Look, I’ve stayed in plenty of London hotels over the years, and honestly? The Cosy Urban Retreat actually lives up to its name – which is saying something, because most places with “cosy” in the title are either cramped boxes or trying way too hard. This place gets it right.
You’re basically a three-minute walk from Victoria Station, which means you can stumble off the Gatwick Express and be checking in before you’ve even processed that you’re actually in London. The location is pretty brilliant, actually – you’re in Westminster proper, so you can walk to Big Ben or Westminster Abbey without getting on the tube (though honestly, you’ll probably take it anyway because London walking distances are deceiving). What I really love is that it sits on this quieter residential street, so you don’t get the constant bus rumble you’d expect being this central. I mean, there’s still city noise – it’s London, not the Cotswolds – but you can actually sleep with the windows cracked open in summer.
The rooms have this warm, lived-in feeling that somehow manages to be elegant without being stuffy. You know those hotels where everything’s so pristine you’re afraid to touch anything? This isn’t that. The furnishings feel substantial – proper wooden furniture, not that flat-pack stuff – and there’s always fresh flowers in the lobby that smell like an actual garden, not some artificial room spray. Check-in is refreshingly straightforward; the staff seem to actually know the neighborhood and can point you toward the good pub around the corner (The Jugged Hare, if you’re wondering) instead of just handing you a generic tourist map. The WiFi is solid throughout – I’ve worked from the little sitting area off the lobby plenty of times without issues. One thing to note: parking is street parking only, but honestly, you don’t need a car here anyway. The 11 and 24 bus routes practically run outside your door, and you’ve got Victoria, St. James’s Park, and Green Park stations all within easy walking distance. During summer the area gets busy with tourists heading to Buckingham Palace, but the hotel itself stays calm. I’ve been back four times now – twice for work, twice just because I wanted to be in this part of London – and it consistently feels like staying at a particularly well-run friend’s place rather than a hotel. That probably sounds cheesy, but there you have it.