Review of Novotel London Waterloo 4*

There is no reason why this hotel wouldn't work for a lot of travelers. When I stayed here, the room was immaculately clean and the location is very convenient for the price (walking distance to many attractions). A short walk across across the Thames over the Lambeth Bridge brings you to restaurants that are less expensive thsn the hotel restaurant Elements. Also across the bridge is a laundrette (13 Regency Place just off Horseferry Road) when the cost to do laundry, while high by American standards (£6 to wash a large load, 50p per 6 minutes to dry) was way cheaper than having the laundry done through the hotel. The hotel, while applying some design aspects that might work well in theory, fell flat in practical application; i. E. One must dismount from a tub whose bottom is almost a foot higher than the floor and the poorly engineered toilet-flushing mechanism. There is also a learning curve to operate the shower/tub spigots (the tub filler lever, which is on the tub and you lift to turn on, is separate from the shower knob; the left of which turns on the water and the right side controlling the temperature). The hotel doesn't provide washcloths at all. The hotel restaurant, bar and play area is also smaller than than the pictures on the website would lead one to believe. If you have children with you who want to play on a jungle gym, Old Paradise Gardens, a playground repurposed from an old cemetery (the headstones are stacked/leaned against the walls), is behind the hotel about a five-minute walk. The cheapest way probably to get to the hotel from Heathrow is to take the Underground Picadilly line to transfer at Westminster/Parliament Square to the bus toward Lambeth, which will stop across the street from the hotel. This can all be worked out on Google Maps, if you select the transit option for means of transportation. Also, rather than drinking the bottled water provided by the hotel at exorbitant prices, you can buy it much cheaper at the Costcutter on Horseferry Rd across the bridge or the Tesco Express just north of the Lambeth North Underground Station. Breakfast is slso cheaper if you eat elsewhere, like the Corner Café on Lambeth and Hercules Rds, as well as Prêt à Manger or Ravello on Horseferry Rd for the more calorie conscious.