Kimpton Fitzroy London, Bloomsbury, London — Hotel Review

The Kimpton Fitzroy London is not a hotel that requires much introduction to anyone who has walked past it. The building — a Grade II* listed terracotta Victorian palazzo occupying the entire eastern flank of Russell Square — is one of the most recognisable hotel facades in London, with four stone queens presiding over the entrance and a profile that has changed little since Charles Fitzroy Doll designed it in 1898. Originally opened as The Hotel Russell in 1900, it operated for over a century before closing for refurbishment and reopening in 2018 as IHG’s first Kimpton property in the UK. The interior, redesigned by Tara Bernerd & Partners, makes no attempt to replicate the Victorian exterior — the rooms are contemporary, the public spaces theatrical, and Fitz’s Bar is among the most distinctive cocktail bars in the city.

For IHG One Rewards members, the Kimpton Fitzroy is the programme’s most characterful London option and a genuine alternative to the Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors flagships on Park Lane — different in character but broadly competitive on quality. The 4.7 TripAdvisor score from over 2,100 reviews is one of the highest of any hotel in this series, reflecting consistent praise for the building, the service, the bar, and the Kimpton-specific touches that distinguish it from a generic five-star. The main qualifications are room size variability — the building’s Victorian layout produces some compact standard rooms alongside generous suites — and value perception at the rates the hotel commands, particularly among guests without status.

The Hotel

The Fitzroy’s defining quality is the building. The Victorian terracotta facade, the four stone queens at the entrance — representing Queens Elizabeth I, Mary II, Anne and Victoria — the grand staircase, the ornate plasterwork in the public spaces, and the famous bronze dragon Lucky George in the lobby (commissioned by architect Charles Fitzroy Doll, who also designed the first class dining room of the Titanic and had an identical dragon made for the ship) together produce a sense of occasion that no amount of contemporary hotel design can replicate from scratch. Guests arrive knowing they are somewhere with genuine history, and the interiors, while firmly contemporary, have been designed to complement rather than fight the building’s character.

The rooms, designed by Tara Bernerd & Partners, are well-executed — custom carpets, monogrammed pillows, smart TV, Nespresso machine, complimentary snacks replenished daily, yoga mat, and a mini fridge stocked with complimentary water and milk. The issue is size. The Victorian floor plan produces a wide spread: the smallest Urban Single rooms are 16 sqm, and the Urban Queen rooms are 19 sqm — compact by any five-star standard. Superior rooms start at 24–25 sqm and are materially more comfortable. The suite categories — particularly the Bloomsbury turret suites and the Corner Suite with its roll-top bath surrounded by windows — are genuinely spectacular and represent the hotel at its best. Guests in entry rooms who expected generosity for the rates charged are the source of the main negative feedback; guests in superior rooms and suites are overwhelmingly positive.

Fitz’s Bar and the Social Hour

Fitz’s Bar is a reservations-only evening cocktail bar reached via an unassuming side door — theatrical in concept and execution, with velvet sofas, a mirrored disco ball, ostrich feathers and Victorian curiosities that make it unlike any other hotel bar in London. The bar is named after Charles Fitzroy Doll, the original architect, and the cocktail menu changes seasonally with a conceptual theme. It consistently draws reviews from guests who rate it as one of the best bars they have visited in the city and from London locals who visit independently of the hotel.

Fitz’s Parlour operates as the all-day front-of-house complement to the Bar — open from morning to night, accessible without a reservation, and serving coffee, wine, aperitifs and nightcaps in a space retaining original 19th-century features including a stained glass window.

The Kimpton Social Hour is a complimentary drinks period for all hotel guests from 17:00 to 18:00 daily — wine and beer provided in the bar without charge, no status required. It is one of the brand’s most consistently praised features and a meaningful differentiator from other five-star hotels at similar price points, where a pre-dinner drink will typically cost £15–£20. For a couple staying three nights, the social hour alone represents £90–£120 in equivalent bar spend.

Dining

The hotel has four distinct dining propositions. Fitz’s Brasserie serves breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea with a contemporary British menu — reviewed positively for breakfast quality and ambience, with the full-English hot station and à la carte egg options drawing particular praise from Diamond Elite members using the welcome breakfast benefit. Afternoon tea from £60 per person is served in the brasserie and draws on the Bloomsbury literary heritage of the neighbourhood.

Galvin Bar & Grill, operated by Michelin-starred brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin, occupies the hotel’s more formal dining space and serves a menu rooted in British produce. Open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday; private dining rooms available. A proportion of Diamond Elite members with the welcome breakfast benefit have preferred the Galvin restaurant for breakfast on days when it is available — the ambience is markedly more formal than the brasserie.

Burr & Co is the hotel’s coffee shop, serving coffee, pastries and light bites throughout the day. Palm Court provides a further all-day food and drinks option. The breadth of dining within the hotel means that guests can eat and drink on-site for an entire stay without repetition — which, at a Bloomsbury address where the immediate neighbourhood is not London’s strongest for independent dining, is a practical benefit.

IHG One Rewards — Earning on the Stay

Standard IHG One Rewards earning applies. Members earn 10 points per US dollar on eligible room charges, with tier bonuses on top — Diamond Elite earns 20 points per dollar in total. Point value at approximately 0.4p per point produces a modest effective return on room spend. The hotel participates in all IHG One Rewards promotions.

Award redemptions are dynamic. The Kimpton Fitzroy commands higher point rates than mid-tier IHG properties, with peak-period redemptions requiring significant point balances. Off-peak and midweek rates are more accessible. As with all IHG properties in London, there is no UK credit card to accelerate earning and no Amex Membership Rewards transfer route to IHG One Rewards points.

Elite Benefits — What Diamond Gets Here

Kimpton Inner Circle

Kimpton Inner Circle is an invitation-only extension of IHG One Rewards, available only to Diamond Elite members who also demonstrate meaningful loyalty to Kimpton specifically. IHG does not publish the exact criteria, but Inner Circle is understood to require a pattern of Kimpton stays above and beyond reaching Diamond Elite through IHG broadly. It is not accessible simply by achieving 70 qualifying nights across any IHG brands.

Inner Circle members receive, in addition to standard Diamond Elite benefits at all IHG hotels: a personalised in-room amenity of a favourite snack and drink on each qualifying stay; a complimentary chef’s taste (small appetiser or dessert) when dining at Kimpton restaurants; a guaranteed one-category room upgrade at check-in (the same guarantee that InterContinental Ambassador provides, but at Kimpton rather than InterContinental); early check-in from 10am; guaranteed 4pm late checkout; and access to a VIP phone line. There is also an annual free night at a newly opened Kimpton property for qualifying members.

For UK-based IHG loyalists, Inner Circle is a realistic aspiration only if Kimpton stays make up a significant portion of their IHG nights — which, with the Fitzroy as the sole UK Kimpton property, requires either international Kimpton travel or a concentration of London stays at this hotel. The guaranteed upgrade alone — absent from standard Diamond Elite benefits — makes Inner Circle a meaningful step up for guests who stay frequently enough to qualify.

Who Should Stay Here

The Kimpton Fitzroy is the right choice for IHG One Rewards members who want a London five-star with genuine character and a programme that rewards stays meaningfully at Diamond Elite level. The free daily breakfast for Diamond members covers the morning cost entirely, the social hour covers a pre-dinner drink for every guest, and the in-room snacks remove the minibar equation. These are not premium-only benefits — the building and the bar deliver something that impresses guests regardless of status or rate.

It is a less straightforward choice for guests in entry-level rooms at peak-season rates. The 16–19 sqm Urban categories are compact, and a guest paying £300+ per night for an Urban room will reasonably find that the InterContinental Park Lane or the Hilton on Park Lane offers more space for the money. The Fitzroy justifies its rates most clearly in the superior room categories and above, and for guests who will use the bar, the brasserie and the social hour as part of their stay rather than as incidentals.

For points redemptions specifically, the Fitzroy is one of the more rewarding IHG properties in London — the Diamond breakfast benefit means the effective value of a points stay is higher than at properties where breakfast is charged separately, and the building and bar quality mean the stay quality is competitive with more expensive cash options nearby.