What seems to be a lifetime ago, I was invited to spend the night at the Saint Pancras Renaissance Hotel, above the eponymous station in the heart of London – and opposite my old house, which is always nice. Before moving to sunny-yet-slightly-odd Notting Hill, I was a happy resident of the north side of Bloomsbury, just a few minutes walk from Saint Pancras station, so over the 5 years I spent in the area, I saw a lot of changes. I saw the Eurostar move in, I saw the Renaissance Hotel evolve until it was finally complete earlier in 2011.
Staying at the hotel was high on my wish list as it had been such an integral part of my life while I lived there, I was very curious to see if it would live up to my expectations (Victorian fairytales). I am not going to let you read through the whole post and I am going to let you know now: it did live up to my expectations. The staircase itself is worth the stay. I could have happily spent the night lying on the plush carpet, looking at the painted stars on the ceiling. Of course, I didn’t, preferring the comfort of a plush king size bed, made by the same people who make the Queen’s bed. It was like sleeping on a giant cloud, and I definitely needed it as I had spent the day gallivanting in the windows at Forever 21.
I loved seeing the Eurostar coming and going from my window, although it did make me feel a little homesick and I sort of wished I could have jumped on a train to spend the evening with my friends in Paris. If you are not from Paris, you won’t have this problem, and my guess is that the train ballet will instead fill you with joy. If you plan on spending a weekend in London and want to be near everything, then this is most definitely the best place to be… and if you don’t want to leave the hotel, you can definitely spend hours losing yourself in the beautifully ornate corridors!
