Fielding Hotel

Fielding Hotel

Step out of the Fielding Hotel's door on Broad Court and the Royal Opera House is right there, thirty seconds away, close enough that you can watch its doors open before a performance. The hotel takes its name from Henry Fielding, the eighteenth-century novelist, and sits inside Covent Garden's tangle of theatres and market stalls rather than on a through-road. Twenty-five rooms fill a converted townhouse with no lift, so guests carrying heavy suitcases should plan for stairs, and only two rooms come with a bathtub, worth requesting directly if that matters. Every room has air conditioning, Wi-Fi and a kettle with tea and coffee, and room service answers at any hour despite the hotel's compact size. The hotel serves no food itself; that is not a gap so much as a choice, since Covent Garden's cafes, pubs and restaurants surround it on every side. Families can take a Connecting Double sized for four adults and three children, book a Queen family room with its own double sofa bed, or add the apartment next door for a group that has outgrown one room. Staff work the desk around the clock and speak English and Spanish, and Covent Garden underground station is a two-minute walk, Holborn ten. This suits people who want to walk everywhere and don't mind stairs and eating out for every meal; it will frustrate anyone who needs a lift or a full-service restaurant downstairs. Pets are not allowed, which rules out one kind of traveller outright. Book a rate that covers the £25 early check-in if the flight lands before three. The Fielding Hotel sits thirty seconds from the Royal Opera House, in a lift-free Covent Garden townhouse that serves no food of its own. It suits people happy to eat out and climb stairs, not those wanting a full-service restaurant or an elevator to their room.