There are many things you wave goodbye to when you have children. An uninterrupted night's sleep. Agency over your own boobs. The luxury of a solo toilet trip.
But do you have to say 'so long' to bouji city breaks? Turns out the answer is no. You can still stay somewhere hella fancy even though members of your party are much more into Farley's Rusks than fine dining.
100 Queen's Gate hotel, in London's lovely Kensington, positively welcomes little guests. It's launched a Little Explorers package to encourage families to take advantage of its location, within walking distance of the big three South Ken museums.
We stayed for a night and, spoiler, it's pretty fabulous.
100 Queen's Gate Hotel Little Explorers Package
1 of 3Bedrooms at 100 Queen's Gate hotel
Families stay in interconnecting family rooms, with an upgrade to a duplex suite if available. Cross your fingers for that upgrade, it was one of the swishest suites we've stayed in. We loved the Nespresso machine, stylish orange sofa, and easy chair. The bedroom upstairs was huge, and the bathroom had a deep bath and high-end toiletries for a parental pamper.There's also a mini fridge with complimentary water and Kit Kats, a big hit with our four-year-old son.Speaking of complimentary, each child receives a backpack filled with Natural History Museum toys. And they are quite some toys: we got a microscope, a make-your-own-dinosaur, plus a teddy in a fluffy, hotel, robe. If I was being picky, the option of a stair gate would have been good, as our 11-month-old baby is in the 'loves to climb' phase, but that's probably in the realm of fantasy.
2 of 3Food at 100 Queen's Gate hotel
Look, I'm going to level with you. We tried to eat in the restaurant, I put mascara on and everything, but our baby lasted about 12 minutes before having a meltdown. Nothing to do with the hotel, it's just...babies. The waiter was unfazed when we had to abort and we ordered food to our room instead. We did, however, manage to gulp down a vodka martini in those 12 minutes and it was lush.Children eat for free on the Little Explorers package, our son chose burger and chips because of course he did, and over fives get £50 dining credit.The grown-ups had salads because being a grown-up is hard. They were good though.A slight note of caution, I didn't see anything vegan on the menu, so maybe ask ahead if that's your veg-based vibe.
3 of 3The bar at Queen's Gate hotel
There's no two ways about it: this hotel is gorgeous. The furnishings are plush, the staff slick, and everything that can be polished very much is. But did we feel awkward having two young children? Ours were the only ones we saw during the stay but all the staff were welcoming to them, making sure they called them by name and making a fuss. And, hang it all, our home is full of plastic toys and chirruping Vtech, it was quite nice to be somewhere with a more sophisticated feel for a night.
Is 100 Queen's Gate hotel Little Explorers package good value?
I've been giving this some thought. Prices start at £365 a night for up to two adults and two children. There's no question that's at the treat end of the scale.
However, as you can check in at 10am on the first day, and check out at 4pm on the second, you get many of the advantages of a two-night break while fitting into a busy family life (in our case, Saturday morning football and school).
Plus there's the £50 dining credit, a glorious breakfast buffet, and added free ice-cream or other treat of choice for the children.
And you can walk to the museums and Hyde Park so that saves on transport. Okay, I might be clutching at straws there but don't we deserve a treat after the last couple of years? Don't we?
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The _Little Explorers Package_is available from £365 per night for two adults and up to two children, in a two-bedroom interconnecting family room, with a complimentary upgrade to a Duplex Suite Interconnecting Family Room (subject to availability).
Little Explorers package also includes a continental breakfast for a family up to four, served in the comfort of your room, or a full English breakfast downstairs at the hotel’s W/A restaurant andbBar