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A short walk from Hyde Park, the Dean Court Hotel and its sister hotel, the New Kent Hotel, are filled with character—both the ambiance kind and the people kind. We recommend this place for frugal folks who are into meeting their neighbors and don't mind if their shower is adjacent to a terrace. Though the clientele here includes folks of all ages, the hotel is definitely for the young at heart.
Who in the Queen's name is Brian? Brian is the king of Dean Court. We ran into Brian in the first room we visited where he was putting up new wallpaper and patching up a scratched piece of wall. Naturally, he got up off his hands and knees to take over our tour. Turns out he's the owner and has been running the Dean Court and New Kent hotels for more than 25 years.
The furniture in all the rooms is a hodgepodge of antiques. Thick wood wardrobes and dressers, the occasional old fireplace and gilded mirror, along with homey wallpaper can be found throughout. Rooms come as doubles, twins, or triples. Next door at the New Kent, solo travelers and those on a tighter budget can get a bed (not a bunk) in a shared room with two to three other guests. The tendency of guests to stick around is evidenced in the Kent's rates, which come as daily or weekly for all types of rooms.
While showing us all the bedrooms, the TV lounge, and the kitchen, Brian enumerated a list of recent repairs: the paint on the Kent's balcony was fresh, there was a new rug in Dean's hall, as well as a new shower in the back (which, incidentally, lets in a lot of sunshine, when there is sunshine to be had in London).
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