When it comes to London hotel locations, the Amba Hotel Charing Cross is in the perfect area for sightseeing.
Located next to the busy Charing Cross tube station, you're just minutes away from anywhere in central London, and by foot you're a couple of blocks away from the historic buildings of Big Ben, Queen Elizabeth Tower, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.
Once you've got your head around the layout of this hotel, which spreads across two buildings, head to the Terrace Bar for a cocktail.
Their selection is massive, and depending on the time of day the bar is either quiet and relaxed, or full of energy, usually with people having a drink before seeing one of the many musicals nearby.
The Terrace restaurant offers both a la carte and smorgasbord menus for breakfast and an all-day menu that will make your mouth water just hearing about it. From pizzas and prawns to steak and scallops, the menu is incredibly extensive. There's also a large wine list as well.
The rooms are surprisingly large for a location so central. A lot of hotel rooms in London feel more like closets, so operators can get maximum income for their prime position.
That brings us to the cost. There's no escaping the fact that accommodation in London is not cheap, in fact it's probably as far away from cheap as possible.
So keep that in mind when I say this hotel - given its location - is not as expensive as it could be.
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On cheap days it costs around NZ$500 a night, some weekends however the price is closer to the NZ$850 mark, so avoid those nights if you can.
To give you an example of how great the hotel's location is, here's how long it takes to walk from the hotel to some of the local attractions:
- Big Ben: 13 minutes
- Trafalgar Square: Four minutes
- Buckingham Palace: 19 minutes
- Hyde Park: 29 minutes
- Primark Oxford Street (Okay, maybe it's not an attraction…but you know you'll go there): 16 minutes
And as for a walk along the River Thames, it will take you about 30 seconds to get there.
Newshub.
