The Leonard Hotel - Central London - England

I stayed at The LEonard hotel in January 2009. It was my second visit to this particular hotel and I stay in London reasonably regularly (2-3 times a year). FInding a decent cheap hotel under £100 a night that is central to the West End is hard, but this one is about the best I have found.

The Leonard is situated near Marble Arch Tube station which is a way down Oxford Street, opposite the Ritz hotel and is about a 100m walk from the Tube. It is in a quiet street which I love because I use hotels to sleep surprisingly! It’s kind of a boutique hotel, and typically for London the rooms aren’t huge, but they are well equipped and clean with TV, kettle and plenty of teas/coffees, mini bar and decent shower.

The reception area is nicely done out - quite Regal IMO - and spacious with nice leather sofas and there is a restaurant/bar to the other side of the entrance hallway. Didn’t eat here but the atmosphere downstairs is nice and informally relaxed. On my first visit I had a nicer room in a quieter area. Actually the whole hotel is quiet from the outside, but obviously other guests banging doors and stuff is an issue at most hotels. This time, I had a room by the lift on the 2nd floor which you could hear ascending/descending, although it wasn’t that loud. And because the hotel is small, it doesn’t go on that much thankfully.

They also left a complimentary fruit basket in my room with a “welcome back” note - nice touch.

The hotel is very well located for attractions. It’s about a 15 minute walk (or 2 tube stops) to the junction of Oxford Street and Regents Street where the shopping starts, and about 25 mins walk to Piccadilly Circus. The tube line (Marble Arch) is the Central Line which goes right up Oxford Street to Tottenham Ct. Road and across to the City (Bank).

I’ll be using the Leonard hotel each time I visit now. I book through their own website and a single room is generally around £85/£90 incl. tax per night, doubles not much more. Good value for central London.