Amber Residence Hotel
My stay in London began with the Amber Residence Hotel, and while I will admit that it was near impossible getting the location and details sorted out across the pond due to the time difference, it was well worth the wait and patience. The Amber Residence is a flat hotel, it is comprised of two buildings at 42-44 Gloucester Place in London W1U 8HF. Both buildings have that old English charm. The buildings don’t feature too many studios and bedrooms, but have seemingly just the right amount of accommodation that the staff can handle.
The small staff is very welcoming and polite, although correspondence via email did not in fact give me that impression. However, upon coming to London, I discovered that they were absolutely wonderful people and great to work out details with.
The flat that I stay in has a self-serviced kitchen with a tiny refrigerator, a stovetop, a sink, and a small baking oven. My mate’s flat next door doesn’t have a stovetop range but has a microwave, which is convenient. The room has at least one night table, a twin size bed, a desk and TV, a dresser, and a decently sized closet.
While being here, I’ve never had to make any noise complaints nor did I receive any. The only thing worth noting is that as the Amber Residence is centrally located on quite a busy street, it is noisy at night. The room is cleaned once a week, and the shared bathroom is cleaned daily.
As far as the location is concerned, Amber Residence has it all. The next street over and a bit north is Baker Street, where the Sherlock Holmes Museum and Baker Street tube station is located (about a 10-minute walk). If you walk down (south) from the hotel, you will run into massive crowds shopping on famed Oxford Street. Here you will find hundreds of stores and restaurants, including Debenhams, Primark, Selfridges, H&M, a huge Forever 21, Foot Locker, River Island, and Monsoon. Also on Oxford Street, about a 15-minute walk from Amber Residence, is the Marble Arch tube at the corner of Hyde Park, as well as Bond Street and Oxford Street tube stations.
Nightlife is brilliant in this area- loads of local pubs worth checking out like the Volunteer on Baker Street, The Globe bar on Marylebone, the Prince Regent pub on Marylebone High Street, or posh clubs like Movida around the corner from the Oxford Street tube station and Amika near Bond Street tube.
I would highly recommend this hotel for those who want a safe area, a quaint space (they’ve got rooms with double beds, but a studio was best for me), close proximity to two different tube stations (Marble Arch and Baker Street) which service several lines, and walking distance to two of the best shopping streets in London- Oxford Street and Marylebone High Street. My college had a discount that was enjoyable, however, the regular rate per week is a good deal and I would strongly recommend this hotel for a quaint spot with an excellent location that doesn’t break the bank.
