England London Sofitel St James Mayfair-Soho

[valueguy]

The hotel was just superb. Akin to the chic style of the W Hotels in the US but with all the grace and charm of European style. A first stay at a Sofitel hotel and I can assure you it was not the last.

Happy bidding to all!

[Rhine-and-Roses]

This hotel was in a really fabulous location. The staff were largely French, as were many of the guests. I almost felt I was in Paris, not London. The hotel was nicely decorated. The lobby was small, and not really set up that you could converse- just wait. The Rose Lounge was a sweet place for afternoon tea and they did a lovely job with the offerings and the service. The very tall doorman was charming and incredibly helpful and friendly.

The room itself was teeny-tiny, with a "view" of an opposing set of windows. Neither the size nor the decoration was what I would expect in a 5* hotel. The room was so small that the door to the armoire had clearance slightly smaller than the palm of my small hand. Even a child could not fit between the open door and the wall. The armoire could hold two coats and a few items in the three very small drawers. The remainer of the armoire was filled with an extra bathrobe, blanket, pillow, and tea service. That's because there was NOWHERE else in the room for them. The nightstands were blocks of wood, with no shelf or drawer. The table/desk had a mirror, but the chair could not be aligned to the mirror due to lack of room. The desk had a drawer, but it could only be opened 4 inches due to backing up on a night stand. There was no luggage rack, nor was there room for one, even if they had left one in the room. At turn down, the housekeeper had to throw the plaid on the floor under the standing lamp as there was no other place for it. That would have been the case even if the room had been empty. Lest you think we travel heavy, we each had one carry on bag, so the lack of space was not for what we brought with us.

The bathroom was lovely- beautiful and roomy enough. I did not like the doors (which were two doors that opened in the middle because one door would have been too wide for clearance into the room.) Part of the bath was visible between the doors- not nice for privacy. There was no ventilation in the bath.

Although the hotel staff could not do enough to make our stay enjoyable, basically, all the amenities in the world will not make up for tripping over your own feet in the room. I am a "tiny" woman, and I felt uncomfortably crowded in the room. Maybe it would have been acceptable for one person; it was totally inadequate for two. I've stayed at other 5 star and 4 star hotels in London, and all were a good bit larger than this room. As nice as this location and hotel were, I'd probably not choose to stay here again.

I did ask at check in if they could give us a larger room, but we were told that would cost an extra 50 GBP! The clerk seemed to have heard that the rooms/storage were inadequate before.