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Modern. Stylish. Spacious. These are the best words I can choose to describe the Apex Temple Court Hotel in London! London is a city with an overwhelming amount of hotel choices, so it really comes down to a few factors of personal preference when looking at where you want to stay.
In my opinion, the The Apex Temple Court Hotel is such a great base when visiting London and this post will tell you why!
Why Choose Apex Temple Court?
After much research, we decided on the Apex Temple Court Hotel in the Temple borough of London, just outside the western limits of the City of London area. It turned out to be the perfect spot to use as our base for exploring London!
When it came time to choose a hotel for our big trip, these were the elements that we personally considered:
- Cost – London can be very pricey when it comes to accommodations! We generally like to hover around the $200/night mark (sometimes up to $250, depending on the length of the trip). Apex fit the budget!
- Room Size – Rooms are generally TINY in London (and Europe in general); we searched for a room that was as big as we could find in our price range. Apex has spacious rooms!
- Bed Size – We always try to get a room with a king-sized bed (this comes with the territory of being married to a tall dude). Apex – check!
- Proximity to Sightseeing Activities – We like to walk a lot, so we make sure there are plenty of things for us within walking distance (especially restaurants). The Apex Temple Court had a very central location.
*Disclaimer: I booked this hotel at a special discounted travel agent rate (back when I was doing that sort of thing) that included daily breakfast. All reviews and opinions are 100% honest and my own.
A Bit About the Apex Brand
Apex is a small UK chain of three and four-star hotels that currently has properties throughout England and Scotland, with three of them in central London. The look and feel of the properties is very modern and stylish, and while the properties may appeal to business travelers, they really offer a bit of something for everyone.
The Apex Temple Court location opened in 2012, and features onsite dining, a chic bar area, and a beautiful courtyard where guests can relax with a drink or have their evening meal, weather permitting of course.
For more info on Apex Hotels and the Apex Temple Court, you can visit their website.
Hotel Location
As mentioned above, the Apex Temple Court is located in the Temple neighborhood of London, with the historic financial district just steps away. My favorite building in London, The Royal Courts of Justice, is located just down the street, so make sure you take some time to walk by that beautiful building a few times!
Closest Underground/Tube Stations: Temple & Blackfriars
Pros of Staying in this District
- Quieter neighborhoods – This area is primarily a business/legal district, and when people are off work, they go home.
- The location of the hotel makes it easy to walk to the Covent Garden area to the west, and beyond, or to the Tower Bridge area to the east.
Cons of Staying this District
- Restaurants in the area cater more to the business travelers, which means they tend to close early in the day and/or are closed on the weekends. This makes it a little harder to grab a bite to eat closer to the hotel in the evenings (not impossible though – just a more limited selection).
Rooms at Apex Temple Court
We stayed in one of the City Rooms with a king-sized bed, overlooking the courtyard. This is their cheapest room category and suited our needs just fine!
The room was a good size with plenty of closet space, walking room, space for suitcases, and a very large bathroom. They also have Superior, Deluxe, and Suite room categories if you are wanting a bit more space.
I also took a sales tour of the hotel to see what the other room options were like and everything is consistently spacious, contemporary, and suitable for multiple different types of travelers.
For business travelers, they have larger suites that can accomodate multiple people, and even come with small conference rooms! Families may also be interested in these suites as well, as they come with a living room area and dining table.
Bathrooms at Apex Temple Court
The bathrooms are very spacious, with large showers and tubs! If you’re traveling with a person who likes a lot of space (or who is of tall stature like my husband), this is more than enough room to feel comfortable.
A fun little feature with Apex is they leave a little signature rubber ducky for guests, and you can collect different ones at all the Apex locations. It may be silly, but I personally love the little quirky things that hotels like this do for their loyal guests.
Dining at Apex Temple Court
Apex Temple Court has a restaurant on site called Chambers that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and also has a full bar next to the lobby. When traveling, I do love to choose hotels that have onsite bars and restaurants even if we don’t frequent them very often. It’s just nice to know that you have something convenient if you need it!
Our room rate included daily breakfast, which was nice to be able to grab whatever we wanted before a day of sightseeing. It included both standard continental options, as well as an à la carte menu.
I was so glad to see some vegetarian items on the menu! I had to try the vegetarian English breakfast since I had never had one before, though I would say the dish on the whole severely lacked any seasoning (thank you salt and pepper!). Those baked beans though – yummy!
The other two mornings we had breakfast at the hotel, I had the avocado toast with a side of baked beans and that was totally fine for me! My husband had the eggs benedict which also needed a little seasoning. The English muffin was a bit different than what we were used to – it’s very thick, kind of like an American-style biscuit.
I never thought I would enjoy baked beans for breakfast, but the Brits definitely had a good idea with that one!
Dinner at Apex Temple Court
On our first night in London, after walking many more steps than we had anticipated, and feeling completely exhausted from our overnight flight the night before, we decided to get some grub closer to the hotel. This is where we discovered not too many things were open nearby, so we opted to dine in at the Chambers restaurant at the hotel. We sat outside in the courtyard and it was actually a nice little spot to unwind, enjoy a glass of wine, and have a tasty dinner.
I chose the Devon crab linguini with cherry tomatoes to accompany my glass of refreshing white wine, and oh my was it delicious! I will say, the portion of food you get is not very large, but it was satisfying enough. There was a decent amount of crab, and the dish was seasoned exceptionally well.
My husband had the lamb with cherry tomatoes, and while the dish was also small in portion size, the lamb was cooked and seasoned perfectly.
Closing notes about dining at the hotel: A la carte dining at the hotel is a little pricey, not gonna lie. But that is to be expected from a hotel restaurant. However, the dinner offerings were very tasty.
Breakfast is decent, with quite a few options to choose from. If breakfast is not included in your room rate, it can get a little costly if you want both the continental and a la carte menus to choose from. I feel that the à la carte menu itself did not differ much from anything you’d find at any other restaurant (price-wise).
The restaurant menu does change seasonally, and you can find current offerings here.
Nearby Restaurants
If you’re in search of a good meal nearby, here are some great recommendations:
- The George pub (I highly recommend the fish & chips! One of the best we’ve ever had.)
- City of London Distillery (if you want to drink your dinner)
- The Humble Grape (wine bar)
Read more about what we ate in London here.
Notable Hotel Amenities
- Onsite bar and restaurant (Chambers)
- Wi-Fi in every room
- Large bathrooms with walk-in showers
- King-sized beds
- 24-Hour Gym
Booking Apex Temple Court
You can of course book directly with the hotel via their website, my favorite site, Hotels.com, or Booking.com.
Did We Love It?
Overall, we had such a great stay with Apex! Not only would we definitely stay here again ourselves, we would wholeheartedly recommend this spot to any type of traveler.
The hotel was such a nice respite to come back to after long days of walking and sightseeing. I also loved that it was such a peaceful spot in such a bustling city. Kicking our feet up to watch British television, drink British cider, and relax in our comfortable bed was the best way to end our days. By the way, have any of you seen 8 out of 10 Cats?! Love it.
Thanks for an awesome welcome to London, Apex!
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