Hotel in Detail:
The grade I listed St Pancras Renaissance London Hotel occupies the first two floors of the St Pancras Chambers building, above the hotel are 67 luxury private apartments. The hotel is home to what is said to be the most revered grand staircase in England (used in films such as Spice Girls Movie and Batman Returns). The lobby is set in the area that was used as the taxi rank for St Pancras station pre 2000. The lobby has a grand style with some fantastic architecture. Other notable features include fifty feet high windows (15 metres) and a vaulted ceiling. This modern hotel retains its original features with Gothic Revival metalwork, gold leaf ceilings and hand-stencilled wall designs. One of the worlds great railway station hotels along with the other London station hotel of the Andaz Liverpool Street. Boutique style hotel.Each bedroom has both wired and wireless internet access (charges), sound proofed windows, air-conditioning, telephone with voicemail, desk and chair, iron and ironing board, coffee and tea maker, Bose radio, flat screen television with pay movies and safe. Bathrooms come with a hairdryer, robes and slippers.
Newspapers delivered on request. 24 hour room service. Video bill review and checkout option. Evening turndown service. Newspapers delivered to your room on request.
Barlow Room: 28 sq metres/301 sq ft
Barlow King: 32 sq metes/344 sq ft
Chambers bedrooms come with evening turndown service and club lounge access. The Club lounge serves Full English breakfast, snacks, afternoon tea, hors d'oeuvres and dessert. Alcoholic drinks are also served (non alcoholic drinks are free) and bsiness services available.
There are 38 Victorian bedroom suites that occupy the historic section of the hotel while the other rooms are housed with a new extension (not part of the original Midland Grand Hotel). This modern section measures 120,000 square foot (11,148 square metres).
The suites feature high ceilings and tall windows.
The Presidential Suite was once the Venetian Ballroom. The suite has 3 bedrooms and a lavish lounge area.
All suites come with a personal butler service and access to the ground floor private Chambers club where snacks and drinks are served 24 hours.
12 bedrooms are adapted for improved accessibility. Some bedrooms have views over St Pancras Station itself.
Dining Options:
The Renaissance St Pancras hotel has 2 restaurants and 2 bars. One of the restaurants is housed in the original ticket office while the other is within the original entrance hall.The Gilbert Scott Restaurant and Bar: Marcus Wareing's second restaurant. Serving British classic dishes. Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. A great British brasserie located in the heart of the hotel. Private dining room and kitchen table option. The bar section is luxurious and distinctive bar experience.
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Booking Office Bar: International menu. A striking setting for a business breakfast, snack or classic English dining from an all-day menu serving traditional fare, sumptuously updated, and a bar with its own take on classic English mixology. Punches are served in hand-made copper punch bowls. The full range of drinks includes ales, ciders, perries and porters from historical and contemporary brewers across Britain.
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Other facilities include the hotels own state-of-the-art Health and Leisure centre featuring a swimming pool, whirlpool and gymnasium with free weights and cardio machines.
Extensive meeting and function amenities with no less than 200 rooms. The Renaissance St Pancras hotel has a ballroom able to handle up to 350 guests.
Other amenities include a private club, currency exchange, laundry and a barber's shop. WiFi in pubic areas.
Smoking is strictly prohibited in all areas and bedrooms.
There is a # Hashtag Kiosk which is a a digital podium that automatically picks up Instagram and Twitter photos hashtagged #StPancrasHotel. These can all be viewed and printed off from the kiosk.
Hotel Vicinity:
Nearest: Tube Station: King"s Cross St Pancras 0.02 miles (0 km), Railway Station: London Kings Cross 105 yards (96 metres), DLR Station: Tower Gateway 2.6 miles (4.1 km), Motorway: M1 Junction 1 5.4 miles (8.7 km). The 4 tube stations and 4 railway stations in a half mile radius (0.8 km) of the hotel means transport links are excellent.The Renaissance St Pancras Hotel is located adjoining St Pancras station (Eurostar and High Speed 1 terminus) and on the north east corner of central London. While this area is a little way from the main tourist areas and the surrounding vicinity somewhat downbeat compared to the more glamorous places the station itself provides some ultra modern facilities. These include the longest Champagne bar in Europe at 90 metres long. There are several restaurants and bars including burger bars, bakery, Brasserie, wine bar and a Gastro pub. For a quick bite many big name coffee shops/Cafes are located within the station. Shopping is also well catered for with an arcade and other shopping areas as well as its own market. This location does suit business travellers looking to have good access to the City of London which is a short taxi ride or 7 minutes by train from the adjacent from Kings Cross station. The popular shopping area of Islington High Street is less than a mile to the east by lacks the glamour of the more central shopping areas such as Knightsbridge (2.4 miles, 3.9 km) and South Kensington (3.2 miles, 5.1 km). A mile to the north is the shopping High Street of Camden which includes an always busy market selling a range of items including trend setting fashions. The nearest tourist area for nightlife would be Covent Garden which is just over 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south. Some other local places of interest include the British Library (opposite), Petrie Egyptian Archaeology Museum (0.5 miles, 0.8 km) and Dickens House (0.6 miles, 1.0 km). The large open Space of Regents Park is less than a mile along the Marylebone Road and is home to London Zoo.
Bedroom Numbers: 245 / 38 suites / 5 floors
Check-in: 16.00 (4 pm)
Check-out: 12.00 (noon)
Background:
Originally called the Midland Grand Hotel (later St Pancras Hotel) and built in 1868 after being designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Sir John Betjeman said of the original hotel "too beautiful and too romantic to survive" in a world of tower blocks and concrete. The original hotel had a capacity for 300 guests. The hotel was a striking red gothic structure at the entrance to St Pancras Station. The hotel closed its doors in 1935 after being unable to make a profit and was then used as railway offices until the 1980's. The building was due for demolition the 1960's but strong support for the building led to it being classed as a grade 1 listed building (meaning it was protected from demolition). It then became known as the St Pancras Chambers during its time in obsolescence.Opened on the 14th March 2011.
During 2007/2011 the hotel was totally refurbished and remodelled while keeping the original red facade. The project cost £100 million pounds and involved adding an extension at the rear of the building. Many of the interior existing rooms that have their own history are to be restored to the their original look. The bedroom block is the work of bedroom-block designed by Richard Griffiths Architects. The upper floors have been made into loft apartments by the Manhattan Loft Corporation. The original Ladies Smoking room has been kept (as an event room) and this was the first room in Europe that women were allowed to smoke in.
Trivia: The Renaissance St Pancras was used in the Spice Girls music video for Wannabe.
Comment: Completed a £67m refinancing in March 2012 with funding from Barclays Corporate and RBS (Royal bank of Scotland).
This hotel has averaged a score of 4.5 out of 5 by 5502 past guests
>>>Booking.com (average customer rating 4.4 out of 5 from 1271 reviews)
>>>Tripadvisor (ranked 312 of 1140 for Hotels in London and rated 4.5 out of 5 from 4231 reviews)
Parking:
Public parking is possible at a location nearby (reservation is not possible) and costs £50 per day.Internet:
WiFi is available in the hotel rooms and costs GBP 7.50 per 24 hours.Pets:
Pets are allowed. Charges may be applicable.Compared to other London hotels: This hotel has been rated 90% by past guests. The London average is 79% and the average for 5 star hotels is 89%. Therefore this hotel is above average for its sector (star rating) and for London as a whole.
Renaissance Hotels have an average guest rating of 89%. The Renaissance St Pancras with its rating of 90% is therefore not just well above average for this chain but is our highest rated Renaissance hotel.
Milesfaster ranking: 51st from 865 London hotels, 1st of 2 Renaissance Hotels, and 33rd of 133 five star rated hotels.
Another to Consider:
Also close by and a similar hotel (0.5 miles, 0.8 km) would be the 5 star Kimpton Fitzroy London,
whose lowest rates start at about £189 and which has a 91% guest satisfaction rating.
For a hotel that offers lower base rates take a look at the Montcalm At Brewery London City Hotel. 1.5 miles
from the Renaissance St Pancras (2.4 km), has been rated at 87%
by past guests and the hotels starting rates begin at about £119 (theres free WiFi too). Looking for something near by with a solid past guest score? In that case the 4 Star Montague On The Gardens Hotel seems like it might fit the bill, it's only 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from here. The Montague On The Gardens Hotel has an extremely high guest rating of 98%, one of the best rated London hotels.
Local hotels analysed:
The 50 hotels nearest to this location (Pancras Road, NW1 postcode) that we list cover a 0.8 miles (1.2 km) radius. The 50 consist of 3 five star hotels (average rating 89%), 19 four star hotels (average rating 80%), 18 three star hotels (average rating 77%), 8 two star hotels (average rating 70%) and 2 one star hotels (average rating 61%). Top 5 star hotel is Kimpton Fitzroy London at 91%. Of these hotels the highest rated is Montague On The Gardens Hotel (4 star) at 98%.Base Rates: A look at how hotels compare for starting rates (base rates). These published rates are long term rates so do not take account of special deals and offers. We have calculated the average base rate for all the 50 nearby hotels at £95 per night. The low end of the scale shows rates from £16 at Generator Hotel (2 Star, 74%) to a high of £222 at Renaissance St Pancras (this hotel) (5 Star, 90%). Rate averages for each star rating: Five Star average: £119, Four Star average: £120, Three Star average: £87, Two Star average: £56 and One Star average: £53.
Summary:
Our in-house ranking based on guest ratings but adjusted for influencing factors ranks Renaissance St Pancras 3rd (joint) of the 50 local hotels and 2nd for the 3 five star hotels in the area. For base rates the hotel ranks 50th of 50 (3rd of 3 five star hotels.). Taking into consideration both rates and guest ratings we rank this hotel 10th of 32 of the local hotels in terms of value for money (Generator Hotel was top).