kirb4U2

My boyfriend and i are taking our first trip to London in March, and are trying to sort out which hotel would be best to stay in: the Rembrandt Hotel or Rubens at the Palace? We'd like to stay in a bit of a luxurious place that's centrally located to all of the tourist sites, and can't figure out which would be better. They seem to be about the same, price-wise...Any help would be much appreciated!

Grandmere1

The Rembrandt is a few minutes walking from Harrods, couple more minutes to Harvey Nicholls (sp?), right across the street from the V and A Museum, and a couple minutes from the S. Ken tube station. Great location in my experience; don't know anything about the Rubens.

bettyk

We've stayed at the Rubens twice, the last time in May 2004. We really like the location of the hotel -- just a couple of minutes from Victoria Station, Buckingham Palace, St. James and Green Parks. There are several good restaurants and pubs nearby also.

The Rubens is a 4* hotel. The rooms are furnished nicely, but are on the small side like most London hotels. The staff is very cordial and there is a great buffet breakfast.

You might want to check out prices on www.londontown.com. We got a better deal from them on the Rubens than anywhere else.

taggie

Just don't get caught comparing North American hotel standards to London ones - these are both nice by London standards, but not what you might consider "bit of luxurious" places, at least not by the standards you're likely thinking of. Rooms are quite small in both.
"All" of the tourist sites are not really close to one another. Both these properties are convenient to some sites, as noted in the other posts, and it's easy to get transport to most major sites from either.
They are both good choices.

grandmere

Our "executive double" in the Rembrandt was large and had a sofa in it; the attractive marble bathroom was very large, by anyone's standards. It is a very nice hotel, and I would stay there again, although, as Taggie says, it is not "luxurious."

jody

We especially like the area around the Rembrandt. The hotel itself is quite nice but not what I'd call luxurious, but I wouldn't call the Rubens that either. At the Rembrandt, We had a smallish room but I did see some of the superior and executive rooms and they were of a good size. Our breakfast was included in the rate and was very substanial and good.

nini

I agree--I would not call the Rembrandt luxurious--but it is a four star hotel. We really liked the area. We stayed there in 2000 and it was WAYless in price then. we also liked the fact that it had a fitness center & pool adjacent.