A FABULOUS hotel in a fantastic location, the Holiday Inn London – Regent's Park is a truly brilliant base to explore the world’s greatest city, as Iwan Davies recently discovered

THERE aren’t many better places to set up camp on a visit to London than the Holiday Inn London – Regent's Park.

Within easy walking distance of this terrific, four-star hotel in Fitzrovia on Carburton Street, off Great Portland Street, are a host of tremendous attractions, top restaurants and great pubs.

If you are looking for a spot of retail therapy, Oxford Street, with its high street brands and enormous department stores, is hard to top and just a short stroll away.

Likewise, theatre lovers can saunter off to catch a world class show in the West End some 15 minutes on foot, alongside the lively bars and restaurants of stimulating Soho.

Culture vultures will love the British Museum in nearby Bloomsbury where you can see the Elgin Marbles or two of the remaining four original Magna Carta documents which are held at the magnificent British Library on Euston Road.

It’s not just the location that is a huge draw for the hotel staff are truly wonderful and make you feel right at home.

I stayed with my wife and 15-year-old daughter for two nights last month in one of the marvellous executive bedrooms with Egyptian cotton bed linen, 37-inch flat screen TV and its speedy and free wifi.

The rooms are comfortable, quiet and scrupulously clean.

We stayed with breakfast included, which really was out of the top draw. The cooked breakfasts are first rate and can keep you going for much of the day.

Prices for a stay here can start at around £150 per night which takes some beating for a four-star central London hotel.

You really are also spoilt for choice when it comes to dining out or taking in the area’s historic boozers, many oozing with character.

We visited three restaurants and each was well worthy of praise and of passing on as a tip.

Probably the pick of the bunch was Berners Tavern, top chef’s Jason Atherton's upmarket venue in the Edition Hotel on Berners Street, Fitzrovia, a restaurant hailed as the most beautiful in London – and the food’s not too bad either. Great value at lunchtime as well.

The Michelin-starred Yauatcha on Soho’s Broadwick Street is an old favourite of ours and offers contemporary Chinese dining with its top notch dim sum.

Last but not least was the highly regarded Ember Yard on Berwick Street, also in Soho, a lovely tapas bar using Italian as well as Spanish dishes and offering exquisite wine at a price that won’t break the bank.

There are a myriad of great taverns to try but two to stand out, are again, both in Soho.

The Coach and Horses in Greek Street is a Grade II listed pub and was the favoured watering hole of the infamous late journalist Jeffrey Bernard among other Private Eye luminaries, including the legendary comedian Peter Cook.

If you love this, you’ll also have a ball at the historic French House on Dean Street whose former patrons included Dylan Thomas, Francis Bacon and Charles de Gaulle to name a quite eclectic trio.

It’s a compact bar with extraordinary photos and a no-tech rule – you are told to take your mobile outside if you dare use it. Bliss indeed.

So why not give the Holiday Inn London – Regent's Park a try? I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Contact: Holiday Inn London – Regent's Park, Carburton St, Fitzrovia, London W1W 5EE, Telephone: 0871 942 9111, website: https://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/gb/en/london/lonrp/hoteldetail