Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall Review: Home is Here (and Free Beer)

We ignored the Staybridge Suites Vauxhall hotel in our initial London hotel search because it sits south of the Thames. We figured that any spot across the river’s sloshing, silty body would put us inconveniently far from the action. We imagined slogs across wind-swept bridges covered in river spittle as cars whizzed by.

Thankfully, our Kensington VRBO fell through, twice, and we had to book something the night before flying across the Atlantic. At 3 a.m., we skimmed the options and settled on Staybridge Suites Vauxhall by IHG because of the kitchen and the astronomical amount of good reviews. The location — well, we’d deal with it once we got there.

Escape crowds of London tourists just like you.

It turns out, Vauxhall is the ideal place to stay on a long London trip. It’s close enough to London’s picturesque heart that we could easily walk to the center of things, but it’s also just outside of the thickest knots of foot traffic, which let us breathe a little. Each evening, we actually looked forward to crossing the Thames back to the less-touristy hub of Vauxhall — to “our” neighborhood.

What’s around the Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel?

The hotel’s immediate surroundings are idyllic. The circa-2014 earthy-brick building calmly sits at the east end of the infamous Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. Drapey, ambrosial trees shade this pastoral public green space. Sounds soften within London parks, muffled to painting quiet, and there’s an unspoken invitation in the air here to settle on one of the little grassy mounds with a cup of whatnot. The park trails off into the plant-bedazzled Vauxhall Walk, where the hotel’s main entrance sits. Side streets/bike paths frame the hotel, so there’s zero road noise.

Is Vauxhall far from London?

The London Vauxhall Staybridge Suites hotel is still in Central London — just a quieter nook of it. It’s out-of-the-way in a good way. The lodgings are a mere 3-minute walk from Vauxhall Station, where buses endlessly harumph off above-ground and the Tube shrieks in its Victorian lair underground. There are also at least 4 public bike rental stands within a 2-minute walk of the hotel. It’s super easy to get anywhere from this hotel: because the crowds are thinner on this side of the Thames, it’s actually easier to get around then at a Central-Central-London stay.

Get to the Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel from Heathrow for under $10.

Chances are, you’re coming to the Staybridge Suites from Heathrow Airport via the Tube, as we did. The odyssey from airplane landing to the hotel takes about 2 hours. You’ll disembark, slog to passport control (it’s all electronic/biometric now), then slog to the baggage claim, then slog through the airport’s hot bowels towards the connecting Tube lines.

Use your credit card to tap through the till and hop on the Piccadilly Line. The Piccadilly leg takes about 30 minutes and is an unpleasant rattletrap. We arrived on the hottest day of the year and for the first time in my life, I nearly passed out from heat-stroke and motion sickness. Bring water.

Get off the Piccadilly Line at Green Park Station, and while still underground, switch to the Victoria Line. The Victoria line is also as hot as Hades’ heartburn, but you only have to ride it for 5 minutes, across the Thames. Hop off at Vauxhall Station, drag your bags up the escalators, and tap your way out into the bright London air and a view of a “Very Public Urinal.”

From Vauxhall Station, you will now drag your enormous suitcases over cobblestones, rattling through the Pleasure Gardens as the pigeons lazily admonish you, for the 600-meter-ish walk to the hotel. Don’t worry, you won’t have to do this again. When you leave, you’ll splurge and order a rideshare instead (the $80 is worth it to exorcise the Tube’s shrieking from your soul).

How much does Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall cost?

The only bit of blight on our Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall stay was that it cost a pretty penny. Our last-minute total cost for the 10-night hotel stay was $2779 + $496 VAT via Vio.com, which works out to $327.50 per night. That’s more per night than I’ve ever paid at any hotel. Part of the high rate was likely because we booked the night before arrival. We also visited at the end of June — peak London tourism season. However, even with planning ahead, the average nightly rate at Staybridge Suites Vauxhall-London seems to be at least $240.

Would we book it again at the same price? Absolutely. We got exceptional value for our money at Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall. We saved at least $300 on breakfast and coffee by sticking to the hotel’s substantial free offerings, and by hoarding fruit and eggs for afternoon nibbles. Most of all, we loved that the hotel didn’t try to nickel and dime us (more about that below).

Are there any hotel discounts?

IHG encourages guests to book directly through their site, in order to earn IHG member rewards. While booking direct ensures no hiccups with the reservation, I find that it’s typically more expensive, with less cancellation flexibility.

Instead, I take the third-party risk to save some money. I’ve used Vio.com for my last four hotel bookings, including another recent stay at Casa Palma in Palm Springs. Vio.com is consistently cheaper even than other hotel aggregators, often drastically so, and they introduced a “Freezable” price feature that’s quite helpful.

That being said, after booking, I always call the hotel front desk to confirm my reservation and to request an email receipt directly from them.

More importantly, remember to book your London stay with a credit card that doesn’t have a foreign transaction fee even if the price is listed in USD on a hotel aggregator like Expedia. Otherwise, you’ll be hit with a 1%-3% fee from your bank (ask me how I know).

Inside a Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel room.

Sweet suites galore!

The rooms come in different configurations with similar furniture Tetrised in. We specifically booked the Studio Suite – 1 King Bed – Kitchen, but honestly, I can’t tell you the difference between that and the also available 1 King Studio Suite, since both have kitchens.

In other words, you can’t go wrong here: every room has a kitchenette with a fridge and microwave oven. Variations may include a tub instead of a shower, a separate 1-bedroom, and double beds. I don’t doubt that the front desk would willingly grant room change requests if they have the space available.

If you’re looking for a quaint British bed & breakfast, Staybridge Suites in Vauxhall is not that. Our room was as ample as an American with just the right amount of furniture: a sofa, a desk and chair, a wee table, a pouf, a closet, nightstands, the bed, and a dresser under the TV with a medley of storage spaces. We moved right in and felt right at home.

Cozy creature comforts.

Soundproofing: all quiet on the window front.

We stayed in Room 211, which is at the end of the hall on the hotel’s backside. It faces Glasshouse Walk and the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, with a view overlooking a mossy roof and construction.

At first I balked at the sunflower yellow tractors picking at cinderblocks just below, worried it would be noisy during naps. Then I realized I was watching them in action and couldn’t hear a peep: Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall has the most soundproof glass I’ve ever found in a hotel.

Light or the lack thereof.

Speaking of primal needs, true blackout curtains fully covered the floor-to-ceiling windows. Some nights, we lazily flapped one end over the other and the London dawn filtered through like a molten seam. But when properly layered, we were wrapped in near total darkness.

Sleep quality in a Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall king bed.

All this is to say we slept like babies, straight through each night to our breakfast alarms. I’m an insomniac in new spaces and bemoan every light blip and bed creak. But here, I literally had zero issues sleeping deeply. The king bed was ample and stable, temperate (no night sweats), and a Goldilocks-level of soft/firmness. The sheets were silky and the pillows were just the right plumpness (only 1 needed). I now dream of dreaming in the king bed at Staybridge Suites Vauxhall London hotel.

British hotel electric eccentricities.

Plugs and switches.

Visitors from anywhere will quickly find themselves at home at the IHG Staybridge Suites Vauxhall. However, I still have no idea which light switch turns on what. There are several multi-switch panels throughout the room, which turn on all, none, one, or a medley of lights. I finally memorized the bathroom switch (located outside the bathroom) but for 10 days, we quite literally just pressed buttons until everything else turned on or off.

Interestingly, the entire room’s electricity is controlled with the room keycard. This is a genius sustainability feature, so that when guests leave, they don’t leave all the bulbs a-burning. When we arrived, an extra keycard was already in the slot, probably because we checked in on the hottest day ever in England and constant AC was a necessity.

The power sockets take the chunky Type G plug, as expected. There are also bedside USB-C ports, though mine was a bit temperamental. Similarly, B.’s lamp was a bit flickery, perhaps weary from countless visitors clicking the switches over and over in search of light and darkness.

Bathroom fog begone.

The towel rack holds the best surprise: warmth. We discovered this mid-stay when I noticed a cord running from it. Curious, I found a small switch under the many other switches and the towel rack warmed up like a pool handrail in the sun. Similarly, the bathroom mirror had some kind of anti-condensation device inside. We only realized this after we accidentally turned it off and couldn’t figure out how to turn it back on.

Amidst the great European heat dome of 2026, we were hard-pressed to imagine the infamous London damp and chill, but these are amenities that are useful anywhere people get wet.

A modern British Bathroom.

Beyond its surprise damp-warding properties, the bathroom was modern and comfortable. It’s done up in earth tones and buttery subway tiles. The shower is a simple two-dial system with sufficient water pressure: the top turns on the tap plus the cold water and the bottom turns on the hot water. However, the half of a glass door is a bit risqué and if you get too wild with the rain showerhead, the floor gets soaked.

American toilets typically use force to flush. British toilets usually use a cistern system that relies on water volume and gravity to drain things away. The former are faster, but more prone to clogging. The latter are slower, but rarely clog. Our toilet seemed to be of the British variety, as it ponderously pulled down our waste, with an intuitive small/large flush button handle.

We dealt with levers and pulleys and strings and staircase mazes and sinks as small as clamshells throughout London public bathrooms, so it was a delight to return to the room each day to our classy yawning toilet and our big jutting faucet.

A full kitchen full of potential.

Our king studio at Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall featured a full kitchen with all the trappings: toaster, good-sized mini-fridge, microwave oven, two-burner stovetop, dishwasher, kettle, coffee maker, and a deep sink. Silverware, pots, pans, and dishes filled the cabinets in a welcome contrast to the naked kitchen at The Signature at MGM Grand.

Ironically, we didn’t cook a single meal in this kitchen we had so desperately wanted on our London trip. Still, we liked the idea of having it if needed, and the plentiful utensils and dishes made reheating takeaway leftovers very convenient.

Unlimited suite supplies.

The room comes stocked with typical hotel supplies: towels, tissue, toilet paper, and shower toiletries. The toilet paper is the grey type that goes much too quickly — so expect to be bashfully asking the front desk for more.

There are also kitchen consumables like dish soap, dishwasher pods, and paper towels. The cleaning staff restocked these each time we ran low. Other essentials are sold at the hotel’s shop, AKA “The Pantry.” Everything is quite reasonably priced (e.g. 5 pounds for a pint of beer and yes, beer is an essential).

Laundry pods are sold separately at the front desk for only 50 pence per pod. If you’re nice enough, or haven’t been flagged as the diarrhea guests who keep asking for toilet paper, the front desk attendant may give you a few for free.

Overall, there’s a sense that the Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel isn’t trying to nickel and dime its guests. There’s an understanding that you’ll use paper towels or dozens of toilet paper rolls, and that’s fine, because the great service will lead to better reviews and more customers. It’s a breath of fresh air from the miserable bone-picking vultures that are Las Vegas Strip hotels.

Twinkling hotel cleanliness and customer service.

Front desk/check-in

Richard welcomed us at the front desk without batting an eye at our horrific Tube-heat-stroke-stricken appearance. We arrived 2 hours earlier than the 3 p.m. check-in and we didn’t even need to request early check-in: he simply checked us in. This quiet recognition of guests’ needs and accommodation without any ado was a pleasure to experience, and the excellent front desk service continued throughout our 10-night-stay. Check-out is at 12 p.m. and this extra hour than typical is ideal if you have a later flight.

Housekeeping

Housekeeping is magical. We’d leave for the day, taking our sustainable wood No Room Service Needed sign off the handle, and return to find our dishwasher run, the trash emptied, the bed made, and our supplies restocked. By day two, housekeeping staff understood we did not like the communal bed runner, nor the public yellow throw pillows. We appreciated this quiet attention to our OCD needs.

Housekeeping is available Monday through Friday, and can be requested on weekends at the front desk before 10 am. Interestingly, housekeeping staff don’t have big carts, which keeps the halls uncluttered. Instead, they carry small red buckets with brushes and sprays, and flit in and out of rooms, apparently willing towels and toilet paper into being.

Is the Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel clean?

One of the worst things you can do in a hotel is start to look closely. The bed frame, baseboards, and bathroom backsplash begin to reveal the biological intimacies of every guest before you. In terms of Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel cleanliness, even close inspection didn’t reveal any obscenities. We gave the room a cursory wipe down, but felt comfortable moving in like it was our apartment.

The same cleanliness standards permeate the whole hotel. The furniture and common areas are well-maintained. The chaos of free breakfast is carefully cleared each day, and we saw staff sanitizing and vacuuming the entire grazing area post-guest-stampede. Overall, this hotel feels more deeply cleaned than other hotels and is well-kempt.

Coffee, breakfast, and beer.

A magical espresso machine.

Before we get to the food, we must talk about the coffee at Staybridge Suites Vauxhall London. There’s an enormous automatic coffee machine in the breakfast area like some kind of Gutenberg press that prints fabulous cups of caffeine. It’s available 24/7, though I don’t recommend this for your own sanity and stomach because the coffee is quite strong. It makes flat whites, espressos, cappuccinos, and more. The non-dairy milk options live in the fridge behind the tall black cabinet and if you’re stealthy enough, you can sneak one out after breakfast hours.

Fancy water, free beer, and good cheer at Staybridge Suites Vauxhall.

There’s also an adjacent two-spigot tap for Purezza “Premium” sparkling water and still water. Is it just water from the pipes spit out of a fancy spigot? We don’t know, but we liked how cold it was after a long day out. That being said, our in-room kitchen sink tap tasted just as good — even beating out San Francisco’s legendary granite-sanitized Hetch Hetchy water.

Hidden behind another cabinet is the beer tap. This one’s only open and flowing on Monday through Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. for the Social Hour. We stumbled in with beer already flowing through us each night and enjoyed a few of these free, frothy, and filling beers. A staff member was sometimes present to serve drinks, while other times, it was a free-for-all self-serve.

The Social Hour also includes hors d’oeuvres such as briny green olives, sweet pickles, bite-y cheeses, salami pinwheels, doily-esque crackers, and wine. Other guests mingled, but we skulked around the perimeter in search of beer, peace, and quiet.

Complimentary full English breakfast at dawn.

Now onto the free breakfast. We ate breakfast at our hotel every morning, though we quickly narrowed down our food selections. Breakfast is served from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. on weekdays and 7:30 to 10:30 a.m. on weekends. A hand-dandy elevator sign reminds guests that if they get up too late, they’ll get stuck in a crush of families sneezing on the muesli. While we never experienced any line, it does get increasingly more crowded after 8:00 a.m. When we passed by at 10:00ish on Saturday morning, it was jammed.

For the first two days, we attempted the full English breakfast. I don’t recommend it. There’s watery scrambled eggs, rubbery sausage, jerky-esque bacon, unsalted baked tomatoes, either potato triangles or cubes, and a vat of baked beans like a witch’s brew of communal flatulence. The potatoes were the only decent bite, as potatoes always are.

Other guests lapped it up, but I instead became a regular Build Your Own Muesli user, with a particular penchant for the dried cranberries and granola, along with two hardboiled eggs, two croissants, a banana, and two cups of coffee. Bread options were delicious across the board, especially compared with American continental breakfasts à la cardboard. The croissants were flaky, fresh, and softly doughy. B. enjoyed gluten-free toast with marmite and marmalade, and all of the fruits.

A full-size fridge holds dozens of fruit juices and milk cartons. There’s also a cornucopia of cheeses, fruit salad, baguettes, bagels, oatmeal, deli meats, and more. Overall, while we didn’t crave the breakfast, we found it was more than good enough for 10 days, and we never felt the urge to forage for our morning meal elsewhere.

Staybridge Suites hotel amenities & small touches.

The Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall fitness center.

The 24/7 fitness center is acceptable, though it certainly doesn’t inspire one to work out. It’s located in the basement, which bustles with muffled service activity behind closed doors. Cardio-wise, the gym holds two treadmills in decent condition, a stationary bike, and an elliptical. There are some mats, some dumbbells, and a multi-station weight machine, along with a bench that doesn’t fit in anywhere.

Some track & field photos brighten one wall, but the rest is grey fluorescence. The cardio machines don’t have fans, and there are no windows, so keep your workout light or be prepared to overheat. Still, with the TV, towels, and water cooler, it’s not too bad, and we used it every day of our stay to erase the prior night’s pints.

Free laundry at Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall!

The more exciting room in the basement is the laundry room, which is open 24/7. It holds three washers and dryers, and they’re all free to use. They were also all in good working order and clean inside. While the laundry does get busy, there were many times we walked by and all of the machines were available. As mentioned before, we bought soap at the front desk for a mere 50 pence a pod. Unlimited free laundry is a true amenity — a rarity in this era of late-stage-capitalism.

Other hotel amenities.

Free Wi-Fi

B. and I both had cell and data service abroad, but it was occasionally spotty. Thankfully, the Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel includes free, fast Wi-Fi. We used it to chart rough drafts of our walking routes through the city.

Tip: Check your cell phone plan for complimentary international “roaming” days. Lots of providers offer free or cheap cell service abroad nowadays — no SIM swap needed. For example, I have Visible+ and I earn 1 complimentary Global Pass day per month, up to 12 days total. I used it for free cell, data, and hotspot services on my phone the whole time in London, albeit with limp service at times.

Business Services

There’s a spacious business meeting room directly across from the front desk at the Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall Hotel. It seems to be available for guests’ business use. It’s not clear if they allow spontaneous poetry reading meetings.

There’s no pool, but —

Although there’s no pool, spa, or outdoor area, the nearby public gardens make up for this. It’s a pleasure to step through the hotel’s giant revolving door and out into the hushed fresh breath of the park with the whole day ahead abroad in London.

Room Service

Per an in-room flyer, the hotel also has some room service connection with the Black Dog pub, which is literally just a few steps down Vauxhall Walk. We thought the prices were a bit high for portions that looked a bit small, so we didn’t order anything. However, the ambience is quintessential pub on a cobblestoned neighborhood street. It was consistently busy and buzzing, apparently because Taylor Swift did or did not mention it in a song.

What’s nearby?

Food near IHG Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel.

Again, the Black Dog is your nearest option for full meals. Just a few steps away, the Tea House Theatre serves food, desserts, and performances. We avoided it based on reviews of its grungy utensils and cat-laden tables, but the sapphire building is magical in the twilight, with live music tinkling out from the nectarine-glow interior.

Cutting through the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, you’ll hit Kennington Ln., which is the busy tail-end of Vauxhall Bridge Rd. — aka the nearest route across the Thames. We lived off of the PERi-PERi chicken at Nando’s Vauxhall Arches right here: order takeaway with the Hot sauce and relax in the park with a beer (public drinking is legal!).

Overall, the food options near IHG Staybridge Suites London-Vauxhall are pretty weak. The other Vauxhall eateries we tried were:

• Kennington Lane Cafe – 383 Kennington Ln. (Average cheap late-night food).
  • Mumbai Delight – 51A S Lambeth Rd. (Friendly service, but inconsisent quality across dishes).
  • The Jolly Gardeners – 49-51 Black Prince Rd. (Tasty, organic pub fare, but really expensive).
  • Pret a Manger – 21 St George Wharf (Reliably delicious and well-priced).

There’s also a food-hall and some other restaurants, including a lot of Portuguese spots, but we found everything to be either too crowded, already closed, or too expensive. The Vauxhall area isn’t bristling with fantastic food choices, but you’re sure to find something you’ll want to eat again.

And if you don’t, there’s always the local Sainsbury’s Local on Lambeth Rd. and the Tesco Express a bit further down on the Albert Embankment. They’re not M&S, but their prepackaged food will do in a pinch. Just use the hotel’s phone number to get a ClubCard and start saving like a London local.

Fun & drinks & drinks.

If you’re looking for nightlife, you’re in the right place at the Staybridge London Vauxhall hotel. It’s just a jaunt away from the sporadically open Royal Vauxhall Tavern, the Eagle, and Horse Meat Disco, and Fire Nightclub, which are all gay clubs/bars. For pubs, we kept coming back to the Beehive on Harleyford Rd. because it was the only joint playing women’s cricket on the TV and it basks in The Oval’s cricket glow. They may or may not serve food, so we brought Nando’s takeaway and devoured it in the back patio area where the wind steps in and out to smoke.

Things to do near the Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall hotel.

A hotel for cricket fans.

The hotel is ideally located near The Oval, circa 1845. We were visiting London for the 2026 Women’s Cricket World Cup and were delighted with how unintentionally close we ended up to the venue: it’s a 7ish-minute walk. We also paid $20 for the Oval tour, which is well-worth the price of admission — it was one of the highlights of our entire London stay.

Parks and recreation near the hotel.

For roomy recreation, take the Riverside Walk (a path that doesn’t look like a path) along the Thames. After about 20 minutes, you’ll reach the enormous Battersea Park. On Saturday mornings, it looks like there’s a full marathon happening here, but it’s just locals jogging and soaking up the tree-filtered sunlight. A loop through the park and back to the hotel totals about 6 miles.

And on into London.

Heading the opposite direction from Staybridge Suites Vauxhall London, you’ll hit the bustling Waterloo food and drink district on your side of the river. However, the real joy of the hotel’s location is its proximity to Lambeth Bridge. It’s literally a stroll away and will take you across the river and into Westminster’s teeming core thick with vaults, naves, stones, and millions of beating human hearts buoyant at the sights, at life, at ales, at statues, at art, at the way the sky over London unfolds, look at that!

From there, you’re on your own! But I do know that each time, you’ll look forward to coming back to your hotel, to your little home of a room at Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall.

The Last Word

If you’re looking for a classic London stay, this is not it. However, it’s better than that. It’s immensely comfortable, clean, and spacious, with every amenity available for an extended stay. While it’s a pricier option for an IHG, all of London is pricy, and you’ll get all of the bang out of your buck at Staybridge Suites Vauxhall London. I can confirm: the hotel lives up to its 4.8/5 average rating off 2000+ TripAdvisor reviews.

TL;DR: Staybridge Suites London Vauxhall Review

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