If you’ve been following my blog for a short (or long) while, then you may have picked up upon my love of travel and hotel reviews. I always seem to have a destination bucket list longer than my arm and I’m forever trying to cram as many weekend breaks and holidays into my year. There’s nothing I love more than exploring somewhere new – and photographing it all to relay it back to you on my blog. There is something really lovely about being able to share your journey with others, as well as having an ‘online diary’ to read back several months later, when there may have been aspects I’d forgotten.
So, when I was approached by Hotels.com regarding their exciting new ‘unrooming’ concept, I instantly wanted to get involved. Based on the idea of ‘unboxing’ – which is popular across the blogosphere – essentially, this new form of reviewing has been designed to capture the attention of even the extremely-pressed-for-time traveller, with short snappy videos of individual’s hotel room tours.
An extension on their current platform, which allows users to review accommodations all over the world, the new ‘unrooming’ opens up a really honest, quick fire way to determine whether a hotel is up your street (or not). Anyone, anywhere can upload their own ‘unrooming’ experience – and I think it’s a really exciting way of bringing the travel industry to life, rather than just your average two-dimensional written review.
Eager to spread the word, myself and a number of other London based bloggers were invited to their HQ to try out this new concept all over the capital, with each of us assigned a different (and completely unique) hotel. To say this was one of the most exciting collaborations I’ve been asked to work on would be an understatement!
Over an incredible dinner spread at The Dolls House in Islington – myself, the other bloggers and the Hotels.com team bonded over our love of travel and our collated excitement at seeing our hotel rooms. Some were heading off to The Ace Hotel, others to The Pullman and several to The Beaufort, the latter of which – was assigned to me.
Wined and dined, we said our goodbyes and made way to see our rooms. Situated in swanky Knightsbridge, just a stones throw from Harrods – I had high expectations for mine, especially since a sneak peek at their website revealed that the rooms were hosted in a gorgeous monochrome fronted grand townhouse (*my dream home*).
After a swift check in, I was handed the keys to the incredible number 31, a gorgeous junior suite on the 5th floor and home for the next 12 hours. Lined with textured marbled cream wallpaper and filled with plush suede interior accents, it was definitely my kind of place – and completely how I’d kit my own bedroom out if I had the opportunity. I did take a couple of pictures for the purpose of this post, but of course – my ‘unrooming’ video – complete with a star rating – probably gives you a better feel for how it looked.
The hotel (as if it couldn’t get any better) offers all guests complimentary cream tea (with scones) from 3pm – 5pm every day, as well as complimentary drinks (by the glass) from the downstairs bar. Unfortunately I wasn’t around long enough to sample either but after a comfortable nights sleep, I did indulge in their breakfast menu – which arrived at my door laden with jams, teas and toast. Mmmm…
The hotel is situated slightly away from the main road, which although means that it’s further to walk from the tube, ensures that you have a very quiet and restful nights sleep (even with the windows wide open) – a rarity for London usually. I was staying on a rather miserable rainy day, so the beautiful grand facades of all the imposing townhouses didn’t photograph as well as I’d hoped – but if you, like me, dream of living in one of those beautiful monochrome buildings, this hotel is a glimpse of that life, for sure! I felt rather Carrie Bradshaw (but a London version, of course) sitting on the plush white bed, blogging (there’s free wifi), all while staring out of the window and in view of these amazing eight story high townhouses.
It was a bit of a disappointment to have to leave (and re-join reality) but luckily, Hotels.com gave me a little added extra which took the edge off this a little bit..
In addition to hosting me for the night to conduct my own ‘unrooming’, I’ve been given a £200 voucher to give away to one of you lucky readers – so that you can book a stay anywhere in the world and show off your magnificent hotel room too! All you have to do to enter is:
a) follow @HotelsdotcomEU on Twitter
b) record your own ‘unrooming’ reviewing a hotel room from the moment the door is first opened, stating the hotel name and room number, before ending the video with a score out of 5.
c) tweet the video stating the @HotelsdotcomEU Twitter handle and the #unrooming hashtag – as well as the full name of the hotel and @Scarlett_London (so I can watch them).
d) let me know you’ve entered using the comment facility below.
Any questions, feel free to drop me a message or a tweet. But until then, happy unrooming!
Are you going to give the new unrooming concept a go? What do you think of it?
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