Citadines Holborn Covent Garden London

We stayed here as a family of four - with our two children aged 3 and 5. We wanted somewhere quite central to the West End, reasonably priced and big enough to accommodate us without having to get two adjoining rooms.

This hotel seemed to fit our needs and I am please to say that it did so on all the above points.

Located in High Holborn (opposite the fantastic Rennaissance Chancery Court Hotel - see our other reviews on Vinivi!), the hotel was 6 mins walk away from Covent Garden and 1 minute from Holborn tube station.

The hotel (or Apart'otel) styles itself not surprisingly by its name as being a cross between providing serviced apartments and hotel rooms. We got an apartment for 4 which had a bathroom, toilet, small kitchenette, lounge with fold out double sofa bed and a bedroom with double bed. There is no room service but there is a directory of nearby restaurants providing delivery service with full menu details and prices - not bad at all as London has such a great variety of resaturants. The apartment size was fine for our family however, with the sofa bed down there was very little room left in the lounge.

The small kitchenette had all you could need for a short stay and was great when you have small children. It had a full set of cutlery and crockery, a micowave oven, a small oven and hob and a small dishwasher and sink. There is a big supermarket 2 mins walk away which was very convenient to get cereal, milk and juice for the children (and beer and sushi for mummy and daddy!)

The price was also very reasonable for the centre of London - GBP 180 per night on a weekday for the 4 of us. There were very few facilities, but why would you need them in London?

This place seemed to be popular with business types who stay for more than a week and it is a good alternative for thosewho don't want to eat out every night but want the convenience of a hotel. I was surprised that it wasn't used more by families like us as it was very convenient to have a little kitchen and be able to put the children to bed next door while my wife and I could stay up.

The only gripe would be that it was lacking in atmosphere and I would not recommend it for a long stay as a holiday.

Price, location and convenience

Decor and atmosphere.