The Sanctuary House Hotel

Hotel description

The Sanctuary House is a fine hotel in one of London’s oldest and most fashionable areas. It is a short walk from Westminster Abbey and Houses of Parliament.

The Fuller’s pub on the ground floor is traditional, smart and modern. The food is home-cooked and Fuller’s full range of fine wines and award-winning ales are on offer.

The Sanctuary House is a 10-minute stroll from St James's Park, with The Mall and St James's Palace. Oxford and Regent streets are about a mile away.

The bedrooms are finished with cosy, comfortable amenities and a truly Victorian style.

• 8.3/10 Mike Mature couple

  Melbourne, Australia
  September 30, 2011

  Location is excellent , responsive & flexible staff , room well serviced , Restaurant meals fine .

  Long , long time for the hot water to arrive to the shower .

• 8.8/10 Janet Mature couple

  Gillingham, United Kingdom
  January 16, 2011

  The hotel felt very warm and inviting and the staff were very helpful, our room was newly decorated and modern; very nice.

• 8.8/10 Sally Mature couple

  Kinross, United Kingdom
  December 16, 2010

  Fabulous location. Right by tube, and yet a quiet street. Not great is you want shops and restaurants on your door step - but this is the one if you want a decent nights sleep. We walked to Westminster Abbey, over the bridge and along the South Bank up to Covent Garden and back again.

• 7.1/10 Anonymous Mature couple

  United Kingdom
  September 28, 2011

  The location is excellent, very close to Houses of Parliament.

  There was no hot water on the 1st night and the air conditioning was not working and would not be fixed for a futher 2 days.

• 10/10 Anonymous Solo traveller

  U.S.A.
  September 26, 2011

  Very helpful staff got my room ready early, which was greatly appreciated after an overnight flight from the U.S. -- the housekeeping manager even came down to the restaurant to let me know when the room was done. Front desk, housekeeping and restaurant staff could not have been more pleasant and accommodating.

• 10/10 Paul Young couple

  Redditch, United Kingdom
  April 26, 2011

  Ideal location, when you leave the front door of the hotel you are within 100 meters of Westminster Abbey. Also very close to Buckingham Palace and Whitehall. For a hotel in central London it was lovely and quiet at night, great nights sleep unlike other London hotels I have stayed at. Loved it and will stay again.

  Thought breakfast was dear so didn't have it at the Hotel. There is a Wetherspoons on the top of Whitehall - The Lord Moon of the Mall - full breakfast for £3.30.

• 10/10 Anonymous Mature couple

  United Kingdom
  January 2, 2012

  It was in prime location..to Big Ben..and Westminster .

  The staff were friendly and the little pub down stairs was realy welcoming

• 7.1/10 Keith Mature couple

  West Warwick, U.S.A.
  November 3, 2011

  Location! Comfortable and clean

  No lobby to speak of--(we like to sit and people watch in the evening) Pricey--and the breakfast was over-priced too--we went down the street everymorning to St James and had a great breakfst for only 4.99!!

• 7.1/10 James Mature couple

  Topeka, U.S.A.
  November 24, 2011

  Staff friendly and helpful. Room had nice outside windows, but bed too big for the space. Bathroom rather tiny. Common to English hotels, plumbing a bit arcane. Our room was not noisy, even though on 3rd floor overlooking pub entrance. Breakfasting in the pub below proved convenient and good. Not the best place to catch a taxi quickly. The lift was modern and efficient.

  Location was not the best for what we wanted to do, but that is not the hotel's fault. Again, the plumbing was a bit dodgy, but we finally got it working. The switch for the towel warmer was in another room, and unmarked. Finally found it our last day! Staff extremely pleasant, but Eastern European, and really not all that familiar with the City of London, even with the help of gps map. But having visited London several times, we didn't need a lot of help, and when we did, we found sources. I would recommend the hotel to others, with an explanation of its pluses and minuses included. Considering hotel prices in London today, it is a reasonable value.

• 10/10 Ann Mature couple

  Leamington Spa, United Kingdom
  February 8, 2012

  we liked its location for where we wanted to go we were able to walk to our main reason for coming which was a concert at the Southbank Centre, also walking distance to Regent St. We had stayed at the hotel previously hence we had no reservations about booking again and it didn't disappoint.

• 9.2/10 Anonymous Mature couple

  France
  February 7, 2012

  The rooms were lovely, classy décor and great toiletries. Lovely service : very clean and a nice turn down service. Very quiet inside and out. The comments about a creaky floor are exaggerated: ceilings are very high and it's just an old building, nothing more than a bit of character. good wifi connection. The residents bar and generally having a pub downstairs was great (nice burgers too!). Tube two minutes away, great location.

  The plumbing was a bit tired and the sink didn't empty well. The toilet didn't flush easily and the plug was off the chain in the bath. Plus the enamel in the bath was chipped. but apart from that it was a lovely bathroom.

• 7.9/10 Anonymous Mature couple

  United Kingdom
  February 2, 2012

  Thought it included breakfast but it didn't so we used a cafe nearby. Location excellent, quiet and tucked away, yet only yards from Tube Station. Room was comfy and clean but we had awful condensation which meant the window sill was always puddled with water. Windows were locked and could not be opened to sort this. The bathroom also steamed up. ate in the pub downstairs one night, pleasant meal. But, couldn't even get through the door on the Friday as it was full of people. Found a nice Chinese buffet not that far away. Several other pubs nearby who do food too. The hotel has a beautiful landing space, worth a look but you will miss it if you use the lift all the time.

  Just the condensation in the window area and bathroom.

• 9.2/10 Andrew Solo traveller

  Muthill, United Kingdom
  January 27, 2012

  Modern rooms, comfortable and convenient

  Would have liked an iron in the room

• 8.3/10 Anonymous Solo traveller

  United Kingdom
  January 26, 2012

  Nice, small and friendly hotel in a great location.

  The bar area can be very busy when trying to get an evening meal.

• 10/10 Robert Young couple

  Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland
  January 25, 2012

  Location and quality

• 9.2/10 Anonymous Solo traveller

  United Kingdom
  January 22, 2012

  Excellent location and most helpful staff, who kindly enabled an early check in.

• 10/10 Rachel Young couple

  Lindfield, United Kingdom
  January 17, 2012

  Very central hotel suited us well. Staff where very helpful when our heating wasn't working it didn't spoil our weekend a little but the staff did the best they could for us and we where nice and warm after all. When we had a shower in the morning shame the device which changed the water from the bath to the shower was broken we reported to reception when we left and the receptionist said she would report to their maintenance team so I am sure it will be fixed for the next person who stays in the room. We enjoyed our stay at the hotel and the heating issue and shower issue wouldn't put us off going back to stay at the hotel.

  The windows not opening in our room it would have been nice to have some fresh air, I wasn't sure as we where on the fifth floor I wasnt sure if it was a safety issue.

• 10/10 Anonymous Mature couple

  United Kingdom
  January 15, 2012

  This hotel is in a prime location near Westminster Abbey and very convenient for many tourist sights. My husband relaxed with a pint in the ground floor Fullers Ale and Pie bar, while I went out exploring. We found the staff friendly and efficient and thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

• 10/10 Emma Group of friends

  Bristol, United Kingdom
  January 13, 2012

  Fantastic location and very reasonably priced for the centre of Westminster. Staff were very friendly and accomodating which made our stay very enjoyable. One member of our party had mobility prolems which was taken into account and we were given a room geared up for someone in a wheelchair.

• 8.3/10 Lorna Mature couple

  Attadale, Australia
  January 12, 2012

  Location and price

• 9/10 Andrew Solo traveller

  Chester, United Kingdom
  January 10, 2012

  Great location, great beer!

  Bar had more staff than customers!

• 10/10 Ellen Solo traveller

  Mernda, Australia
  January 10, 2012

  Everything. The location was brilliant, value for money, clean, comfortable. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

• 8.8/10 Michael Mature couple

  Naas, Co Kildare, Ireland
  January 9, 2012

  The Location was excellent. Close to underground, Westminster and Buckingham Palace. The Food in the bar is lovely and the price is very good. The staff are very friendly. A great hotel for a city break.

  The floors are wood and crack and groan as you walk on them. The Reception floor is the worst. You will have to bring ear plugs if you want a good nights sleep as your neighbours all have creaky floors. Don't expect a good view either as the hotel is among offices.

• 8.3/10 Uziel Mature couple

  kfar-saba, Israel
  January 9, 2012

  service, location, comfort

• 6.3/10 Anonymous Solo traveller

  Germany
  January 5, 2012

  1. The location of the hotel was really nice because St. James' Square Tube station was right down the street (2 mins walk), Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and The London Eye can be reached in 5, 10 and 15 minutes respectively. 2. The bathroom was pretty nice in comparison to the rest of the hotel room and the bathroom ammentities were pretty useful.

  1. My hotel room was right by the elevator so it got noisy at times with people trafficking back and forth. Also, the door looked liked it had been tampered with in the past so I made sure I deadbolted and chain- locked my door. 2. The bed was uncomfortable. I felt springs in my back. It also didn't have sheets, just a comforter. 3. The hotel was really small and old (good if you're into classic hotels) and the lift was out of order intermittently. I had to lug my luggages all the way down the stairs. I didn't really mind because it wasn't that far but the stairways are really narrow for that sort of thing. 4. Lastly, when I went to check out, the staff was downstairs in the kitchen, setting up for breakfast so when I went to check out, I was waiting upstairs for the staff to arrive and went downstairs to ring the doorbell to see if maybe they were in a staff room or something. Finally, I ended up leaving a note along with my room key on the chair behind the desk and headed towards the train station. As I walked past the bar window, I saw the staff member/hotel clerk coming out of the kitchen and had to grab him in order to finalize my check-out process.