In a bid to use up my IHG offers on Amex, I needed to book another hotel stay by end of August. The only hotel on the list that I hadn’t tried yet was Kimpton Fitzroy, so it became the obviously choice although I didn’t think I would be a fan.

The hotel is located right next to the Russell Square station, within proximity of the British Museum and University College London. I like its location – with a park around the corner, quiet-ish but in the meantime a lot of things to explore nearby.

The hotel opened its door in 1900 and is a Grade-II listed building. It was a Principal Hotel before the group was acquired by IHG in 2018.

I booked a LuxLife 3-for-2 rate, which includes free breakfast, $100 in-hotel credit and room upgrade subject to availability. Even though I booked the cheapest single room under the 3-for-2 promotion, it still set me back £478. Needless to say £160 a night is quite expensive for a 120-sqft room!

Looking at recent reports this hotel has been very stingy when it comes to room upgrade and it’s near impossible to fare one above the standard double room, which is why I didn’t bother to pay more for a better room. Just like how I expected, I received a one-level upgrade from standard single to standard double, which is anything but generous considering my Spire Elite status and the LuxLife rate plan.

Fortunately, some of the standard rooms are much larger than the others, and mine is one of them.

The room’s size is not great, but at least there’s plenty of space to move around, unlike what my friend and some other people have suggested. The bathroom is big enough, nicely furnished with a brand new bathtub.

In general it’s got the Kimpton feel although is slightly lacking in decorations. There’s also a small balcony although you can’t go outside.

The windows don’t appear to be double-glazed though, and being on the first-floor means you can expect some road noises. TV is broken as well, so on the second day they moved me to a different room on the seventh floor.

It’s quite similar so I didn’t take more photos, but has a more conventional rectangular shape. It’s atrium facing so much quieter.

In addition to the LuxLife benefit, IHG members are also entitled to £15 food and beverage credit, so in total I have £90 to spare during my stay. There are a cocktail bar and afternoon tea restaurant on site, however for proper dining you should visit the Burr & Co.

For my first dinner I ordered the Salt & Pepper Squid and King Prawn Curry:

Both taste EXCELLENT and I’m genuinely impressed. My only complaint is the portion – I can easily have three portions of the curry in a meal 🙂

Breakfast is also served here. Again decent quality but the menu doesn’t have a big range.

There’s a social hour daily between 5pm and 6pm, where complimentary wine and beer are served in the restaurant. Service at the Burr & Co is top-notch, hotel-wise just so-so.

At the end of the day, the hotel room’s condition is a lot better than I had imagined, and the restaurant has definitely been the highlight of my stay. However I still cannot justify paying £250+ a night for it considering all the alternatives in London, but if you have a free night voucher or some points to burn it may be worth a try.

In a bid to take advantage of the IHG LuxLife 3-for-2 offer (which actually ended up being extended), I planned a spontaneous trip to Edinburgh where there were two participating hotels. Since I’d already stayed at the Kimpton once, although I quite liked it I decided to give the InterContinental a try.

Location-wise I prefer the InterContinental. It sits right next to St Andrew Square so fairly central, with a few restaurants, pubs and cafes next door. But on the other hand it’s very quiet at night so you won’t be bothered by any noises.

The hotel is comprised of multiple buildings, and has quite some history to it. Built in the 18th century they didn’t have a pre-defined purpose at the beginning. Some of them was used as an office building by an insurance company which eventually turned into the main building of the hotel. A couple of the other buildings started operating as hotel later, and eventually occupied the entire block.

Hotel rooms are split into two sections: Townhall which is more original and recommended by the hotel staff, and Forth Wing which was the purpose-built hotel, and therefore may lack in some uniqueness comparatively.

I received a four-level upgrade to a Junior Suite.

I must say it’s probably my favourite hotel room in the last couple of years. It’s got such a boutique feel which even becomes a bit weird for an InterContinental, as you’d usually find this kind of design at Kimptons.

The room is not huge, but all space is very well used, and the small living area is quite cozy.

The only downside is it being on floor 1 so privacy could be a slight issue.

The bathtub is quite classy too. All bath amenities (Agraria) come in bottles of 100ml which is quite generous,.

Bottled water is replenished daily as an Ambassador benefit. I also received some Gin & Tonic plus some fudges probably due to the LuxLife rate plan.

The only onsite restaurant is the Printing Press. LuxLife comes with $100 credit, and combined with the Ambassador $20 credit I have a total of £90 to spend. Unfortunately I’m not a big fan of pub food and the menu is quite limited.

Breakfast is served in the same venue and all a-la-carte. Food quality is a let-down though – the eggs benefit are overcooked for example, and you don’t see any yolk coming out when cutting through them!

A major issue is the lack of pool or spa here, which is I believe why it’s always slightly cheaper than the Kimpton. However, if you really want to they could book Kimpton’s facilities for you, but remember it takes about ten minutes to walk there.

If you are edging between the InterContinental and the Kimpton, I think both are really worth visiting but here are some tips: the Kimpton is more thoroughly refurbished, with a much nicer public area, and more importantly swimming pool and spa, and potentially better food. However the Intercontinental has a better location, very unique and lovely rooms and is usually cheaper.