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We love to travel and are always on the hunt for nice, family friendly hotels to stay in. When we were offered the chance to pop up to our old fave, London Town, and stay in the Novotel London Blackfriars, we jumped at the opportunity. I had never actually stayed in a Novotel before but had heard good things about them.
We drove up on the Saturday morning and it was a pretty smooth journey. The toddler slept for most of it and we didn’t hit too much traffic. I had researched parking before we got there and we parked in the London Bridge NCP Car Park. It was about a 15 minute walk from the Novotel London Blackfriars hotel but it was straight forward enough. It was £24 overnight so pretty good value for money.
LOCATION – The location of the Novotel London Blackfriars was perfect. It is right next to Southwark tube station, which is on the Jubilee line. We used to live on the Jubilee line and always thought it was a great tube line connection wise. It goes through various points in central and links to lots of other tube lines. Borough station was also close by, which is on the Northern line, so when we popped up to Angel on Saturday, it was so easy and quick. It was also really easy to walk to places of interest. We walked to London Bridge, Borough Market and Southbank.
FACILITIES:
RECEPTION – We got a lovely warm welcome from the reception staff and the whole check in process was very quick and efficient. There were two modern check in desks and an online check in point. The reception itself had a really sleek and modern feel to it and was a very good first impression to the hotel.
ROOM – We got put in such a wonderful room. It was right at the end of a corridor so we only had neighbours on one side and the view was spectacular. We could see right across the skyline. The Shard looks amazing lit up at night. The room itself was a great size. Very spacious, modern and clean. My biggest thing about hotel rooms is the cleanliness, and I couldn’t fault the Novotel London Blackfriars one bit. It was spotless.
There was plenty storage space in the shape of two cupboards and a shelving unit. We found an iron and a hair drier whilst we were having a nose in the cupboards, very handy. The big long length mirror was fab and also made the corridor look bigger.
The bathroom was really modern and had these fun doors that opened outwards. Little I loved playing peek a boo with them. The shower was amazing. It was one of those rain showers and made me feel like I was in a spa whilst getting ready in the morning. There was no bath to bath Little I in, but she was quite happy to get in the shower. The thing the husband was most taken by was the glass in the shower. You pressed a button and it went from clear to opaque. He’s adamant we’ll get something similar when we finally own our own house. The complimentary toiletries were great and smelt lovely. There were plenty of fresh towels as well.
The glass of the shower looked out onto the hotel room itself which was fun. Again, it made the room seem larger.
We had a king size bed and a single bed in our Novotel London Blackfriars room. The beds were super, super comfy and the bedding was great as well. I could have slept for days, if only the toddler allowed it. Little I hadn’t slept in a big bed before so we had to push it up against ours so she didn’t fall out. I’m sure the staff would have arranged a cot for us but we were intrigued to see how she’d get on in a big bed. She absolutely loved it!
FOOD – We were supposed to be heading to Novotel London Blackfriar’s in house restaurant, Jamboree Foodfest & Bar, for dinner, but unfortunately we didn’t make it in the end. Little I fell asleep and she hadn’t napped all day so we thought we should get her settled. Jamboree looked amazing. It is a international restaurant with a fun menu. The décor looked really fun too. It was quite busy when we got back to the hotel and you could see all the delicious meals people were tucking into. I fancied the jerk burger but alas, we will just have to go back another time.
Instead of getting to eat at Jamboree, we just ordered room service instead. The staff on the phone were really helpful and we ordered the club sandwich, ham and cheese toastie (exotic!) and a big bottle of still water. It came to £26.50 (with a tray charge and tip), which I thought was reasonable because the portions were huge. Typically Little I woke up when it arrived and proceeded to eat half of our food!
Oh my goodness me. If I could eat one meal for the rest of my life, it would be breakfast. I am a huge breakfast fan and love going out for breakfast at the weekend. We sauntered down to the restaurant at about 9am and were greeted by yet more incredibly friendly staff. The choice available for breakfast was extensive. visitez le kamedef.com site suivant
A lovely member of staff came and asked for our hot drinks order. The cappuccino I ordered was delightful.
The continental section had a huge array of cheese, meats, fruit, yogurt, cereal, breads, pastries…phew, thinking about it again is making me hungry. We tried to be reserved with our continental selection so we could go all out with the hot buffet. I don’t think we succeeded.
The hot buffet had everything you could think of when it comes to a cooked breakfast. I opted for a poached egg, beans, mushrooms, a hash brown and a couple vegetarian sausages. Little I wolfed down scrambled egg, bacon, beans, hash brown and a sausage. And the husband. Well he went for everything!
CHECK OUT – I don’t think I’ve ever been through such a quick check out process. We literally just handed our key to a lovely lady and that was that. She asked us if we had a good stay and wished us a good rest of the day. I can’t speak highly enough of all the staff at the Novotel London Blackfriars. Each and every one we came across was more than happy to help and so friendly. I received a couple emails after we checked out to confirm our room service bill and to enquire about how we found our stay.
(photo from Novotel website)
OVERALL – We believe the Novotel London Blackfriars is a great, central hotel to stay in whilst you are visiting London. They are very family friendly and are only too happy to help with any queries you may have. The staff are very welcoming, attentive and helpful. The rooms are very clean and have everything you could possibly need from a hotel room. All in all, we would highly recommend this hotel and I’m sure we’ll be paying them another visit in the future.
For more information and rates, check out the Novotel website here.
*We were invited to stay at the Novotel London Blackfriars for one night free of charge in return for an honest review of their facilities
