Lime Tree Hotel, Boutique Hotel

My most recent visit was last September. The Lime Tree has a lovely private garden in back of the hotel. There are a couple of tables and chairs on a patio. We found it particularly lovely for just what you mention-a place to gather and relax after a day of sight-seeing. We were allowed to keep wine and beer in their refrigerator and I am not positive but think we even had minibars in the rooms? As I said, not positive about that; you could check with the owners. The doubles were good size. I had a single room overlooking the garden which was small but spotlessly clean and certainly adequate for what I needed.. Plus the view was peaceful and lovely. My family all had wonderful accommodations while there, too, but truthfully, except for the one double looking out towards the street and my own room, I don't recall what they looked like. The breakfast is outstanding; many choices. This is my go to place in London. I've stayed here many times and really love the staff, the location (nice neighborhood on a quiet street, etc...) and the rooms.

I've stayed there a number of times and enjoy it a lot. I've never had a mini-bar in my rooms (I have stayed in at least 5 different rooms) and I don't think I remember having a fridge in my last 2 single rooms overlooking the garden area. I can't remember before then, lol!

There IS a nice breakfast room but I don't know if they encourage people to gather in there. I've not ever seen anyone in there outside of breakfast hours. I wonder if they go ahead and do their set up for the next AM as breakfast ends? I'd ask them via email or via phone call if this is going to be OK. I'd not just assume this would be welcome.

The "lobby" is little more than a foyer. There is a small step down area going out to the garden area Andi mentions which maybe has a small desk with computer and a built in bookshelf and maybe a small love seat but not enough room to sit with others. This is where the luggage closet is if you leave your bags before or after check out.

The garden area is very nice and you can bring in food and beverages. There are rooms that face onto this area so you'd want to be reasonable about chatter later in the evening.

I've had a variety of rooms there, none particularly good-sized. The single rooms are small and typical of rooms in large cities in Europe. The bathrooms are generally small.

The building is a listed building built in 1790, I think, thus the small rooms and weird little doglegs. I think it has a ton of charm and I like the neighborhood. My rooms on the garden side have had more light than the front facing rooms.

To me, it's going to be hard to find a boutique hotel with lots of common space as they need to make every square foot count for rental space.

The Lime Tree Hotel sounds like a charming place, but I don't believe it is air conditioned. I don't know when you're traveling, but lack of a/c would be a deal-breaker for me in July or August. I've rolled the dice for trips in September and been absolutely fine with no a/c, but the prospect of a lengthy mid-summer stay with no a/c gives me serious pause.