Amba Hotel Charing Cross

Loved this great executive room for four nights and the perfect location. We like to travel and we really appreciate an attentive staff and little extras. Heated towel racks in the bathrooms, great breakfast, and a complimentary mini bar, nespresso machine, tea, biscuits, and lounge. The hotel also had mince pies and hot mulled wine every night in the lobby for the holidays, complimentary for guests. Laura checking us in was extremely kind, Clive helped us confirm reservations, and Duane was exceptional. I would stay here again. My only suggestion would be to install bureaus in the rooms under the tv. Walking distance to Covent Gardens, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, West End and of course, 100 feet from Charing Cross Station basically on Trafalgar Square. Highly recommended.

Went for afternoon tea at the Amba. This was another voucher deal so we paid half the regular price and weren’t expecting this to be as good as some of our more recent teas. We’ve definitely discovered during our adventures that in most cases you actually do get what you pay for. In this case, we got much, much more. We were seated in the front section of The Terrace restaurant. With its full length windows (you can see them in the top picture, it had a magnificent view out over The Strand) the area was light and bright which made it all the more welcoming. I was absolutely delighted with the adorable crockery that adorned the tables and while each set matched itself they were all different.
A lurid blue cocktail was served to us in a champagne glass and while I’m not certain what was in it, I can confirm that it was delicious and light. The waitress then took our tea orders and asked if there were any dietary requirements to which Jen advised that she did not eat pork and the woman immediately suggested that she choose one of the other savouries to have two of. Sadly when the tea arrived they seemed to have forgotten this request but the fact that they asked and were so flexible impressed me greatly. The usual three tiers of goodies starting with savouries on the bottom (egg, ham, cheese and pickle finger sandwiches along with smoked salmon on buns), teeny tiny sultana (yuck) scones and some delicious sweet treats arrived and we couldn’t wait to get stuck in!
The cakes, of course, all had an Alice in Wonderland theme — to go with the Drink Me cocktail there was an Eat Me cake which was an airy sponge covered in a layer of fondant a bit like a french fancy but without the cream. It was sweet but not overly so, although I didn’t think the chocolate icing writing quite went with the rest. One of the queens jam tarts of course which were indeed fit for a queen with the perfect ratio of pastry to jam. And a chocolate cookie sandwich shaped like the Mad Hatter’s hat. This was my least favourite of them all because it was quite heavy but probably also because we were quite full by this point.
The ambiance at the Amba was lovely, there were several birthdays taking place while we were there and staff provided a surprise cake with candle, round of Happy Birthday and big cheesy grins. They really seemed as though they wanted to ensure that everyone had an exceptional time which let’s face it afternoon tea always should be.

After an exhausting 18 hour travel time from California with a two hour traffic from Heathrow to the hotel, we were welcomed by Maaike and the warm reception team at the Amba Hotel (Charing Cross). They quickly offered us fresh orange juice upon our arrival, which was refreshing after a long trip, and processed our check-​in quickly. Maaike gave us a room that was very quiet even though the hotel sat above the Charing Cross tube station.
Amba Hotel is centrally located with a minute walk to Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, Theatre District and Piccadilly Circus, perfect for newbies visiting London. Let’s be frank, London traffic is bloody hell! Traveling around London in a car or bus is a nightmare. I think molasses flows faster than London traffic. Amba Hotel is within the hustle and bustle of London where you can pretty much travel anywhere on foot or by tube.
The mini-​bars are also stocked with water and goodies, compliments of the hotel. I always look forward to these snacks and drinks after coming back from a long day of travels. The British breakfast buffet in the morning was convenient with a wide selection of cold and hot traditional British breakfast items. They also have Marmite spreads with freshly toasted bread made on the spot. Yum.
Towards the end of our trip, we came back to our room to find a gift of bubbly champagne and chocolates from Maaike and the Amba Hotel team. My fiancé and I were so touched by their thoughtfulness. Thank you, Amba Hotel, for making my first trip to Europe so memorable!

Super wonderful staff and very accommodating loved them and my stay so much here would recommend to anyone coming to stay in London in the center of everything !

Would stay here again and again! Perfect location. Rooms were perfectly appointed. Great complimentary breakfast and the staff was fantastic! Love London and all here made our trip that much better and I am very picky!

A wonderful hotel that felt like a home away from home. We enjoyed the warm reception, comfortable room, in-​room coffee/​tea service (espresso!) and iPad for the duration of our stay. The bed was very comfortable. The room was quiet and was SO DARK! It made our transition from Pacific Coast time to London time much easier. Johny welcomed us in the dining room with excellent service and personal, warm attention for both lunch and breakfast. He was so caring and provided us with everything we needed. The location of the hotel is absolutely fabulous. So central! Having a tube station just below the hotel was very convenient. The hotel, itself, is very nice! Elegant and well taken care of. The concierge was very helpful, as was all the staff. We will definitely return. This will be the only hotel we will stay at in London.

They got it! For real… I travel a lot for work, have seen my fair share of hotels, ranging from very high end to business and I was impressed by Amba.
The very polite and extremely helpful staff to begin with, be it at reception desk, concierge, restaurant and… well, any member of staff you might come across in the corridors… I stayed in a deluxe room, very nicely arranged, on the 6^th floor with an incredible view of the river and the skyline. Extremely convenient location if you plan to visit London.
But the hit comes from the amenities: mounting USB sockets everywhere (bye bye power adapters), complimentary I-​pad (for the length of your stay!), Nespresso machine and free (soft) drinks. The cherry on top is for the girls: EVENTUALLY someone understood that if you prevent guests from blow-​drying their hair in the bathroom, there must be an acceptable distance between the mirror and the socket… Not only do you have a real hair-​dryer, you can plug it right under the mirror! No gymnastics required to end up with a semi successful blow dry…
I am very curious to see where they expand…

The Amba Hotel is one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in. It has a great location, a very friendly staff, beautiful rooms, and an amazing breakfast. :)
London was the last stop on our European vacation, and while London wasn’t quite as cool as I thought it would be this hotel was great. I have nothing bad to say!
I would definitely stay here again and highly recommend you stay here as well.

Ein sehr schönes Traditionshaus, das den Sprung in die Moderne geschafft hat.
Klassische Zimmer, moderne Bäder. Bar, Safe, Flach-​TV, W-​LAN: alles gut.
Gut gelegen, in einem Bahnhof, von dem man aber nichts Störendes mitbekommt.
Die Bar und die Tagungsräume waren wunderbar.
Das Buffetessen hätte etwas besser sein dürfen.
Preis-​Leistung voll in Ordnung.

I stayed at this hotel for a week just after Amba had taken it over. (Used to be called just the Hotel Charing Cross). This is a beautiful modern, sleek and renovated historic hotel next to Charing Cross Train Station (no, you can’t hear the trains at all inside the hotel). I stayed in the main part of the hotel on the 6^th floor overlooking the Thames.
Here’s my mostly ups and a few minor nits:
— Location: 5 stars! Across from Tafalagar square, very close walking distance to the Theatre District, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and all sorts of other tourist attractions. Also close to the tube station and ferry.
— Room and amenities: 4 – 5 stars. Well appointed room, with free, easy-​to-​use wi-​fi that worked with my VPN connection, great shower with a large rainfall shower head, fluffy oversized bath towels, robes and slippers, comfy bed, free use of an in-​room ipad you can take out with you walking to help you find your way, flat screen TV with lots of channel options, safe in the closet and best added feature: Complimentary mini-​bar that includes juice, soda, snacks, chocolate and upon arrival a half bottle of wine.
— Service/Hospitality:4−5 — Friendly welcoming and helpful. I also held a business meeting while here in one of the second floor rooms, and was equally impressed by the helpfulness of the staff and facilities. Had room service a couple of times — fast and good. Try the pan fried sea bass! It is one of the best I’ve tasted.
— Facilities: I never made it down to the Gym — so no rating there, but saw a bunch of folks going to use it. Made it to the bar several times, swanky, quiet and lovely — pretty empty most weekday evenings. The barstaff know how to make a cocktail (expect pricey hotel bar cocktail prices), good place to talk business. Also, plenty of other nice, common lounging areas to meet up with folks.
Here are my minor nits (and I do mean very minor): Don’t know what the replenishment plan for the mini-​bar is, I was there 8 days, only drank the water, diet coke and a bag of crisps and a chocolate bar — but it seemed those were only replenished once while I was there. Also, they may have been breaking in a new key system. Several times after I went out I came back to find my key didn’t work. But, again the staff was always very helpful about it.
BOTTOM LINE: I don’t know how this hotel was before it became AMBA — but it is excellent now. Hope they can keep it up — as I intend to make it my regular spot for trips to London.