What is your Rewards Club status?
Diamond Royal Ambassador Inner Circle

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes. Extremely pleased. Third stay here. First as Inner Circle.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked two rooms as 5 of us staying (one 11 year old). 1 basic room and one 2 double premium booked. Basic room upgraded to 1 king suite. Second room they couldn't upgrade as there were no 2 bed suites available on our stay.

How are the rooms?
Both rooms were lovely. The King Suite, whilst actually a single room, was huge. It had a huge living space with a triple sofa and single chairs, as well as a desk area. The 2 double premium was just as lovely. In fact, it felt like it may have been a similar size to the suite. Delightfully furnished in both rooms. A huge positive (in my experience at least) are the rooms are always different. Because of the design of the hotel, each room has its own quirks which means you aren't likely to get the same exact type of room.

Both rooms had a wardrobe with mini fridge.

The bathrooms were on the small side but still very lovely indeed. Extremely clean and everything in good condition. I really couldn't fault either room we had.

How was your complimentary welcome amenity?
We received a bottle of red wine in each room. There was also a package of goodies for our 11 year old including crisps, drinks, activity book, sweets, chocolates. My Inner Circle amenities were nailed. We'd been asked by email prior to arrival what our drink and snacks preferences were. Each room had a fridge full of drinks exactly matching those preferences. The note in the room said for us to enjoy our welcome amenity and everything in the fridge. Really very impressed with this level of detail. Small and easy to do...yes. But does this happen everywhere? Absolutely not.

Did you raid the minibar? If so, what did you take?
£10 taken off the bill at checkout. Because there were 5 of us, I'd booked one room to include breakfast. On check in they were happy to do brekky for all 5 of us free of charge but when they realised one room had breakfast prebooked, they gave me the Raid the Bar credit as well.

Were you offered a Chef's Taste at Dinner, If so, what did you receive?
We were offered this at check in. We weren't having dinner at the hotel so they asked what time we wanted this delivered to our room, and which room. We obliged and at the arranged time, we had a lovely selection of desserts delivered to the room. There were 5 desserts and 5 forks. Even this attention to detail I was impressed with - chef's taste for the 5 of us. Lovely.

Did you use the free spa credit / did the hotel participate? If so, was it a good value?
N/A

What was good and what was bad?
We didn't experience any problems at all during our stay. The only very small negative which feels a bit churlish mentioning was the social hour. Provided in the post room which is a lovely venue. But you are limited to one drink per person with the selection being red, white or rose wine and elderflower juice. No beers as on our last stay, unfortunately. This was new on this visit. But we had been given so much as our welcome amenity it really didn't matter. But worth mentioning I think.

I was extremely impressed and very grateful for the personalised service we received here. Preferences nailed perfectly and the rooms we received were wonderful. The staff here are also top notch. Everyone we dealt with was friendly and professional.

We also used the secret password which prompted a free drink from their welcome fridge (just to the left of the check in desks). Beer, wine and soft drinks were the choice. We definitely were not lacking in soft and hard drinks here during the stay!

The Refuge bar is definitely worth a visit too. We had a cocktail each just before social hour which we felt were very reasonably priced for such a venue and location. They were all delicious too.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Absolutely. The Inner Circle recognition here was perfect. The hotel itself is delightful, gorgeous grounds, wonderful rooms and perfect location (right next to Palace Theatre and opposite Oxford Road train station). The staff particularly stellar. From arranging things via email prior to our stay, to the check in experience, bar, social hour and check out.

I will absolutely return here. In the lower seasons, the rates are excellent for this type of hotel.