From the warm welcome and beautifully comfortable room to an allergy-aware meal and honey made by the hotel’s own bees, our stay at the Radisson Blu Leicester Square delivered far more than a convenient central London location.
Radisson Blu Leicester Square at a glance
- Best for: West End theatre breaks and central London weekends
- Location: Leicester Square, close to Soho, Covent Garden and the West End
- We particularly liked: The friendly service, comfortable room, excellent breakfast and hotel-produced honey
- Food allergy experience: Attentive, reassuring and professionally handled during our visit
- Overall impression: A welcoming and memorable base in the heart of London
There are some hotel stays where everything just seems to come together, and our recent stay at the Radisson Blu in Leicester Square was one of them. From the moment we arrived to the moment we reluctantly checked out, we were made to feel genuinely welcome, looked after and able to relax.
A central London location that is difficult to beat
The location is obviously one of the hotel’s biggest attractions. You are right in the heart of London, with Leicester Square, Soho, Covent Garden and the West End on the doorstep. That makes it a fantastic base if you want to fit plenty into a short visit to the capital.
However, what really stood out for us was not simply the postcode. It was the warmth of the service and all the thoughtful little touches we encountered throughout our stay.
“What really stood out was not simply the location, but the warmth of the service and all the thoughtful little touches.”
A welcome that set the tone
That started almost immediately with Daniel on reception.
Checking into a hotel can sometimes feel like a purely functional part of a trip, but Daniel made it feel like the beginning of an occasion. He was warm, friendly and incredibly welcoming, while starting our stay with a glass of fizz was a particularly lovely touch.
After travelling into London, it immediately changed the pace of the day and made us feel that we could relax and start enjoying ourselves.
A clean, comfortable room away from the bustle
Our room continued the excellent first impression. It was spotlessly clean, extremely comfortable and had everything we needed.
When you are staying somewhere as busy and central as Leicester Square, having a calm and comfortable room to retreat to makes a real difference. We slept brilliantly and found the room a genuinely relaxing space away from the bustle outside.
“We slept brilliantly and found the room a genuinely relaxing space away from the bustle of Leicester Square.”
Dinner in the bar and excellent food allergy care
We decided to eat in the hotel’s bar during our stay, and this ended up being another highlight.
I have a dairy allergy, which can sometimes make eating out more complicated than it needs to be. What impressed me here was just how attentive the staff were. They listened, understood the allergy and made sure I felt confident about what I could eat.
There was no sense that I was being an inconvenience and, importantly, I did not feel that I had to keep reminding people or checking everything myself.
Anyone with a food allergy will know how much this matters. Being able to sit down, order and actually enjoy the experience, rather than worrying about what might be in your food, is hugely appreciated.
The team handled it professionally but also very naturally, which is exactly what you want.
The service in the bar was excellent more generally, too. Staff were attentive without constantly hovering, and there was a relaxed atmosphere that made us want to stay rather than immediately head back out into central London.
An excellent breakfast – and the hotel’s own honey
The following morning brought what was probably one of my favourite parts of the whole stay: breakfast.
It was an incredible breakfast, with plenty of choice and a real sense that care had been put into it. Once again, the service was excellent. It was the sort of breakfast where you find yourself lingering rather than simply grabbing something quickly before heading out.
However, there was one particular detail that completely won me over: the hotel has its own bees and makes its own honey.
“There is something rather wonderful about discovering that a hotel in the middle of London is producing its own honey.”
I absolutely loved this. There is something rather wonderful about discovering that a hotel in one of the busiest parts of London is producing its own honey. It is precisely the sort of unexpected detail that gives a hotel personality and makes it memorable.
I was completely enamoured by the idea and, naturally, had to try the honey at breakfast.
Why the late check-out made a difference
Another thing we particularly appreciated was being able to have a late check-out. It meant our final morning was not dominated by watching the clock, packing in a hurry and trying to get out of the room.
Instead, we could enjoy that fantastic breakfast, take our time getting ready and make the most of the last few hours of our stay.
It was a relatively simple thing, but it made a big difference. The entire experience felt relaxed from beginning to end.
A theatrical touch for a West End break
There was another brilliantly theatrical touch to our stay. Radisson Blu Leicester Square has partnered with The Devil Wears Prada, the hit musical playing at London’s Dominion Theatre, and it feels like a perfect pairing for a glamorous West End break.
The show itself is enormous fun, packed with fashion, wit and all the deliciously cutting Miranda Priestly moments you would hope for.
We particularly loved that the collaboration spilled out onto the hotel itself. The awning was dressed with a fabulous display of flowers alongside one of Miranda’s most famous put-downs: “Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.”
It made a wonderfully cheeky photo opportunity and a lovely extra for anyone combining a London hotel stay with a night at the theatre.
Our Radisson Blu Leicester Square verdict
What ultimately made our stay so enjoyable was the combination of the big things and the small ones. Of course, the location is superb and our room was clean and extremely comfortable, but those are things you might reasonably expect from a good London hotel.
It was everything else that elevated the stay: Daniel’s wonderfully warm welcome and that first glass of fizz, the attentiveness of the bar staff when it came to my dairy allergy, the excellent breakfast, the fascinating discovery of the hotel’s own bees and honey, and finally the luxury of a late check-out.
“Most importantly, the service felt genuinely hospitable rather than simply efficient.”
We felt looked after throughout our visit without anything ever feeling overdone or overly formal.
In a city with an enormous number of hotels to choose from, finding somewhere you would actively look forward to returning to is perhaps the best recommendation you can give.
We came away feeling that we had enjoyed a genuinely special London stay, and I would happily return. A huge thank you to Daniel and the rest of the team for looking after us so brilliantly.
