We stayed at the Sofitel London St James for one night, for our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

Having booked a 5* hotel, we were curious to see what our money was going to buy us. We had no need to be worried!

From the outside, the hotel really does look the part, with a very friendly doorman always present. It is an extremely clean hotel, and a lot of care has been taken to keep it that way.

Once inside the lobby, the sheer luxury of the hotel is plain to see. Over the reception desk is a replica of the clock face of Big Ben, whilst the smell of all the fresh flowers is beautiful. All the staff working on the front of house are very pleasant and welcoming. Off the lobby area is the Rose Lounge, where afternoon tea can be taken if you are so inclined. Also off the lobby is the Brasserie Roux, which, although we did not go inside, certainly looks as impressive at is sounds.

The hotel is split across 6 floors (7 if you include the Penthouse or Royal Suite). Our room was located on the 6th floor. There are 3 lifts, all of which were very posh and modern.

We were highly impressed with our room, it was SO clean even the kettle had been polished! In the drawer of the dressing table was a hairdryer, which had also been meticulously polished. The bed itself was the most comfortable we have ever slept in, which makes perfect sense when you realise how much each bed (and linen) has cost. Pretty much everything in the room is available to purchase, and a catalogue is provided to show the costs. For our King bed, including the pillows/linen/duvet, the cost was approx £2600!!!

The bathroom was also very clean, and comprised of a bath with an overhanging shower. The shower was very powerful, and the selection of towels was staggering! There were also 2 bathrobes and slippers provided, along with a selection of Hermes of Paris toiletries. Very interestingly, there is a telephone on the wall next to the toilet, so you don't need to miss out on that very important conversation when nature calls!

TVs are provided in each room, with a decent selection of channels to choose from. There are the usual Sky channels, along with foreign (French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic) channels and radio channels.

An iron and ironing table are located in the wardrobe of each room, which comes in quite handy to uncrease clothes before enjoying a night out.

The hotel is located right in the middle of the West End, a stone's throw from Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. Most of the big theatres are within very easy walking distance, and there are a number of nice restaurants nearby. Also, very handily, there is a Tesco Metro store just up the street about 100 yards.

Overall we were very very impressed with this hotel, and would recommend it to friends and family without any worries. Shop around for the best nightly rates, and you will undoubtedly have a wonderful time!

Upon checkin we were greeted by the lovely fragrance of fresh flowers adorning the lobby, friendly and professional staff. Our queen suite was superb with lovely tub and separate shower. Ahhh! After an 8.5 hour flight from Canada it was heaven on earth!

The exquisite bed was heavenly and our room was equipped with all the comforts of home. Room service luncheon was nicely presented and promptly delivered. Breakfast buffet in the dining room, though costly at 21GBP each, provided a variety of english breakfast and continental choices. The lovely Brasserie Roux is a fine choice for a lovely dinner.

For those wishing to save some money on meals, the St James is handy to pastry coffee shops for breaky, pizza and takeout fast food and Tesco market for groceries and snacks on Regent St, and, of course the pubs and restaurants of the Picadilly Circus and Haymarket areas.

Location was excellent! An easy walk to the Palace, St James Park, Green Park, Picadilly - where you can hop on any of the city tours, 10-15 minutes up Regent St. to shopping on Oxford St. We also easliy walked to the original Hard Rock Cafe down Picadilly for dinner.

While in London we experienced 30 degree temperatures and our hotel was an welcome oasis of cool.

I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone wishing a central location to attractions, a luxurious accomodation, safety and security. Pricy but well worth it!

A hotel in the typical Sofitel style, despite extenal appearances!

Room was large and had typical Sofitel furnishings. Bathroom was particularly spacious and well-fitted. View was onto a blank wall not var away - though I wasn't there for the view, others might want to check when booking if they want to see something more interesting.

Location - just off Piccadilly, not far from Trafalgar Square - is handy for tourists.

Prices are a little steep (with rooms that expensive, should we really expect to pay for an internet connection these days?), but what else does one expect in London?

We stayed at the St James for a romantic night away and had an excellent time. The hotel itself doesn't look particularly special from the outside but is in a lovely location within walking distance of Buckingham Palace and Picadilly Circus.

The inside of the hotel looks very high quality and has a modern feel to it. I don't know if it has had a refit recently, but it seemed to have been very well done - lots of modern touches but also seemed to retain a fair bit of its history.

Our room was great, a nice size for the centre of London. The bed was massive and very comfy. The bathroom was excellent and the shower amazing. The shower head was about 30cm in diameter and just dumped water on you ... so refreshing. Certainly didn't have the low water pressure and lack of hot water that alot of other London hotels have. The Hermes shower gel and body lotion were also a nice touch.

All the staff at the hotel were very friendly though we didn't eat in the hotel so can't comment on the restaurants. While we were in London, we stopped in at The Dorchester which is a much more expensive hotel. From what we saw, it came nowehere near the St James for the quality or service.

The only slight problem I had was that I made the booking at the last minute but not through the hotel's site. Apparently they hadn't received payment for my room even though I had prepaid it. I was asked to pay again when I was checking out but, when I queried this, the junior member of staff called over a manager and he resolved the issue instantly.

This is probably the best London hotel I have stayed at and I would highly recommend it over many of the more famous names. It's clean, modern and excellent value.