In the latest of our kid-free short breaks we’re headwed off for a K West Hotel Review (yes, remember this. As parents of teens you are finally able and TOTALLY allowed to hightail it out of the family stones for a night of your own ). I know, we headed back to the West End. Only this time, we didn’t – we went to K West Hotel in Sepherd’s Bush.
I know. I gasped too.
If you don’t live in London, you sort of forget (remember I come from a rural town which has 4 buses a day, going in only two directions) that you don’t have to actually stay in the West End to visit the West End.
I’ll admit that when K West Hotel asked us to stay for a review, my first thought was “Oh, that’s a shame, it’s too far out”.
Then I slapped my own head, and said ‘Yes, we’d love to, thanks”.
Because here’s the thing – when you stay in Shepherd’s Bush, you’re literally 20 minutes on the tube from Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square & Shaftesbury Avenue.
Not to mention the fact that Shepherd’s Bush is home to Shepherd’s Bush Market, the gigantic Westfield Shopping Centre, the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, the Hammersmith Apollo is just one tube stop away… and more amazing restaurants than you can shake a stick at.
Plus – there’s the non-West-End prices. We ended up in a fabulous room for a similar rate to that we’ve paid for a very basic room in a hotel up West.
So – off we went to K West.
Once again, as we approached a hotel (remember our stay in the ugliest hotel in the West End?) we had a slight sinking feeling that we’d made the wrong call. This tiny, weird-looking glassy office block was a hotel & spa?
wel… yes. Yes it is.
And a really really nice one.
Honestly, it’s such a tardis, it actually breaks your brain. That little glass fronting? Oh that’s just reception, the bar (the achingly-cool I’m-actually-feeling-a-bit-old-in-here bar), and upstairs is the restaurant. We’ll get to that.)
So – check in was swift, and we headed up in the lift to our room. Turned left, and walked. And walked, and walked. The hotel goes directly backwards from that narrow glass fronting – it used to be a BBC Sound Studio block, and there’s still an officey layout (plus plenty of cool music memorabilia hanging around.
And then, we were in… and discovered we had been given a Studio…
I started in the bathroom – obviously – because that’s where we all head first, right?
Standard fittings – with a Philippe Starck twist. Fancy. It’s really not a massive bathroom space, and the shower is over the bath, which I know is a bit of a hate thing for a lot of people. But the rainfall showerhead was fine, and the White Company toiletries were plentiful and delicious.
The main bedroom area was… huge. The Studio setting really gave plenty of space to move around!
It’s a luxury having somewhere to sit other than the hotel bed, and the huge corner purple velvet sofa was bedazzling and perfect for a little hotel lounging.
The king-size bed is frankly a monster. We practically needed our phones to call each other from each side – though we needed no assistance ins sleeping soundly and deeply through the night, it was incredibly comfortable.
One small quirk, though, was that the bedside light switches are onlyu on one side – there’s no separate switch for the second side, so try and bagsy the control side if you’re a night time reader; though I had to resort to reading on my phone so that Mr LittleStuff could turn the lights off and get some sleep.
The lights though – those beautiful silver teardrops? I wanted to take them home with me.
Down in the underground regions of the hotel there are yet more facilities – there’s a brilliant gym
And then there’s the spa…
Now obviously I couldn’t just wander in to the K West Spa – this is just reception. And sadly I didn’t have time for any treatments (woe is me). But I spoke to a couple of guests who are regular visitors, and they swear they always book a day spa. The unique Wet Spa under the K West Hotel features London’s first Snow Paradise, Sauna, Sanarium, Steam Room, Foot Baths, and Hydrotherapy pool.
See? I totally missed out.
(also, there are special Stay & Spa deals which are definitely worth exploring. I wish I had…)
We were out most of the day, heading back to the West End for a performance of the Mousetrap (and yes, it’s totally doable just poppping i and out for a few hours – we watched the matinee performance, and were back in plenty of time for drinks before dinner).
We made it for happy hour in the Studio Bar – a free glass of wine for all hotel guests.
We sat and enjoyed a glass, feeling properly cool, not going to lie, before heading upstairs to the restaurant for dinner.
The following morning it was nice to see that breakfast didn’t end at an ungodly hour – I had a rare night away then having to leap up at early-o’clock to make it to breakfast, rather defeating the purpose of the late night relaxation.
K West Hotel Review
So we ambled down mid-morning, and there enjoyed the absolute finest breakfast I can remember eating. Mr littleStuff opted for the traditional full English – but I fancied the sound of the Full Vegetarian instead.
Oh. My.
How to explain how amazing every single bite of that plate was? Two eggs, bbq beans (undescribable. I hate barbecue beans. But these are so goooood), avocado (perfectly ripe and succulent), halloumi (hot and crispy), sweetcorn & courgette fritter (soft, savoury, sweet and slight crip edges), sourdough bread.
Honestly – I’d stay again for the brerakfast alone.
Oh, Mr LittleStuff said his Full English was excellent too. But, y’know – sausages & bacon etc etc.
To top it all off, the bottomless coffee was fresh, strong and… bottomless.
You can see the full K West breakfast menu here – we had the ‘Fully Indulgent’ (£17ea) included with our room, so we could visit the buffet too, for cereals, yogurt, croissants, pastries etc.
In short – would we eschew our usual West end haunts in favour of coming out to Shepherd’s Bush when on a West end break? Yes, we would. Of course it’s lovely to be within walking distance of the theatre and restaurant, but actually the tube across was simple and quick, and even if we hadn’t eaten in the hotel the area is filled with restaurants. If we’d had another night I’d definitely have explored more, as I don’t know Shepherd’s Bush very well, and the night time atmosphere was properly buzzing.
You can see all the rooms at the K West Hotel & Spa here – there are plenty of options other than our fabulous Studio room, of course.
Our 430sq ft Studio Room starts at £175 for a Sunday night in March – book your own here.
