London is an incredible city, with so many hotel choices and options. I stayed in the Kings Cross and Bloomsbury area of the capital, and was looking for a nice hotel option. I came across The Megaro, with brilliant access to the railway station and lots of nearby attractions, in a slightly less touristy and less visited part of London.
Location
The Megaro Hotel is located near Kings Cross Station, and is within easy walking distance (30 minutes) of all the major attractions in Kings Cross, Covent Garden and Soho – including the canals and Granary Square, The British Museum, Neal’s Yard, Russell Square and many more. It’s actually a great location for exploring north of the River Thames.
As the hotel is right by the train station, the area directly around it isn’t the most picturesque if you venture up some of the side streets, but the view from the hotel is absolutely gorgeous out across to the old architecture of St Pancras and the newer terminal at Kings Cross.
Accommodation
The accommodation at The Megaro is design focused. It’s billed as a landmark destination which rebels against traditional hotels with its bold designs. Basically – the rooms are colourful and designed with a theme, full of funky things and pictures. I’d never stayed in a hotel like it and on that basis I do think it was definitely unique.
We chose to stay in a Pop Diva suite (I feel I have to qualify this by clarifying that this is not my usual style, and I hope I am far from a Pop Diva….although maybe I am a travel diva), which comprised of a nice living area with sofa, table and TV, a big bathroom with luxurious bath, a nice big bed and a dressing area – all bright red and full of tassels of course. It was actually really fun and there was no beige in sight.
Food and Drink
The hotel has a restaurant called Magenta which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. We only ate in there for breakfast and the food was very nice. Again the restaurant itself is uniquely designed with bright colour and lots of butterflies on the ceiling and walls.
The hotel is also home to a basement cocktail bar called Hokus Pokus, which has a cocktail menu with plenty of choices – you can choose cocktails on fire, smoky cocktails or just normal every day ones. The bar itself is again bold in design, being gold (!) and very smoky, but it’s a cool place to spend the evening (unless you have asthma).
Service, Amenities and Experiences
The staff at The Megaro were all lovely, with speedy check-in. For a 5* hotel there were a few details which let it down. At the best 5* hotels I’ve been to, there is normally some combination of the following – a welcome drink, help with bags, room features explanation, concierge, spa, speedy lifts, hidden luggage storage. None of that was available here – in fact we had to lug our bags up 6 flights of stairs as the lifts weren’t working, and our bags on check out were just left in reception in full view even when no-one was behind the desk.
Now – of course, I really don’t mind any of those things because I don’t expect to be waited on hand and foot, but if you’re paying a 5* price, I think you should get at least some of them. In the case of this hotel, I think you pay the price for its unique design – and to me, it was a wonderful place for a night or two as it is a LOT of fun and the rooms are amazing – but not for a longer stay as it’s not worth the style over substance money.
So what do you think of The Megaro? Would you like to stay there to enjoy the unique design features and cool cocktail bar? Let me know in the comments below – stay safe and happy travelling.
Saasdia Travel Gid
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