Travel review: Clayton Hotel, Chiswick
How we stay at a hotel has changed over the years.
No longer do we confine ourselves to our room, we want to get out and explore, leaving the bed to strictly bedtime. This is a change which was clearly in mind behind the £21 million remodel of the Clayton Hotel in Chiswick.
Yes, the rooms are a delight, with large comfortable beds surrounded by smart solid oak furniture, but this four AA star hotel offers so much more.
Downstairs is an open, pillared space filled with a coffee outlet, 10 meetings rooms, bar, gym and even a library.
Each area feels secluded due to the layout, giving the impression this hotel is bigger than it really is.
It almost makes it difficult to leave this impressive hotel, which would be a shame given the charms on offer in Chiswick.
To anyone unfamiliar with this bit of west London, Chiswick is a riverside village with a mix of attractive shops and restaurants alongside large green spaces. Its excellent transport connections means it is a commuters’ paradise.
Westminster and Leicester Square are under 40 minutes away on the Tube while Hyde Park is half an hour and the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew is 20 minutes. Nowhere is further than an hour’s journey.
The Old English meaning of Chiswick is ‘cheese farm’ (thank you Wikipedia) and it is the finishing point of the annual Oxford and Cambridge boat race.
The place is also home to the famous Fuller’s brewery for more than 350 years.
But for me, there were enough beers on offer along the pleasant pubs as I took a walk along The Thames on a day blessed with good weather.
The hotel is perched on the main street, Cheswick High Road, and is hard to miss, being a prominent high-rise modern hotel block.
It is a two minute walk from Gunnersby Tube station. Underground there is a car park along with a direct stairwell and lift up to the hotel’s ground floor.
Owned by Irish firm Dalata Hotel Group, the place has undergone a major refurbishment.
Bosses added 104 bedrooms to take the total to 227 rooms. They also redesigned the interior, proclaiming it now suited ‘the modern guest’.
Fancy propping up at a bar for a drink, or relaxing with friends in the large open, communal areas, or even picking up a book in the library? This hotel can for cater all that.
It almost feels, when exploring the hotel’s ground level that this is not, in fact a hotel.
The reception does not form a visual barrier at the entrance, instead it is located to one side. And as you enter, you are instead faced with a relaxing scene as guests all around lounge about.
Among the guests when I arrive are members of the England rugby squad and Coventry City’s football team, both taking convenient overnight stays before games at the nearby Twickenham and Wembley.
Checking in, I’m provided with two passkeys for the doors and I am located on the top floor, room 1110. Inside, the room is clean as you’d expect, but is also spacious.
The bathroom features a modern toilet, shower and bath. It is a hot day outside and I’m grateful for the climate control. The one downer is the view – more of a look over the back of the hotel building. A quick shower and walk back downstairs, and I relax with a quick drink before heading to Westminster for a show, taking what should have been the District and Circle Tube lines.
Maybe it was the drink before I left, but somehow I managed to get lost on the underground, taking four different trains before eventually arriving in Westminster.
Unlike Wolverhampton, Stafford, Dudley or even Birmingham, you forget just how much London has on offer.
I’m on my way to the Gatsby’s Drug Store, close to London Bridge. It is an immersive production of Great Gatsby. I’d highly recommend it. But you realise, from leaflets, stickers and posters, the array of shows, music concerts and nightclub events on offer in the capital. There’s so much to see and do it’s a shame I’m only here for one night.
Following the show and a quick bite to eat at a nearby Turkish kebab house (not as good as the ones in Wolverhampton I must add) I decide to make the trip back.
Thankfully, having learned from my first experience, the journey back is swifter. It’s midnight but the bar is still offering service and I decide to enjoy a drink along with the other guests who are seeing out their stay before bed.
It’s a Saturday night and the atmosphere is chilled. Many people, just like me, are enjoying their final beverage of the evening following a trip out. Finally getting into bed, I fall fast asleep only to ensure I’m up in time for the buffet breakfast.
It is a delight. Fresh fruit, croissants, cereal. . . and that’s before the cooked part. The full English breakfast meets expectations. No cheap meat here. . . a tasty Cumberland sausage, crispy bacon and large eggs. It’s been under 24 hours since I’ve been at the hotel, but I’ve been treated like a king. After checking out of the hotel, I finish off with that walk down The Thames and a look inside the independent shops on offer before a few beers riverside.
I’m leaving happy, thankful, due to the hotel’s western location, I don’t face heavy city centre traffic as I make the journey back up north.
All you need to know. . .
A deluxe double room with a full English breakfast and complimentary wi-fi is priced from £106 a night. For bookings, visit www.claytonhotels.com
Chiswick features many attractions including 18th century villa and 65-acre gardens of Chiswick House. For information and opening times, visit www.chiswickhouseandgardens.org.uk
l Where to drink? Try the Duke of Sussex, a short walk from Chiswick Park Station. The 1890s pub has received the gastro treatment, opening again in 2007. It features a wide range of beers, and I’d recommend the cheeseboard. Visit www.thedukeofsussex.co.uk
