My wife and I just returned from a short trip to London where we stayed at the NoMad hotel. It’s in a beautifully restored building which used to be home to a famous police station and courthouse. Hilton bought the NoMad brand last year and I was eager to give it a try. I used a combination of a free night certificate and Hilton points to stay at this high-end hotel.
NoMad London Bottom Line Review
The NoMad London is a very good hotel in an excellent location. The building used to be the Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and Police Station, and hotel guests get free access to the connected Bow Street Police Museum. The building has been beautifully restored and features its main restaurant in a gorgeous glass topped atrium. Breakfast, which is served in the atrium, was outstanding. Beyond the hotel’s own features, it’s worth noting that its location in Covent Garden is fantastic. Covent Garden is itself an attraction, but it is also within easy walking distance to many theaters, museums, restaurants, and more. Thumbs Up.
- Price: I used a free night certificate for one night and points for the other two nights of our stay (95,000 points per night). The cash rate at the time was around $700 per night.
- Value: Compared to the cash rate while we were there, we got slightly over 0.7 cents per point value for the stay. That’s very good when compared to our current Reasonable Redemption Value for Hilton points of 0.48 cents per point.
- Location: Fantastic. The hotel is in Covent Garden, close to the River Thames (on the north side) and within an easy walk to great restaurants, theaters, museums, and more. Additionally, there’s a subway stop only two short blocks from the hotel (FYI, in England, the subway is known as the Tube or the Underground). A bigger tube stop, Tottenham Court Road, is only half a mile away and offers access to the fast new Elizabeth line.
- Room: Our room was nicely decorated. The bed was comfortable. The shower was large and had a rainfall showerhead with terrific water pressure. On the negative side, there was no comfortable seating, the bathroom was small, and our view was not good.
- Parking: I don’t recommend bringing a car, but if you want to you can pay the 89 GBP per night they charge for valet parking.
- Resort/Destination Fee: None.
- Internet: Excellent throughout the property.
- Service: Very good with the exception of our early check-in experience. We arrived at London Heathrow very early in the morning. I emailed and called to ask to be alerted when our room was ready. We took our time getting to the hotel. When we arrived to check-in, our room wasn’t yet ready and so I asked again to be notified when the room was ready. I didn’t receive any notifications at all. A couple of hours later I went back to the desk to ask about the room — It was ready. Would I ever have received a text or a call if I hadn’t stopped back by the desk? I’ll never know.
- Turndown service: Nightly (but no chocolates)
- Dining:
- The NoMad Restaurant: This is the hotel’s primary restaurant. We enjoyed a terrific breakfast here every morning. They also offer fine dining in the evening, but we didn’t try it.
- Side Hustle: Casual dining. We didn’t try it.
- The Library: Offers “all-day” light dining (“all day” starts at 11 am), tea and coffee from 9:30 am, and alcoholic drinks later in the day. The drinks and light bites we tried were very good (I especially recommend their flatbread).
- Fitness Room: They have one but I didn’t check it out.
- Hilton Diamond Benefits:Â
- Room Upgrade:Â We were not offered an upgrade.
- Free Breakfast:Â Gold and Diamond elite members can choose either a free cold continental breakfast, free hot continental breakfast, or get 25 GBP off the price of anything ordered off the main breakfast menu. While I ordered off the main menu once, I actually thought that the continental breakfast options were fantastic and preferred those.
- Club Lounge: None
- Late Checkout: We didn’t ask for late check out
- Welcome Amenity:Â Along with a printed note, we received NoMad-branded cookie/pastry things, and three oranges.
- Would I stay again? Yes. There are many terrific hotels in London, but this one stands out due to its great location. I’m also in love with their breakfast which featured very good coffee, amazing croissants, and fresh and ripe fruit.
From/To London Heathrow Airport
To get to the Nomad from London Heathrow Airport, there are two good subway options (FYI: the subway is referred to as the London Tube or the London Underground). You can either take the old and slow Piccadilly line to the Covent Garden station and then walk two short blocks to the hotel. Or, you can take the fast new Elizabeth line to Tottenham Court station which is about a half mile walk to the hotel. If the weather is good, I’d recommend the Elizabeth line. Also, if you’re arriving with luggage, I recommend the Elizabeth line (followed perhaps by a short cab ride). Covent Garden station doesn’t have escalators and it has steps that you need to climb before getting to the elevators. Additionally, depending on when you arrive, Covent Garden itself can be a madhouse chock full of people. It might be tough to drag a lot of bags through the throngs.
Riding the Tube: No tickets or tokens needed
London’s Tube / Underground (AKA subway) is super easy. Use your phone’s tap to pay feature (or a credit or debit card that offers tap to pay) at a turnstile to get into the Underground station, and then tap again to get out when you arrive. That’s it.
NoMad Pros and Cons
Pros
- Location, location, location. The hotel is within Covent Garden, across the street from the Royal Ballet. The British Museum is a half mile north and the River Thames is a half mile south. Many attractions are within a mile: Big Ben, the London Eye, The Postal Museum (highly recommended), Churchill War Rooms, Soho, St Paul’s Cathedral, theaters, restaurants, etc.
- Breakfast was outstanding. Make sure to check out the croissant selection as you walk into the restaurant. Both the chocolate and almond croissants that we tried were fabulous. And the fruit was fresh and delicious.
- Beautifully restored building inside and out.
- Heated bathroom floor.
- Shower: Large and with great water pressure.
- Police museum: Guests have free access to the connected police museum (the building used to be a police station and courthouse).
Cons
- No one alerted us when our room was ready (despite having asked three times for a call or text).
- The view from our room wasn’t good.
- Our room didn’t have any place to sit comfortably.
- Our room’s bathroom was small (not counting the large shower).
Image Gallery
Bedroom
The NoMad Restaurant
Other Public Areas
Police Museum
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
There’s an incredible tea shop in Covent Gardern called Mariage Freres. They have a particular tea my wife and I are nuts over. You can have an upscale afternoon tea there or purchase by the ounce to take home. We never miss the chance.
Name the tea!