LONDON - The View: Not a lot to see from my third floor room but then no one comes to the Hard Rock Hotel in the middle of London for the view. It’s all about the buzz.
First impressions: The large open-concept lobby and restaurant area set the tone with brightly-coloured furniture and wall-to-wall rock memorabilia, including the piano used by Freddie Mercury at his one-time family home in London.
The Location: The 900-room hotel, once occupied by the Cumberland Hotel, sits impressively on the corner of Oxford Street and Park Lane, across from Marble Arch and one of the entrances to Hyde Park. It’s a very busy area of London, no surprise as Oxford Street is at the heart of the city’s shopping mecca.
The GMT Lobby Bar
The Room: Given this is Central London, where rooms are not big, Room 3012 was more than adequate, and there were plenty of distractions, most notably a Fender guitar – one of 30 placed in Rock Royalty rooms – amplifier and Klipsch headphones to create your own pop up recording studio.
The breakfast buffet is offered daily underneath the stage of the Hard Rock Cafe - where live music plays every night. Lots of staff to keep things moving and a wide choice English, American, Continental and Middle Eastern breakfast items.
Rock Royalty Room
The Service: For Rock Royalty, there is a lounge offering drinks, nibbles and other stuff at various times throughout the day. It’s a quieter option than the main lobby and there’s even more rock memoraliia to check out, including that of former hotel residents such as Jimi Hendrix, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Buddy Holly and Madonna.
Front of house staff were only too happy to help those guests looking a bit bewildered in a lobby which hums along day and night.
Memorable Moment: There was a wide range of ages and nationalities among guests. And if you didn’t appreciate one music genre you could always choose for another curated set to be piped into your room.
Final Word: You’ll never know until you go.