London Hotels

• Dominating the leafy Maida Vale residential district, this six-story hotel is 1 half-mile from Abbey Road Recording Studios.
  
  
• Each of the 223 spacious guestrooms offers modem Internet access and is designed in contemporary English style.
  
  
• Renovated in 2003, London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale has two restaurants and provides complimentary use of the adjoining independent health club and pool.
  
  

GENERAL INFORMATION:
What to expect: Within 1 mile of some of London's most famous recording studios, London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale attracts many from the music business. A neo-classical lobby, with marble floors and black-granite coffee tables, leads to a gallery of signed photos from visiting recording artists. The north-of-centre location, bordering the classy Maida Vale residential district, appeals to vacationers looking to escape the tourist trail.

Amenity highlights: Built in 1996 and renovated in 2003, London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale offers an intimate cafe/bar, an informal restaurant, currency exchange, a business centre with conference rooms, 24-hour room service, and a garden. Guests can use an adjoining health club, with its indoor pool, gym, and sauna. All the guestrooms have modem Internet access and bathroom telephones. The West End, 2 miles south of the hotel, is a 10-minute subway ride away.

Insider tip: The Abbey Road Recording Studios, now a shrine to the Beatles, is 0.5 miles southeast of London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale. Fans write messages on the studio walls and recreate the famous album cover by posing for photos on the crosswalk. Weekday rush hour traffic can be intolerant-best time for a crosswalk photo is midday or on weekends.

PROPERTY AMENITIES:
London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale's guests have complimentary use of the extensive health club, which includes a 40-foot indoor pool, gym, exercise classes, steam room, and sauna. Additional facilities include a solarium, health and beauty salon, and hairdresser (surcharge). The hotel offers a 24-hour front desk and can offer guests express check-out, a concierge service and a safe-deposit box. All of the air conditioned public areas and conference facilities have wireless Internet access (surcharge). Guests also have use of the car park (surcharge), but guests should note that the hotel sits outside the congestion charge zone.

ROOMS:
London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale has 237 guestrooms located over six floors. All bedrooms feature the Marriott Bedding package which includes Egyptian cotton sheets, down mattress topper, down duvets and six pillows. All are air conditioned with satellite TV with pay movies, tea and coffee making facilities, iron and ironing board, high-speed Internet access (surcharge) and complimentary newspapers.

DINING:
Fratelli - A relaxed, informal restaurant with dual-level dining, Fratelli serves a buffet breakfast and an à la carte menu every evening. Triple aspect with large windows etched with Roman designs, the restaurant is bright and decorated in a contemporary style. Fratelli features an authentic Italian stone-baked oven where the speciality pizza is freshly made and cooked to order in the open live-theatre kitchen.

Café Maurice - With floor-to-ceiling windows, the contemporary Café Maurice offers guests another dining option with a menu of main meals and snacks served for lunch and dinner (until 11 PM), with one of the chef's specialities being the herb and parmesan crusted chicken with sweet potato. Fruit smoothies, coffees or a glass of wine are available, as is the signature cocktail the Café Cosmopolitan made with Swedish Pinky Vodka.