London Drum

Stay at The Trafalgar St. James Hilton Hotel, with its rooftop bar overlooking Trafalgar Square

The Trafalgar St James Hilton HotelPhoto: Craig Cross
Star rating: ★★★★★ Address: The Trafalgar St. James, 2 Spring Gardens, Trafalgar Square (by Admiralty Arch) Contact: Tel: 0207 870 2900 Web: trafalgarstjames.com Facilities: Breakfast room, 2 bars (including a rooftop bar), concierge, gym, minibar, tea & coffee, Wi-Fi, TV, DVD player, movies, telephone, hairdryer, ensuite bathroom, air-conditioning, safe Parking: Car parks near Trafalgar Square Buses: 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 23, 24, 29, 87, 88, 91, 139, 159, 176, 453 Bus fares Trains: The closest station is Charing Cross Bakerloo Northern Other nearby stations: Covent Garden, Embankment, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Westminster Train fares

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Craig’s review… You can usually tell whether you’re going to like a hotel within the first two minutes of arriving, and it took me even less than that for the Trafalgar St. James because it’s situated on one corner of Trafalgar Square, sixty-seconds from the National Gallery and five-minutes from Big Ben. If you want a great location then you can’t get any better than that.

Bedroom at the Trafalgar Hilton

Room inside The Trafalgar St. James HotelPhoto: Craig Cross
Room inside The Trafalgar St. James Hotel

The bedroom is pretty big with a separate sitting area for the desk. You also get a widescreen TV with a DVD player, minibar and safe, ironing board and iron, plus something called a shoe mitt (I haven’t got a clue what this is).

I always like to price up the minibar so you can see how expensive it is. Every hotel minibar is expensive of course, and anybody who drinks a minibar dry is a total mug because the hoteliers know there’ll always be someone sitting here at midnight watching the raindrops run down the window. That’s when £7 quid for a tiny shot of vodka seems like a good idea. It’s another £7 quid for rum and £3.75 for the Coke. Even the water costs three quid.

I’ve just noticed a tiny sign on the minibar which says “please be aware that any items moved will be charged using motion sensor technology”. Now they tell me! I’ve just been shifting the whole lot around to tell you the prices – I’ll probably get billed an extra fifty quid now. Ah well. I may as well drink the whole lot now.

Ensuite bathroom at The Trafalgar St. JamesPhoto: Craig Cross
Ensuite bathroom at The Trafalgar St. James

Hotel bar and breakfast room

They don’t have a proper restaurant in this place, only a breakfast room (which is basically the same as the downstairs bar), and the only hot meal they serve is omelette. And that’s not an exaggeration. But this is no ordinary omelette – the chef doesn’t just crack an egg into a pan and flip it over a few times. This omelette is an actual work of art.

He makes it in full view of the diners with mushrooms and peppers and meat and all the trimmings, all coloured-up like a folded pillow of gold. It was perfectly nice to eat, but where are the beans? Where are the sausages? I’d much rather they just serve up a proper English breakfast because you’re going to get bored having an omelette every day.

Rooftop bar overlooking Trafalgar Square

View from the rooftop bar overlooking Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s ColumnPhoto: Craig Cross
View from the rooftop bar overlooking Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column

If you come during the summer then you can try the rooftop bar that overlooks Trafalgar Square. It’s literally on the roof – if it’s raining then you’ll get wet. And you can look over at the National Gallery, Nelson’s Column and St Martin-in-the-Fields church.

Unfortunately it’s always very busy and they won’t let you take up a table for a quick coffee, you have to actually reserve a space for a sit-down meal (it’s not like a pub bar). But it’s well worth popping along just to have a peer over the ledge.

So the location = great. The room = great. The rooftop bar = great. The breakfast = not so great.

Worth a stay? Value for money? Nice rooms? Good location?

Things to do near Trafalgar Square

Today Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera

Today Cabaret -- Step into Berlin’s legendary Kit Kat Club

Cabaret -- Step into Berlin’s legendary Kit Kat Club

Today No.26 - London’s cheapest sightseeing bus past lots of famous landmarks

No.26 - London’s cheapest sightseeing bus past lots of famous landmarks

Today Tootbus Tour -- London Open-Top Sightseeing Bus

Tootbus Tour -- London Open-Top Sightseeing Bus

Today Big Bus Tours -- London Open-Top Sightseeing Bus

Big Bus Tours -- London Open-Top Sightseeing Bus

Today Changing the Guard ceremony at Horse Guards Parade

Changing the Guard ceremony at Horse Guards Parade