The Arch London

"This is our second visit to the Hotel. On arrival, the staff were very welcoming, friendly and attentive. They even made sure a room was ready for us at eleven in the morning which was unheard of for a hotel! We syaed at the hotel for dinner at the marvellous Tokii restaurant. All the reviews we had read said the staff weren't terribly attentive but we found the opposite to be true. Always someone on hand should we need them. We both had the Omakase 'chefs choice' menu, consisting of 13 courses, all very small, but delicious. We'd never done anything like this before so have no basis for comparrison, but we loved it. Various sushi portions, miso soup, a street-food style nori cone with rice and salmon ending with mouth-watering watering strips of wagyu with griddled asparagus which was heavenly, one of the single best things to have eaten. We also opted for the sake pairing where we tried four different types of sake thoughout the evening. Both the food and the sake were served and described by the lovely Valentina, who was a wonderful host and very knoweleable, teaching us all about the sake process and the different types of milling and distillation which produce such varied products from a single grain source. It made for a thoroughly enjoyable and quite eductaional evening! Afterwards we retired to the Malt bar where we continued the evening with a delicious selection of Japanese blended and single malts. The bar is tragically overlooked - we were the only ones there. What a wonderful way to end the day though. Regarding the room, the beds are incredibly comfy allowing for a great night's sleep. Breakfast the next day was freshly cooked for us rather than a buffet, but there was also a selection of meats, cheeses and pastries, and this suited us perfectly."

"This was my 6th stay here, and each trip somehow tops the last. The reception staff was impeccable making our trip incredibly memorable, from the best breakfast to the top tier concierge team working to make our wedding week incredible. Adrien especially (the concierge) is a master of his craft handling our wedding night turn down service to even having my wedding dress shipped back to the US (which he personally dropped off for us). This hotel is our home away from home, and I wish we could gatekeep it and keep it to ourselves as our little secret, but alas, it’s too good not to share."

"We stayed at the Prince Akatoki last year (June 2024), after which I wrote a glowing, 5-star review of the property on Tripadvisor. In my review I said that I would definitely go back to this hotel. Well, I did. We had not planned to visit the UK/London again so soon, but the appeal of staying at the Prince Akatoki, and the wonderful memories of the level of service we received from Adrian (concierge) and the rest of the Akatoki team, was too strong. So we booked a 10-night stay this time in one of the Executive Junior Suites (an upgrade from the Executive Room we stayed in last year). We were very excited to be going back to the property. When we arrived we were extremely happy to see Adrian again...and if I'm being honest, he is one of the major reasons why we went back to Prince Akatoki. He is helpful, friendly and hard-working...and would do anything to make our stay pleasant and as comfortable as possible. Sadly, however, I did not see any of the fabulous front desk/reception staff that we met last year. I get it: there is always staff turnover and employees move on. The friendly and very capable Natsumi checked us in efficiently. I noticed that we were no longer offered wine and sparkling tea (like we were last year). There was only sparkling tea and cucumber water (I believe). Again, I understand: everyone is trying to cut back on costs. No big deal...although I would have enjoyed some wine while waiting during check-in. Our Executive Junior Suite turned out to be on the lower floor/basement of the hotel. Strangely the room felt smaller than our Executive Room last year. Perhaps it's because of the addition of a sofa/couch and coffee table in the room? Also, I noticed that - being in the basement - there was no view. There are only frosted windows so you cannot even see out. It felt a little "subterranean" after a few days. Another thing we were looking forward to using was the "pillow spray" that was available in our room last year. Sadly, it seems that is another thing that has been cut from the hotel budget. No major issues with the bathroom except the following observations: 1. really hot water seems to only be available in the afternoons. The rest of the time, ie mornings and nights, we could only get lukewarm to medium hot water. 2. probably not the only hotel with this problem, but water seeps out of the shower door easily, so there is always a small pool of water outside the shower. One of the things I mentioned in my review last year was that we regretted not dining at Tokii (we only had one lunch there last year). So we made sure to rectify that this time: we had dinner at Tokii twice! But sadly the experience was once again not as good as last year. The food, while still solid and tasty, was not as delicious as the lunch we had last year. And the service was just...okay: everyone seemed a bit green and inexperienced...but you could tell they were at least trying to provide a good service. And speaking of service, I will leave you with one last little anecdote: during my stay I had asked one of the front desk staff if she could change my £50 note into £5 notes (so I could tip housekeeping). She said she would have to check the back office to see if they had anything. I told her that this was not a rush and she said she would get back to me later. I never received any updates or my £5 notes from her...even though she saw me numerous times in the days after my initial request was made. Overall my wife and I had an enjoyable time but it was no where near as enjoyable as our stay last year. It wasn't just one thing but rather a series of small (but noticeable) things that made us a little disappointed. To the point where we can no longer consider Prince Akatoki our "goto" hotel in London anymore. We did notice the recently-renovated Montcalm next to the Akatoki. Perhaps we will check them out the next time we are in London. Perhaps if we hadn't received such great service last year, we would not have noticed the slight downward trend this year? Perhaps the bar was set so high last year that there was no where to go but down? Again, we are just a little sad and disappointed because there is so much potential here! I will leave you with the good: - housekeeping team - Adrian - Jordan (concierge), Matthew (concierge), Natsumi, Claudia (for responding to my email so quickly re airport transfer - again, it's the little things that matter), Sebastian (mixologist at The Malt Lounge). Thank you!"