July 7, 2010

London, England: Thistle Holburn, The Kingsley; hotel review

Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2SD; 0871 376 9006 /+44 845 305 8306.

Built in 1898, the gorgeous red-brick  Kingsley by Thistle hotel was originally named for Charles Kingsley, the author of  some popular English children’s books.  It is in a prime location just a few blocks from The British Museum and Covent Garden.  Bloomsbury has always attracted writer residents and visitors, and the hotel can claim that E.M. Forester slept here in 1902.  Though I remember fondly staying here in a room equipped with a canopy bed and decorated with wallpaper and chintzes in a lovely theme of pale yellow and English blue, the hotel has been refurbished into more contemporary style.  But some rooms still have a view of the ancient roof of The Parish Church of St. Georges Bloomsbury (located just next door, it was built in the early 1700s by a former pupil and assistant of Sir Christopher Wren). One of my favorite amenities was the room’s tea tray, stocked with Scottish chocolate chip shortbread and Cadbury’s hot chocolate.



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image courtesy of hotel
updated August 25, 2023

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