This Review of The Milestone Hotel in London is from our recent stay. For other posts from our London and Paris site inspections and visits, please see:
Review: Pur' Paris Restaurant, Park Hyatt Paris
Hotel Review: Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome
La Cuisine de Philippe Paris Review
Review: Paris Muse Discovery Walking Tour for Families
Hotel Review: The Mandarin Oriental Paris
Review: Mathieu Pacaud Histoires Paris, 2 Michelin Stars
Review: Hidden Paris Gourmet Walking Tour
TravelSort Clients enjoy these Virtuoso benefits when reserving the Milestone Hotel in London:
- Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
- Full English breakfast daily for up to two in-room guests
- $100 USD equivalent Food & Beverage credit to be utilized during stay (not combinable, no cash value if not redeemed in full).
- Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
- Suite Bookings 3 or more nights or any apartment bookings of 7 or more nights a one way airport transfer to/from London Heathrow to Milestone will be included as additional amenity.
The Milestone Hotel London Location and Check-In
The Milestone Hotel is located at 1 Kensington Court, right by Kensington Gardens and a 6 minute walk from High Street Kensington Station. The hotel is also just a 15 minute walk to the Natural History Museum, an often overlooked museum but a great one for families, especially its dinosaur exhibit.
We were arriving on the Eurostar train from Paris, so we took the Piccadilly line train to Gloucester Road and walked about 15 minutes to the hotel. If arriving from London Heathrow on the Piccadilly line, you'll similarly want to take it Gloucester Road and either take a taxi or Uber or walk from there, depending on your luggage situation.
When we arrived we were warmly greeted, assisted with our luggage up the few steps, and immediately felt at ease when checking in, even talking with front desk associate who was checking us in about Brexit, as the vote had just taken place the day before.
The Lounge
The Lounge is to the right of the reception area, and is also used in the afternoons, for afternoon tea, which is popular and should be booked in advance. In the evenings, it's the perfect place for drinks and conversation, while listening to live piano music.
Milestone Hotel Deluxe King Room
We were in a Deluxe King Room, which is compact at 193 square feet, but which worked fine for us, since we travel light. There was an entrance way, then a few steps up to the bedroom, with its King bed, as well as a small side table with chairs.
The King size bed was very comfortable. While I'm not a fan of bedspreads, it was removed at turndown service.
We were happy to see a beautifully displayed fruit platter, with fruit that was in perfect condition (you'd be surprised how little care some “luxury” hotels take, leaving fruit well past its prime in a welcome fruit bowl–but not here). There was also a box of delicious homemade cookies.
There was bottled water on the nightstand by the bed, and I was tickled to see a plump prune–a healthy choice, and one that I kept for a great snack for my son later in the trip.
The bathroom was to the right of the entrance, with a sink, toilet, shower and bathtub combo. For those traveling with young kids, it's nice to still have a bathtub in a room this size, and not just a shower.
Milestone Hotel Spa and Resistance Pool
Given its historic status, with a listed building, I was impressed that in addition to the exercise studio, the Milestone Hotel has a small spa and even a resistance pool. While the jets didn't turn on when we pressed them, it was easy to call on the phone in the spa, and before long the hotel's engineer had turned the jets on for us, much to my son's delight. His swimming strokes need quite a bit of work, but the jets had the desired effect of tiring him out–prospective parent guests who want their kids to sleep soundly, take note!
Milestone Hotel Restaurants and Dining
In a future post I'll cover the Milestone Hotel's Cheneston's Restaurant, where we enjoyed dinner the night we arrived, as well as breakfast the next morning.
Afternoon Tea, as I mentioned, is served daily, and there are three seatings, at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.
The Stables Bar, which I didn't visit, is billed as a cozy hideaway and takes its name from the original use of this part of the building as a carriage house. In addition to the extensive cocktail, beer and wine offerings, it serves snacks and light meals.
Family-Friendly Features
While there were just two of us and we stayed in a regular room, one of the great features of the Milestone Hotel for families is that in addition to extra space in the luxurious suites, the Milestone Hotel offers 6 apartments that range between 750-1100 square fee and include a separate lounge, kitchen and 2-3 bathrooms, and have their own private entrance.
There's are also kids' menus available at Cheneston's Restaurant and for Afternoon Tea, child-size bathrobes and slippers, and baby monitors/intercomes as well as children's books and games are available on request.
Best of all, the Milestone Hotel offers a passport that encourages kids to get to know the name of many of the hotel's key team members, from the doorman to the front desk associate, concierge, chef, and head of housekeeping. My son was shy at first, but loved meeting all of them on a special back of the house tour that is exclusively available to kids. Kudos to the hotel for making his stay so memorable!
He even got to answer the phone (don't worry, it was an internal call–no guests were inconvenienced 😉
The Verdict
If you tend to prefer boutique hotels over the major luxury hotel chains, and want a place that has the really personalized service and friendliness of a B&B with luxury hotel quality rooms, linens, towels, restaurant dining, and concierge service, The Milestone Hotel is where you should look at staying the next time you're in London.
The hotel's Kensington location, close to High Street Kensington, is central and perfect if you'd like to be close to Kensington Gardens (Hyde Park is also within easy walking distance) and also convenient for visits to the Science Museum, Natural History Museum or Victoria and Albert Museum.
Although I was just getting work done in the lounge in the evening, I really enjoyed the convivial atmosphere in the lounge, thanks to the live music. And while I'll get to it in my future post on dining, breakfast was a highlight and we very much enjoyed our dinner as well.
If you've stayed at The Milestone Hotel in London, what was your experience?
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Disclosure: The Milestone Hotel hosted me for this complimentary site inspection visit. The opinions expressed in this post are my own.
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