ONE of the trickiest challenges when trying to squeeze a 24-hour visit into a big city is deciding where to go: failing to plan ahead can lead to an exciting, spontaneous adventure or many hours tramping round strange streets, poring grumpily over guidebooks and joining herds of other baffled tourists roaming public transport.
Having decided to head to London for a short weekend break, it was a relief to discover our accommodation, The Ampersand Hotel, was in a location packed with restaurants, shops and museums.
After an easy Underground journey taking a direct line from Heathrow airport to South Kensington tube station, we found the hotel located just a minute away across the road. The exterior of the boutique hotel looks like it has changed remarkably little from Victorian times – it has been an independent hotel since being built in 1888. But inside there is a stylish atmosphere, with an extensive renovation undertaken for the Ampersand's opening in 2012: the five-star hotel does have the feeling of being in the lap of luxury, but without any stuffiness. Our double room was spacious and inviting with a beautiful bay window overlooking the street, a large television and a good-sized bathroom, complete with another flatscreen television to watch in the bath.
There are some nice touches too – all the soft drinks in the minibar are free, there is a coffee machine and even a small bottle of proper milk in the fridge for a cuppa in the morning, instead of the usual odd-tasting tiny sachets.
It was tempting to linger for a long time in the hotel – which has a cosy bar located in vaulted cellars, drawing rooms which are popular destination for afternoon tea, gym and even a library for guests – but difficult not to go out exploring when some of the most popular tourist attractions in London are on the doorstep. The name of the hotel – after the iconic ampersand symbol – is said to be inspired by the hotel’s role in connecting guests to the best of South Kensington. After a blissful night’s sleep – despite the proximity to the bustling London streets, the only noise that could be heard was the occasional distant rumbling of the Underground – it was time to head out, fuelled by a delicious buffet style breakfast which included handmade breads, croissants and bircher muesli.
Just hanging about in the area – which is home to the super-rich – is in itself an intriguing people-watching experience. It is a land where grown men nonchalantly take to the streets on scooters, there seems to be a thriving trade in Botox and the local high street comes complete with a Lamborghini garage. The average house price here is £1.3 million and a tiny storeroom in the area recently sold for £87,500.
We opted for an early start to take in some of the Natural History Museum (free entry, but be prepared for queues) to check out the dinosaur exhibits – including an impressively realistic robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex. After an hour or two, we popped across the road to the V&A for a glance at some of its art and design collection but sadly ran out of time for the Science Museum. The Royal Albert Hall is also minutes away for any concert-goers. However we did fit in a stroll to nearby Knightsbridge for window-shopping at Harrods – along with what seemed like half of the tourist population in London. If you are in the mood for spending cash there are plenty of places to it in the area, from luxury stores to more affordable high-street names.
With the rain staying off we decided to see how far it was to Hyde Park. A welcome oasis of greenery in the city, the park was, we discovered, just a 10-minute walk away, so we took in the slightly underwhelming Diana Memorial Fountain and pondered how cold the water in the Serpentine Lido (home to the oldest swimming club in Britain, incidentally) might be, before returning to the hotel to pick up our bags.
Thanks to the wonders of a mobile phone fitness app, we discovered that we had walked nearly seven miles exploring the area in one day.
Another night cocooned in comfort of The Ampersand would have been the perfect way to recover, but sadly, it was time to head back to the airport for home.
Judith Duffy was a guest of The Ampersand Hotel, 10 Harrington Road, South Kensington, SW7 3ER www.ampersandhotel.com Telephone 020 7589 5895/E-mail stay@ampersandhotel.com
Superior rooms start from £234 including VAT per room per night. Balconied suites start from £456 including VAT. Both rates exclude breakfast.
5 facts about South Kensington, London
Built on agricultural land that once served London with fruit and vegetables, the area known as South Kensington was first developed following the 1851 Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, when an 87-acre (352,000 m²) area around what is now Exhibition Road was bought by the exhibition's commissioners, in order to create a home for institutions dedicated to the arts and sciences, resulting in the foundation of the museums and university here.
The arrival of the Underground at Gloucester Road and South Kensington in 1868, linked the area directly to the main railway and to the political, commercial and financial hearts of the city in Westminster, the West End and the City of London.
Sir J M Barrie (1860-1937), playwright, novelist and author of Peter Pan, lived with his wife at 133 Gloucester Road. There is now a statue of Peter Pan in Hyde Park.
The V&A museum, established in 1857, was originally called the South Kensington Museum. It was renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1899 when Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of new buildings along Exhibition Road and Cromwell Road.
The Natural History Museum opened in 1881 with an exhibition of animal and human skeletons and dried plants belonging to the renowned physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane. Today it contains some 80 million items of botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology.
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