By BENJAMIN PARKER, ACTING HEAD OF TRAVEL
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The taller trees around Kensington Gardens' northern edge, with their blooming foliage, look like dense florets of broccoli from my room on the 17th floor of the Royal Lancaster London hotel.
Further down, water in the Italian Gardens catches the last of the day's sunlight. Hyde Park stretches south, and the horizon then turns to the city's high-rises.
Location goes a long way when it comes to hotels, just one of the many elements in which the Royal Lancaster scores highly (including on practical points: a Tube station on the doorstep, and only an eight-minute walk to Paddington railway station).
This year the Royal Lancaster was named top UK hotel in Tripadvisor's 'Best of the Best' Travellers' Choice Awards – and fourth best place to stay in the world. This ranking is based on millions of reviews posted on the platform each month.
High praise, and the reason I've checked in – to see if it measures up.
It's not a beautiful building by any stretch. The modernist tower, designed by Richard Seifert and completed in 1967, looks more like an office block than an alluring hotel. It's now somewhat softened by the glass-heavy curve of the entrance.
The glass-heavy curve of the entrance softens the 'office block' exterior of the hotel
The hotel was named top UK hotel in Tripadvisor's 'Best of the Best' Travellers' Choice Awards earlier this year
The view from the 17th floor of the Royal Lancaster London hotel – of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
Still, it captured the attention of the Swinging Sixties set. The release party for The Beatles' psychedelic 1968 film Yellow Submarine was held here (with a yellow dress code, naturally).
Michael Caine shot scenes for 1969's The Italian Job here, too.
Today, the space has come of age – marble across floors and sweeping staircase, uncluttered mid-century furniture and plenty of gold accents.
Staff are warm and attentive without (thankfully) being overbearing. General manager Sally Beck tells me that it's the service that guests tend to remember when they leave.
She credits the team – some of whom have worked here for decades – as the major factor in the hotel's rise from 272nd in 2013, when she joined, to the top of Tripadvisor's charts this year.
The hotel describes the look of its rooms as a 'timeless classic style', and I agree: clean lines, heavy on wood, plush velvet, Spinneybeck leather.
They are not obvious spaces for lingering, other than for the views, but they are comfortable bases.
The hotel's rooms are decorated in a 'timeless classic style'
The hotels' general manager credits the team – some of whom have worked here for decades – as the major factor in the hotel's rise from 272nd in 2013, when she joined, to the top of Tripadvisor's charts
Pad Thai to start at Nipa Thai, the popular restaurant within Royal Lancaster London
The stand-out – for someone like me with a voracious appetite (plus a soft spot for south-east Asia) – is the Nipa Thai restaurant.
The room is furnished with teak and orchids, with white tablecloths and low lighting giving it more formality.
The papaya salad hits every note that makes Thai food so wonderful – hot, sour, salty, sweet, all in quick succession – and the beef massaman is deep and mellow, the tender beef falling apart into the thick sauce.
If only all hotel restaurants could be quite this good, I think, when I retire to my room.
If I wasn't quite so full from dinner – and if the beds were not so comfortable that I drifted off in seconds – I might have taken to Tripadvisor to give the hotel another positive review.
- Double rooms cost from £311 a night, including breakfast.