The Top Floor Flat

Not too far from The Top Floor Flat is one of my favourite areas of London. I’ve mentioned it before, the home of the Queen’s Head pub (in my opinion one of the coziest in London) as well as a number of other local amenities (church, doctor’s office, tennis courts….). I was particularly fond of the Green last autumn when the leaves were changing colours but now that it’s nearly nice outside again, Brook Green is starting to pick up in activity. The playground was packed with kids, all the tennis courts full, dogs running around and the daffodils in full bloom.

My trip to the Green (not that it generally needs a reason) was to scope out the Brook Green Hotel for my mother who will be coming to visit The Top Floor Flat after nearly two years of residence here. While I am incredibly excited, it’s also important she finds a good place to stay nearby. The options are varied – being as near as we are to the Olympia Exhibition Centre and Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, we get a lot of year-round traffic for people attending conferences. The Brook Green’s website was gorgeous and I knew the area was lovely so I thought I’d take a peek today while on my walk.

Unfortunately they were so busy I didn’t have a chance to take a look at a room (generally a good sign, though!) but the downstairs pub, also the main reception area for the hotel, was frightfully British with a full bar and very traditional pub feel. This is fine if you don’t mind sharing your hotel lounge area with ordinary evening punters but probably not ideal if you’re looking for a relaxing, low-key common space during the evenings. Additional, I had slightly misjudged the location of the Hotel, expecting it to be further on the Green while instead it was at the far end which, while absolutely fantastic for public transport (this has to be one of the easiest hotels in London to get to from Heathrow), would be less fantastic for noise level and view – half the rooms faced the Green, but also a busy high street; the other half were quieter but faced a parking lot and giant Tesco.

Having not seen one of the rooms I of course can’t judge the hotel overall – and it looks ideal for someone visiting the area and looking for a comfortable, easy to access, authentic British pub hotel stay. For anyone who is particularly sensitive to road noise at night (don’t come to London!) or wants a more traditional hotel offering with a quiet public area, this might not be the best bet.

I have to say, what would swing the stay in my favour, if I were travelling alone, would be the basement pub at the hotel which was offering up some pretty high profile comedians over the next couple of nights. Perhaps I’ll have to swing by for one of their shows, even if I am not visiting my family in one of their rooms.

Regardless, Brook Green is still a fantastic area, a gorgeous neighbourhood and a great place to grab a bit of sun, a game of tennis, a bit of fresh air or a pint.