prints and if you are after a picnic then Regents Park is only a ten minute walk from the hotel!
Would I recommend?
After a discussion with G we both agreed that it was a lovely place to stay however we wouldn’t return for the overall experience as there are better five star hotels that offer a more satisfying five star experience.
xx
