 The rooms are not air conditioned so you re somewhat stuck with the unfashionable option of opening the window if you find the room too warm as we did when we arrived This also lets in the street noise The bathroom was perfectly functional but felt a little dated As is often the case with these larger places we found a large variation in the water temperature between morning and evening While it was not cold in the morning I couldn t get as hot a shower as my partner had managed the evening before Therefore I would suggest if a hot rather than comfortably warm shower is your preference wash before you go to bed rather than after you get up in the morning We were unfortunately disturbed by a housekeeper at around 9 30am We hadn t hung a do not disturb sign out as we had assumed that given it was our check out day and check out was at noon it was unlikely that the room would be attended early In big hotels this kind of thing sometimes happens but if you fancy a lie in it might be worth putting that sign out to ensure no one comes knocking 
 This is our second stay at the Strand Palace Hotel in the last few years Both were pleasant comfortable stays The hotel is vast some 780 rooms and all are up to the same standard while they re certainly not top of the range they are perfectly comfortable and come with everything you might wish for Our room was front facing looking down from the 3rd floor to The Strand This lead it to be somewhat noisy The Strand never really gets quiet even over night so we were thankful for the good thick windows and shutters rather than curtains which helped to keep both noise and light out The bed typically of this kind of hotel two singles zipped together was large and comfortable There were tea and coffee making facilities and the TV had plenty of channels The location of the hotel could not be better for access to central London nightlife bars tourist attractions and the West End This also means there is access to a wide range of restaurants to take breakfast lunch and dinner within a short walking distance so you need not be tied down to the hotel s own offerings That said there is a good selection of in room dining options with a more modest 24 hour menu if you just can t be bothered to go out one night As we had an afternoon in London planned on our first day we were grateful for the prompt check in at 2pm although if you do arrive on the dot of 2 then expect to queue for a few minutes and following a late night before our last day we were very happy with the 12noon check out Additionally as we had spent nothing extra during our stay we found the rapid check out just drop your keys through a letterbox very convenient 