Hotel Café Royal Review

Back in its 19th and early 20th century heyday Café Royal was the London hotspot for anyone who was anyone to dine, party and make waves in the social scene. And though today you won’t find Oscar Wilde sipping absinthe at the bar or Princess Diana having a light lunch with an A-list pal, this London address is now a celebrity in its own right.

The Neighbourhood

Hotel Café Royal sits at 10 Air Street and 68 Regent Street, right where Mayfair meets Soho. Piccadilly Circus is a three-minute walk, and from there you’re within easy reach of the big West End theatres, or you can walk up Regent Street toward Liberty and Carnaby Street’s boutiques, or cross the road and head to the Royal Academy and Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly. Green Park and St James’ Park are both an easy stroll away. 

What’s The Story?

London isn’t short of hotels with star-studded histories, but Hotel Café Royal really takes the biscuit. It was first opened as Café Royal in 1865 by French wine merchant Daniel Nicholas (later David Nichols) Thévenon and wife Célestine after fleeing debts in Paris. Bringing the classic Parisian brasserie to London it became known for its extensive wine cellar and soon started attracting the likes of Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence. Over the years Winston Churchill, Noël Coward, George Bernard Shaw, Max Beerbohm, Mick Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor, Muhammad Ali, Princess Diana and Brigitte Bardot all passed through. Perhaps its most iconic moment came on 3 July 1973, when David Bowie held his “Last Supper” retirement party for Ziggy Stardust at the café, with a guest list including Lou Reed, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Following a restoration by David Chipperfield Architects, the café reopened as Hotel Café Royal in 2012, and now holds 159 guest rooms and suites, including seven signature suites. 

Hotel Café Royal Royal Suite Bedroom

Hotel Café Royal Royal Suite, Dining Room

The Rooms: Hotel Café Royal’s Royal Suite

Despite the picture of the hotel’s roots as a bustling café alive with activity, with artists and celebrities packed shoulder to shoulder and people clamouring to be seen, Hotel Café Royal’s rooms offer the antithesis of this. Space is a commodity hard to come by here in the centre of London, so the palatial proportions of the hotel rooms – particularly its signature suites – are a welcome surprise. My home for the night is the Royal Suite. Enormous doesn’t cover it; this is 300 sq m of prime Soho space, with views out onto Regent Street, and it takes several minutes to walk your way around on arrival – I get lost several times. The overall vibe is laid-back luxe with subtle sprinklings of grandeur; there’s a lot of leather, huge mirrors supported by giant golden ornate gilded griffins and a giant Sienna marble dining table that dominates the lounge space. The closer you look, the more ornate finishes, smart tech and fine detailing you notice. The bedroom area is so big they’ve added a room separating structure with a built-in bed on one side and walk-in wardrobe on another, plus a study on a third side – a room within a room to keep you cosy in your temporary palace. The bathroom is a sprawling affair, too, a giant marble bath, Carrara marble double sinks, a rainfall shower and a massage space for in-room treatments. It’s amazing how little time spent padding around in slippered feet it takes to get accustomed to this sort of space and luxury; but if you don’t think you could relax here alone, the suite sleeps up to six adults (and boy, could you throw a good party here). 

Suite stays also include up to five hours of chauffeur service each day of your stay (with the top grade suites gaining access to the hotel’s Rolls Royce – my new favourite way to traverse Soho’s streets), or a supercar to loan if you prefer to drive yourself from A-B.  

Hotel Café Royal Royal Suite Bathroom

Royal Suite Living Room

Café Royal Grill

The hotel has several drinks and dining spaces, with the Green Bar, Ziggy’s and Cakes & Bubbles plus two-Michelin-starred Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal. Probably the most famous space (and my dinner destination) is Café Royal Grill, the location of Bowie’s aforementioned 1973 party. This dining room is dripping in gold; think Louis XVI-style decor, ornate ceilings and mirrored walls, red banquette seating, sparkling silverware and crisp white linens. There’s live piano music and a well-stocked cocktail bar; when it comes to spots to see and be seen this is a great one (not least because diners are surrounded by multiple reflections of themselves at all times). The food is elevated bistro classics, with the Café Royal chicken and bacon pie a firm favourite, served with black truffle sauce and mashed potato. I thoroughly enjoyed the house salad and chicken milanese served with a glass of chilled Chardonnay, rounded out perfectly with the tarte St Clements posset. There’s also a good value set-menu with two courses for £42, or three for £49. 

Breakfast is served in The Gallery, under an enormous two-story Venetian chandelier and above the spacious lobby below. It’s a chic spot for your morning eggs, however you take them, though it would be criminal to miss out on one of the city’s most extravagant breakfasts – truffled comté toast served with egg and hollandaise sauce. To die for. 

The Vibe

There’s a mixed crowd at Hotel Café Royal (international travellers with an American skew here for the glamour, Londoners looking for a chic pre-theatre bite, the occasional A-lister, a smart business traveller) and unless they’re taking selfies in Cakes & Bubbles or reflected in Café Royal Grill’s mirrored walls they all largely fly under the radar thanks to the hotel’s incredibly warm but discreet service. (Presumably we missed several other suite occupants who were lost in their labyrinthine rooms upstairs, too.) 

C&TH Key Notes

• The drink to order: the Cognac & Cantaloupe in the Green Bar
• The dish to try: truffled comté toast for breakfast (I haven’t stopped thinking about it)
• The room to book: Royal Suite or Dome Penthouse: real estate heaven
• The pleasant surprise: the Rolls Royce ride to my next destination on check-out
• Don’t miss: the affordable set-menu in Café Royal Grill

The Key Facts

• Address: 8–10 Air Street, London W1B 5AB
• Star Rating: 5 star
• Phone: +44 (0)20 7406 3333
• Website: hotelcaferoyal.com
• Rooms: 159 guestrooms and suites, 7 signature suites
• Accessible rooms: 8 rooms with accessible facilities
• Check-in / check-out: 3pm / 12pm
• Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus, less than a minute’s walk
• Parking: No onsite car park; valet parking is available

The Last Word

Bowie may have retired Ziggy Stardust here but the magic lives on; from wow-factor rooms to dream dining destinations, this is truly one of London’s bucket list hotels. 

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Starting rates for The Royal Suite in August 2026 are £9,552 | ​​hotelcaferoyal.com