First things first: although the Natural History Museum has pledged to open a new room a year inside its building for the next five years, this luxury family hotel suite isn’t one of them. It is in fact at the Park Plaza London Riverbank, a glossy four-star international hotel in Vauxhall that commands astonishing views of the Thames and Houses of Parliament. If you want to stay overnight at the NHM you can in fact do that via its beloved Dino Snores programme. But don’t go expecting anything this fancy.
As you would hope from the name, the Riverbank’s new Natural History Museum Dinosaur Family Suite has been made in collaboration with the NHM, and has indeed been billed as the ‘lost study’ of Sir Richard Owen, the Museum’s founder. Obviously that bit’s made up (Owen died in 1892; the hotel only opened in 2005) but this isn’t tacky lip service to the museum, but rather about as premium a commercial kids’ experience as you’re going to get in London.
The suite has been beautifully decorated, with the adult bedroom sporting everything from dino printed walls to a book-lined ‘study’. It’s stuffed with family-friendly boardgames and there are pull-out drawers with displays of semi-precious stones and plastic pinned butterflies in them. (It also, by-the-by, comes with an absolutely insane view of the Thames).
The real jewel in the crown is the kids’ room, which is hidden behind a bookshelf: maybe not the most concealed entrance of all time (the books are obviously not real), but still extremely cool. Inside is a bunk bed with two at the bottom and one at the top, plus a big wooden T-Rex sculpture, a telly, books and a Tonies player with four Natural History Museum stories for it.
Plus: dino-themed welcome snacks, one dino plushie per child, and an interactive journey around the hotel that revolves around decoding a note left by Owens to determine the room’s location, followed by a tick list of dinosaurs to spot in various bits of the building.
The real jewel in the crown is the kids’ room, which is hidden behind a bookshelf
this is nice. It’s a posh hotel suite from a reputable chain, it was never going to be hell on earth. But the whole experience is definitely far more than just a cosmetic makeover: the Natural History Museum doesn’t lend its name to just anything, and the room and its various hidden nooks and crannies go far above and beyond what’s strictly needed.
But is it worth it? Well, it costs around £700 a night, which as near as I can tell is more expensive than any room at the hotel except the penthouse suite, but at the same time isn’t much more than a non-dinosaur suite. And if you’re a well-off tourist with dinosaur-loving kids who’s visiting London and you were going to drop £500-plus on a night’s stay anyway then yes, obviously, do stay here, it would be silly not to (if you can get a booking – there is literally only one suite).
The question for Londoners and near-Londoners is whether it’s worth splashing out for it as a special family treat. Ultimately your budget is between you and your god, but I would essentially say: if your kids like dinosaurs and you can afford it then why not? At 11 and eight my children’s minds were perhaps a little less blown by the dino hunt business than they would have been four or five years ago, but they still enjoyed that aspect of it (it’s probably not one for surly teenagers, it’s worth saying).
The level of detail does feel remarkable and while I can’t pretend that Lukowski family holidays typically involve lavishly themed suites, this is genuinely a lot more impressive than, say, the rooms at . If your children’s thing is Pokémon or Taylor Swift then maybe have a long hard think about whether they’ll really appreciate it. But they still might: cool rooms behind hidden bookcases transcend fandoms. And if dinosaurs are their thing then why not stay here for the night instead of eg the godawful faff and expense of throwing a birthday party for 30 children.
Meals-wise, only the hefty buffet breakfast is included, but the kids’ menu at the restaurant is pretty cheap (£15.50 for two courses), and it goes without say that it’s easy enough to combine with a trip to the free Natural History Museum itself, or if you’re feeling a little more local, the nearby Vauxhall City Farm is very cute.
To reiterate: there are obvious reasons why a London parent might not have the time or money to stay in a £700 hotel suite as a little treat for their sprogs. But the Natural History Museum Dinosaur Family Suite is genuinely something special, and my little dinosaurs (more medium-sized now) won’t be forgetting their night there in a hurry.
Natural History Museum Dinosaur Family Suite is at the Park Plaza London Riverside in Vauxhall. Book a stay here.
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