Review: Hotel Cafe Royal (Global Hotel Alliance / The Set Collection)

This is our review of Hotel Cafe Royal, part of The Set Collection of independent hotels.

Until the end of November, American Express is offering £100 off £400 spend at a number of independent London hotels. This includes Sea Containers (which we reviewed here) and Hotel Cafe Royal on Regent Street.

If you are targetted for this offer, you will see it on the statement page of your American Express card. Remember to check each card that you hold.

To promote the offer, Hotel Cafe Royal invited me to stay and experience the hotel myself. The hotel is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance loyalty programme – click here for our guide to GHA. It belongs to a small chain called The Set Collection which includes the Conservatorium hotel in Amsterdam reviewed here and Hotel Lutetia in Paris, reviewed here.

The hotel website is here.

A brief history of the Hotel Cafe Royal

As a hotel, Cafe Royal doesn’t have a long history, having opened in 2012. But as a cafe, bar and members’ club it has a rich heritage to draw on, having entertained the likes of Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill, Princess Diana, Bowie, Muhammad Ali etc etc.

The property originally opened in 1865 as a cafe – albeit not in the sense as we would define it in 2023. It was founded by a wine merchant owned and operated by a Frenchman who had to flee France due to bankruptcy. Fortunately, his luck changed and the Cafe Royal became very successful; in the 1890s it was the place to be for artists and writers.

Since then it’s had multiple lives, including as the home for the National Sporting Club after World War 2. Olders reader may remember it as a Forte-owned restaurant. It closed for a four-year renovation in 2008 to turn it into what it is now – the Hotel Cafe Royal. This involved taking over the adjacent buildings on the corner of Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street, restoring many of the historic features (including the facade and various rooms) as well as adding a second entrance and modern addition around the side, on Air Street.

Where is the Hotel Cafe Royal?

You’d be hard-pressed to find a hotel in London that’s more centrally located, that’s for sure. It is virtually on top of one of the busiest tourist hotspots in London: Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street, and on the intersection of the Bakerloo and Picadilly lines. Soho and Chinatown are a hop skip and a jump away.

You are obviously close to key shopping areas – Regent Street, Oxford Street and Bond Street – whilst Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and even the Mall are within a ten minute walk.

All of this is to say that you are in a very busy area: this is not a particularly quiet location. The hotel is rather more discreet, and I imagine thousands of tourists pass it by without ever realising there is a hotel here. Bar a small entrance on Regent Street, the remaining ground-floor units are let out to other retailers and cafes.

In addition to the historic entrance on Regent Street, there is a second entrance on the modern extension on Air Street if you are arriving by car.

Inside the Hotel Cafe Royal

Your first taste of the hotel will vary depending on which entrance you take.

Whilst stunning, it is a bit of a wiggle to get to the main lobby from the historic Regent Street entrance, although the hotel usually has doormen here to guide you in the right direction.

On the other hand, the Air Street entrance opens right onto reception, with a cascading chandelier of interlocking glass links in the centre:

There were four or five staff at the big brass desks when I arrived and I was immediately attended to and offered a glass of Veuve Cliquot whilst I was checked in. Once everything was complete I was shown to my room.

Rooms and suites at the Hotel Cafe Royal

Whilst offering a range of different room types, the Hotel Cafe Royal primarily deals with suites and the ‘all in one’ sale of entire wings. Rooms range from Deluxe Rooms all the way to thirteen bedroom wings for utmost privacy and exclusivity.

I was given a junior suite during my stay, which is probably about middle-of-the-pack for this hotel.

The corridors feel very Eastern, with floor-to-ceiling wood panelling and beautiful, Japanese inspired lightwells:

The rooms are vast, despite being in one of London’s prime locations. First up is the large dressing room / hallway / wardrobe area:

You are immediately struck by the scent in the rooms thanks to a large Culti Mediterranea reed diffuser. It smells fantastic.

Wardrobes to the right feature everything you might need, including another set of robes, a luggage rack, safe, slippers and more. The only thing not there is an iron, which they will set up for you if you call.

To the left is the mini bar with Nespresso Vertuo coffee machine, a small wine fridge and plentiful snacks and spirits (these are chargeable).

On the other side you have the bathroom. If you prefer to have a little more privacy you can close the double doors either side.

The bathroom is clad in chunky, chamfered edge marble blocks reminiscent of the Portland stone exteriors of Regent Street; a theme repeated in the bedroom to great effect.

There are two wash basins and a gigantic bathtub:

Once again, I need to highlight the fact that there are no towel rails for hand towels in here, or indeed hooks to hang them on. I will never understand how designers can seemingly omit these, unless they expect all guests to simply chuck towels on the floor after a single use?

A shower and toilet are located separately.

Toiletries are provided by Etro in mini bottles and smell luxurious:

From the hallway / dressing room we then pop into the junior suite itself:

It’s not what you were expecting, is it?

Whilst the hotel preserves many of the original features from the original Cafe Royal and the building, the guest rooms are a fabulous departure. The modern, minimalistic design seems to be confluence of Far East, mid-century and British influences. Not a combination I would expect to work and yet, somehow, it does.

As in the bathroom, the designers have turned the room inside out, with huge beige blocks evoking the Portland stone exterior. I think it works to great effect, although if you’re American you might be reminded of the whitewashed walls of your student residences! Personally, I love the contrast to the rest of the building.

I loved the retro, physical dials and nobs of the room controls throughout the suite, which felt like a 1960s control room:

Annoyingly, the lighting all appears to be controlled globally; I couldn’t work out a way to turn up the lights in the hall without them getting brighter in the bedroom too, for example.

In the centre of the room is seating area:

There are a number of magazines available, including Vogue, Conde Nast Traveller and Wallpaper*.

A large, square freestanding TV is to one side. I’ve never seen a TV like this: the top 2/3rds are the screen whilst the bottom is an excellent Bang & Olufsen sound system. You can use the remote to electronically turn the TV to face either the living room suite or the bed; when you turn it off, it automatically goes into the most discreet position. The TV itself is not the most modern but you can cast from your phone, which is always a useful feature to have.

The bed is huge, although not a true king in this case; it was definitely two mattresses pushed together. A UK mains socket is on both sides.

Opposite the bed, on the far wall, is a long desk:

If you’re lucky, you get a view of Regent’s Street and Picadilly Circus:

Akasha Spa at Hotel Cafe Royal

Down on the lower ground floor of the hotel you’ll find the Akasha Spa, a multi-level facility with hamam, jacuzzi, sauna and 18m pool:

The hamam is clad in stone whilst the sauna is architectural, with a vaulted ceiling of curved wood. It looked beautiful although appears to be less than practical and appears to have been repaired (not very well) since opening – my only real criticism.

Equally, the pool area is clad in lovely smooth stone which becomes exceptionally slippery when wet. This causes such a problem that the floor immediately around the pool has been covered with a non-slip matting you sometimes see at commercial pools, slightly spoiling the effect.

Relaxing here is all the more delightful when you remember the hustle and bustle of Piccadilly Circus above you, with tourists jostling for space whilst you relax slap bang in the centre of London.

The lighting is very dark – you won’t be able to read a book in here, unless you have a Kindle with a back-lit screen. There were only a few other people in the pool area whilst we were there.

You can probably count on one hand the number of hotels in central London (actual central London) with spa facilities of this scale, so this is a real selling point.

Dinner, breakfast and afternoon tea

There are a number of restaurants, cafes and bars at Hotel Cafe Royal, including the two Michelin Star Alex Dillings.

We decided to take room service, which is a novelty for me.

This is a formal affair, with the staff trollying in a round table with table cloth. The food was, I thought, good – about as good as you can expect given it needs to be trundled up from the kitchen, and I enjoyed the tuna tartar and filet steak:

Annoyingly, it took them a bit too long to collect it all once we were finished and I had to call twice – somewhat defeating the convenience of it all. When they did finally turn up they asked how long we had been waiting so someone, somewhere probably got a talking to ….

Breakfast is served in The Gallery restaurant on the first floor. This is a square balcony overlooking the central lobby chandelier which is very cool:

Depending on your package it seems you either get an a la carte continental or cooked breakfast. I went for the eggs royale:

and

If you are celebrating a special occasion then it’s well worth checking out the historic Grill Room for a traditional afternoon tea. This is a Grade II listed room in gilded rococo revival, and allegedly a favourite of Oscar Wilde. It is a fabulous space with a pianist tinkling away in the background:

The afternoon tea is available from £70pp (or £80 with a glass of champagne) with a selection of four finger sandwiches as well as a number of sweet treats, including scones. I particularly loved the earl grey jelly which was delicious.

Conclusion

Clearly, a hotel of this standard (and in this location) isn’t going to be cheap, and unsurprisingly room rates start at a punchy £800 per night. It is competing with the likes of Rosewood and the newly opened Peninsula and Raffles Old War Office.

What I like about the Hotel Cafe Royal is that it is not necessarily what you expect on the inside, especially if you associate it with the architecture of the Grill Room. Whilst many period features have been retained – the Regents Street entrance, staircase, the delightful lifts and the Grill Room – the rooms are completely modernist. Somehow it all works.

You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

However, we recommend getting a quote from our ‘preferred partner’ agent partner Emyr Thomas. You will pay the same as the Best Flexible Rate online, you pay on departure as usual (so you can use the Amex cashback too) and you will get valuable extra benefits, including:

• Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
• Daily breakfast for up to two guests per bedroom
• $100 equivalent food & beverage credit to be utilized during stay (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full)
• $100 equivalent spa credit to be utilized during stay (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full)
• Early check-in / late check-out subject to availability

You can email Emyr via the form here.

If you are targeted, the American Express ‘Amex Stays’ ‘£100 back on £400 spend’ cashback offer runs until 30th November.

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