It’s become a bit of a tradition that whenever my sister, my daughter and myself are in the same hemisphere at the same time, we grab some quality time together.
It’s important to me that my daughter, who has lived in Australia since she was seven, is able to connect with family so she has a sense of belonging. Added to this, my sister is ten years younger than me, so we are building a new relationship since she was fairly young when I left home.
All in all it’s a special time when get together, making happy memories to call on what when find ourselves across the world from each other.
For our most recent get-together I chose South Kensington in London. After nights of painful research, feeling ever more depressed by prices or uninspiring hotels I eventually found the ideal hotel for our weekend.
If you ever get the opportunity to stay in this part of London, I highly recommend The Ampersand Hotel. I will say up front, it is on the pricey side for three of us (but reasonable by London standards) so a weekend would be indulgent but do-able.
The issue I find with London, as with most cities, is that you will pay and arm and a leg for the tiniest (and sometimes grubbiest) of rooms. Most people make the choice to put up with a really small room in exchange for being right in the heart of things. It’s only a base after all. However, for this trip I wanted it to be a bit more of a treat so I opted for the luxury end of town.
I also had the added consideration of having three women in their 20’s 30’s and 40’s … where could we stay that we would all be equally satisfied with?
Should we get separate rooms or could we find a big enough room for the three of us?
What drew me to The Ampersand was the fact it did not seem much more expensive than many of the other hotel sites I had trawled through. It was able to provide us with a huge room that accommodated the three of us easily. Eating and drinking was taken care of at Apero, a restaurant and cocktail bar in the hotel’s atmospheric basement. The Drawing Room, serving teas, coffee and cake in the most decadent of surroundings would ward of the exhaustion after a day walking around the museums (my sister and I don’t ‘do’ shopping, but if you do, South Kensington is perfect).
The rooms were absolutely stunning. We loved the statement wallpapers, huge velvet headboards and the retro tiling in the bathroom.
What I hadn’t realised when I booked the hotel was that it was newly refurbished, so everything was immaculate and gleaming when we got there. I had booked some months ahead, and in the intervening time The Ampersand won numerous accolades from top 100 British Hotels, to The world’s second most popular new hotel.
Best of all, everything was on our doorstep. South Kensington tube station was literally across the road, making travel around London easy. To be honest there is more than enough to do in South Kensington so chances are once you are there you won’t need or want to leave.
Our weekend was about catching up over food and drink, and taking in a few exhibitions at the V&A museum which was literally five minutes walk (if you didn’t take the detour through Hyde Park as our phone’s GPS suggested). Other attractions nearby include the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, Christie’s South Kensington, Royal Albert Hall and the Proud Gallery.
The Ampersand Hotel is situated just a minute’s walk from South Kensington tube station, and is well connected to Heathrow airport. One of the services offered was pick up from the airport, which came in handy as my sister’s flight was early in the morning.
If you are travelling on the underground the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines all stop at South Kensington underground station and can connect you to the rest of London in minutes. An Oyster Card can be purchased from the station ticket office, which is the most cost-efficient method of using London public transport. Click here for a tube map.
After a weekend at The Ampersand we all felt thoroughly spoiled by our French feel surrounds, attentive staff and endless cocktails. A perfect girl’s weekend.
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