Hotel Review: The Lodge Hotel, London – Stylish in Suburbia

Another London post!  I like to visit London a few times a year, and finding lovely, stylish accommodation that isn’t crazily priced is becoming harder.  My answer to that: The Lodge Hotel.  It involves going out to the suburbs. Doesn’t bother me –  I love the  suburbs, having lived in one for a few years, and West London still feels like a second home to me.

So, last year my mother voiced a desire to have a nice long weekend in London, telling me “but don’t book the cheapest…” Add to that that my mum was just weeks before a hip replacement and really had limited mobility, to a trek out with lots of walking was really our of the question. After a quick look around my favourite suburbs, I found this gem for under 100 Euro. What?? It was almost too good to be true.

The Hotel

The Lodge Hotel is a superb little hotel that shows its true colours inside – on the outside, it is a rather undistinguished early 20th Century too-large brick dwelling on the South Circular Road. I am not selling it well, do I? It was once a Best Western, but if it still is, then the branding is extremely subtle. it is one of these typical Greater London well-to-do Edwardian period houses with a tasteful modern extension, and although there are some higgledy-piggledy corridor, most of the building works really well as a small hotel.

Location of the Lodge Hotel

As mentioned, the hotel is right by the South Circular Road (A205) an older London Ring Road (not the M25 motorway ring road, haha) . This might make it an unglamorous location but, well, Ring Road means a bus stop in each direction less than 100m from the hotel doors and a Underground (East Putney) about 300m away.

Clapham Junction is  major rail hub, good for London and suburban destinations, and about 2miles (by direct bus) away.

So, transport-wise, we are well connected here, it’s green, and also surprisingly quiet. East Putney is one of those typical 1980’s professional middle-class neighbourhoods with tidy terraced housing, a few nice pubs, the best Japanese restaurant outside Japan I set foot in, and a general nice air about it.

We took the Underground most days. South Kensington with its Museums and numerous shopping streets really isn’t far.  Nowadays, the Crossrail/Elizabeth Line is the bees knees if you want to get to Central London quickly, and well, it’s nine lovingly slow trundling stops to Paddington, but only five to Earl’s Court which gives you a lot of choice for faster transport eastward into places of touristic interest.

Our Room at the Lodge Hotel

I booked a “Classic Double Room” . This was compact room, yet just big enough for the two of us, with a decent size double bed (160cm wide), a small desk, bathroom  -and large windows out into a patio garden. We heard pretty much no road noise. I really loved the decor – minimalistic yet colourful, no “Motel One Cookie Cutter Modernism”.

It smelled nice, the flooring was good quality and super clean, so was the bedding – absolutely nothing to complain about. It also had one of those capsule coffee makers – and doesn’t engage in the dubious practice of charging for coffee capsules. And as is proper, there was tea, milk and sugar galore.

Are there better rooms?

Our double had 19square metres, and you can go three square metres bigger and have a bay window, or be up in the eaves with more square footage even  by booking a “Superior Double”. For those travelling solo, there are single rooms but they didn’t look that great, and booking a small double often costs the same.

Facilities of the Lodge Hotel

It calls itself a “Boutique Hotel” so of course, there is a comfortable lounge bar. But even in the mornings, when the bar was just serving coffee, the communal spaces downstairs were open and welcoming.

This is part of the bar which also doubles as a breakfast room. The overall atmosphere is calm, there is no pressure to order anything, and you can just lounge there. After we had checked out in the monring, we could have spent a comfortable few hours there – but went to King’s Road instead.

It also has a small fitness room, cosy patio seating and . There is private off-street parking in the generously sized gravel court yard which costs 15 GBP per night. Also notable is that they allow pets in all rooms.

Special Treats

Not so much, other than that this lovely little chance find on Booking.com really fulfilled all our needs.

I wanted somewhere that wasn’t a chain hotel with comfy bedding quiet, that wouldn’t break the bank. My mum just wanted clean and nice area and not too many stairs. The Lodge Hotel delivered on an all rounded great London experience.

Alternative Accommodation nearby

There is nothing in the immediate vicinity I would wholeheartedly recommend.

If you venture east a bit to Wandsworth (slightly scruffier, but is within walking distance to Clapham Junction) you could try the Brewer’s Inn – upmarket-ish pub with very nice rooms.

Cross the river to even more well-to-do Fulham, you can stay for less in a beautiful small Fulham B&B, also within walking distance to the London Underground.

You get your fair share of recent-build blocks of chain hotels in the area, of which Premier Inn is probably a  fallback option.

Hotel Details in a nutshell

I used Booking.com to reserve and pay for this stay at The Lodge Hotel. In fact, I use them for all my hotel stays if using a booking site.  Its fast and easy. I can pay in my home currency and make changes to my booking easily.

How much? Expect to pay between 100 and 150 Euro for a double room per night.

Full Details: The Lodge Hotel, 52-54 Upper Richmond Rd, London SW15,UNited Kingdom. Phone: +44 20 8874 1598

Nearest Airport: London Heathrow (Underground to Earls Court, then five stops to East Putney, about 40 minutes)

Nearest local transport: Bus stop just outside the hotel, buses run every 5-10 minutes and run to East Putney in one direction and as far as Brixton in the other direction. East Putney Underground about 5min on foot

Features: bar, cosy communal sitting areas, calm and very comfortable rooms, private car park

Doesn’t have: elevator, pool,  culinary excitement.

The Small Print

I paid 250 Euro for a “Classic Double” room for two people for two nights, this included local taxes but not breakfast. I visited London in May 2022 and paid all my own expenses, so this is not a sponsored post.

This post contains affiliate links to Booking.com.  This means I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you book any hotel through them.

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