Review: Malmaison London hotel and Brasserie

I was recently contacted by a lovely lady called Diana, who asked me if I’d be interested in staying at the Malmaison hotel in London. HELL YES.

This generous offer couldn’t have come at a better time. As you know I was going to London anyway for the Selfridge’s White Christmas 2011 launch, and as my move to London is imminent last weekend seemed a good time to arrange some flat viewings (come back tomorrow for some news about that if you haven’t already seen it on Twitter!).

Malmaison London is in Clerkenwell on the peaceful Charterhouse Square, which is about halfway between Barbican and Farringdon tube stations.

Double Room

Our room was located on the fifth floor at the end of a corridor and overlooking the leafy Square.

Tastefully decorated, the room was very spacious and airy. The hotel reception and corridors are moody and dimly-lit so the room felt even brighter by comparison. There were three of London’s typical sash windows, which opened just enough to let in a cooling breeze.

Technology-wise, rooms are equipped with free wifi (an absolute necessity these days in my opinion), high-speed plug-in internet (chargeable), a CD player/radio, and a large flatscreen TV. There is also a proper iron and ironing board (as opposed to a trouser press) and although the hairdryer is your usual tiny hotel-standard hairdryer I found it to be very powerful.

There is a wide selection of hot drinks including proper coffee (which Chris was very pleased with), several types of tea (which I was very pleased with) and a really great quality hot chocolate. The minibar prices are reasonable for what you’d expect in a 4* hotel in a capital city e.g. £1.60 for a 330ml can of Coke, £5.25 for a can of pre-mixed Bacardi rum and Coke.

Bathroom

The bathroom was pure heaven, probably the best hotel bathroom I’ve ever seen. The first thing you notice is the sheer size of it, then the fact it not only is there a gorgeous bath but also that the bath and shower are seperate – pure luxury. I couldn’t resist having a quick soak before we headed down to the Brasserie for dinner.

There is a fantastic selection of products from the usual soap and shower cap, to cotton buds, bath oil and massage oil; all bear the slogan “Take me home, we dare you”. Don’t mind if I do :)

I couldn’t find any shampoo however – I’m sure if I’d called reception they could have provided some but I didn’t notice until I was actually in the shower and had to use bodywash and hope for the best.

There is one negative: when we realised that we’d forgotten toothpaste Chris popped down to reception to ask for some and was quite shocked to be charged £2.50 for a ‘dental kit’ (a tiny tube of toothpaste and a cheap toothbrush). Obviously £2.50 isn’t the end of the world but we’ve received these for free at a 3* hotel before so didn’t expect to have to pay at a 4*.

Food

The Malmaison Brasserie is on the hotel’s lower ground floor and provides seating for 60, as well as private dining areas. For dinner I decided to rock an early AW11 outfit, wearing a white crochet dress from Topshop with black suede platforms from Office Shoes.

Dinner

Chris started with the soup du jour, a delicately creamy carrot and coriander. We both enjoyed mouthwatering steak frites, with Chris having 35 day aged rump steak frites and myself scoffing down Donald Russell onglet steak frites with garlic butter. Whilst both courses we undoubtedly delicious, for me this meal was all about the dessert. Chris had a very generous portion of vanilla creme brulée and I had the white chocolate cheesecake, which was literally the best dessert I’ve ever had. We also shared a bottle of Valdivieso rosé wine.

Breakfast

Breakfast is served in the same lower ground floor restaurant. There is a real variety of food on offer, from fruit to cereal to pastries to cooked meals such as the obligatory full English breakfast.

I opted for eggs benedict with flat cap mushrooms and a cup of tea, whilst Chris had a coffee and waffles with bacon and maple syrup. If you have a cooked breakfast you can also help yourself to the buffet so we sampled some fresh pastries and fruit too.

We had a really fantastic stay and found the staff to be genuinely friendly and very courteous. I had an amazing night’s sleep, which I don’t often experience in hotels as I’m a light sleeper and usually find myself woken by fellow guests/external noise/light seeping in through gaps in the curtains (no chance of that here as the curtains are staggered and overlap). We both left feeling really refreshed and re-energised, quite amazing considering we’d only stayed here for one night.

All-in-all I can absolutely recommend a visit to the Malmaison, even just for dinner or a drink. Keep an eye on their website for special deals available at their hotels up and down the UK (you can also find Malmaison in Manchester, Edinburgh and Oxford to name a few cities).

Malmaison London

18-21 Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6AH

+44(0)20 7012 3700

www.malmaison.com/hotels/london

reservations.london@malmaison.com

Disclaimer: Chris and I were guests of Malmaison London.