London Hotels

There is no executive registry of hotel rooms in London, but the estimated the number of hotel rooms in Greater London in 2000 was put at 101,269. According to figures shaped in support of London’s 2012 Olympic bid, there were more than 70,000 three to five star hotel rooms within 10 kilometers of Central London in 2003. Interestingly the major growth was a huge rise in the number of rooms within the City of London, while Kensington and Chelsea actually had a small fall. This is comparing information since 1981. The most important concentration of luxury hotels is in the West End, especially in Mayfair. London’s five star hotels are quite little on average by international standards. The biggest has only 494 rooms and nine of them have fifty or fewer.

The range is very wide, including the Traditional purpose-built grand hotels such as the Ritz, the Savoy and the Dorchester, Recent conversions of grand late 19th and early 20th century office buildings into hotels such as One Aldwych and the Renaissance Chancery Court, Townhouse hotels such as 13 Half Moon Street, Modern purpose-built chain hotels such as the Four Seasons London and the London Hilton on Park Lane, Modern boutique designer hotels such as the St Martins Lane Hotel.

Currently the majority of profitable hotels and those with the most consistently high room occupancies are hotels around the 5 major London Airports. Heathrow and Gatwick are performing the most excellent and becoming meeting and conference centers in their own right. 2006 was the year that environmentally gracious hotels started to become a marketing tool. Between the first to achieve certified levels were the Novotel London West and all the Marriott properties in the capital.

By the end of 2006 the explosion in branded hotels which started around 2002 was well under way, with branded rooms accounting for around 70% of available accommodation at 71,000 rooms.2007 saw the create of a building boom for purpose built hotels in the lead-up to the 2012 Olympic games in east London. Hotels are planned all the way through London including at the new Wembley Stadium and around Docklands area. Several of these will be in the 4 and 5 star bracket supplementing the 2/3 star boom already ongoing with the likes of Ibis and Premier Travel Inn.

Hotels under the five star categories are found throughout the city, but tend to be slightly further away from the key canters of activity. The biggest concentration of mid priced hotels is probably in Bloomsbury on the northern side of the city centre. The main cluster of hotels in the suburbs is around Heathrow Airport, most of which are modern chain hotels. The leading concentration of new hotel building is in East London around London City Airport in places such as Canning Town. The developers of Shard London Bridge hotel, which will be the tallest building in London if it is built plan to let part of it to a hotel operator.

Whatever hotel you decide to stay in, make sure you choose Gatwick Airport Parking to keep your vehicle safe while you’re away on a vacation.

For caffeine addicts, the warmer weather means one thing: it is time to hold a giant plastic cup of iced coffee. To serve all the zombie-eyed customers, baristas must stay on top of their production of not only the coffee, but the ice, to provide that chilled satisfaction. Your ice cube machine should be fast and efficient. Depending on your restaurant, consider how many pounds of ice you need each day, and be sure to know how much internal storage you require.