InterContinental London Westminster opens: new hotel in Whitehall

Business travellers heading to London will have another option from later this month, when the InterContinental London Westminster opens inside a historic building near Trafalgar Square.

A new restaurant -- the Blue Boar Smokehouse and Bar -- will join Emmeline's cocktail and champagne bar and the Lobby Lounge to beef up the dining options nearby.

With 256 new rooms, including 30 studios, 14 one-bedroom suites, and a rooftop penthouse, the hotel should improve the dearth of decent options for discerning business travellers in the area, just north of Parliament and smack within the Whitehall village.

Rooms are modern, chic -- and a decent size for London.

The complete redevelopment of heritage Queen Anne's Chambers, a former government building, brings stunning new bathrooms too.

The InterContinental is well placed for dealing with UK mandarins or the numerous consultancies lining the area between Embankment and Temple. It's also convenient for the UK's law centre around the Royal Courts of Justice.

Business travellers will appreciate the Club InterContinental Executive Lounge and a 24-hour gym -- useful for the severely jetlagged. Eight meeting rooms will round out the business travel offering.

A lounge is also available while you're consulting the expert concierges.

Compared with its class in London, it won't break the budget either: double rooms start at £249 (A$387), with club rooms from £359 (A$557).

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John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.