For a three-day weekend with the parents in London, I pushed them towards the South Kensington area and a friend pushed all towards the lovely hotel, The Kensington. Situated a few minutes from the tube stop one direction and a few minutes to the V&A the other, it was the perfect home base among tons of restaurants and shops.

The porch featured adorable nooks and even a branded bike that I wanted to steal and take home. Cuteness level: 100.

Another nook favored tons of real and faux foliage. The perfect spot to attempt photos (that didn’t turn out at all).

The lobby was pastel and lovely with some sort of elephant affiliation.

The hotel was actually two townhouses and my parents and I all fell in love with the interiors. Absolutely gorgeous pairing of classic and modern details. When will my apartment look like this?

My room was a “cozy room” and was clearly former staff quarters situated in back hallway.  At $310/night for the smallest room in the place, I was suddenly questioning why I talked my parents into a five star hotel. But, despite being the most expensive part of my European journey, I loved my “cozy quarters,” not to mention all of the interior design ideas I now harbored for my home.

The room was ample in size for one person and the bed was beyond wonderful. I could not have asked for anything else for a few days of a crash pad. I was actually sick the first few days of the trip and was so happy to get into this bed early, crank down the air con (air con!!) and curl up under this gorgeous velvet comforter.

There was also a small table, good for junk, and a tv that I never even tried to turn on.

The closet doubled as a bar for coffee and cocktails and came equipped with an umbrella, robe, and slippers.

The bath was lovely. A little dark, but fine. The shower was…interesting. Perfectly serviceable, but was “cozy.” You had to fully go under the water in order to close the door and not flood the bathroom. A quirk, for sure, not to mention shock to the system.

The parents opted for a bigger guest room with king bed. I honestly, liked my room better, but it was fairly spacious in terms of Euro hotel rooms.

They were after a walk-in shower, which they were served and gave them a rather large bathroom, a very nice perk. They were also celebrating their anniversary and were treated to bubbles and sweets on the house. Very kind.

All-in-all, this was a fantastic hotel. The service was outstanding. The rooms were more than comfortable and the bits of food we had were very nice. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again, especially at half the price of the The Franklin Hotel, another winning South Kensington outpost.