DK Travel : London : Kensington and Knightsbridge

This is where London’s gentry live. Nannies push prams around Kensington Gardens, uniformed school children line up in Hans Crescent and the social “in-crowd” gossip in the Fifth-Floor Café at Harvey Nichols. Whatever time of year, nobody is without a tan. Harrods is the light beacon of the area; the solid rocks are the great museums established in South Kensington by Prince Albert, whose name is never far away. Kensington is the Royal Borough where Lady Diana roamed. She lived in Kensington Palace, the choicest of royal residences, and shopped in Beauchamp Place. Foreign royalty have homes here, too. Such mansions need the finest furnishings and some of London’s best antique shops are in Kensington Church Street and Portobello Road, the most fun place to be on Saturday mornings.

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Chelsea Physic Garden

A "secret garden" in the middle of London for a quiet wander but also informative if you want to know more about the uses of plants. Not open every day so check times.
Coronet cinema

Small, good value, independent cinema showing a variety of films in cosy, intimate surroundings. Not like the 'faceless' branded mutiplex cinemas you often get.
Gordon Ramsay

One of the best fine dining restaurants in London. Among the ten restaurants of the chain, the must-go one located on Old Hospital Road. It was also awarded with three Michelin stars.

Ramsay currently ranks 3rd in the world in terms of Michelin Stars behind Joel Robuchon and Alain Ducasse and he is also hosting popular TV programmes, Kitchen Nightmares.

If you just have a short visit or if you are just transferring flights in London, you can also try out Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food at London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
Harrods

I think everything under one roof - place to go to especially if weather is poor - enjoy lavish desserts and lunch as a treat with a friend.
La Porte des Indes

Dining at Porte des Indes, near Marble Arch is an unforgettable experience, on every level. Opulent and luxurious, it features art, antiques, a marble staircase and nine-metre high waterfall. Tropical plants and flowers adorn the spacious eaterie – 5,000 stems are imported each week. As well as classic Indian cuisine, the eight chefs whip up specialities from the former Indian French colonies and the restaurant is famous for its fruit cocktails. Porte des Indes offers a treat for all the senses and is perfect for corporate shindigs, romantic dinners and family Sunday all-you-can-eat buffet brunches.
Ottolenghi

Ottolenghi offers a unique culinary experience: original food and pastries, all made daily on site and displayed generously within a beautifully designed setting.
Rain Forest Cafe

With five children under 8 we found this restaurant catered for all of us. They found us a table without booking and the children just loved discovering the wild animals inside. When we went there was free face painting and balloons. It was a great end to the day!
The Roof Gardens, 99 Kensington High Street (London, W8 5SA

There are three themed gardens covering over 1.5 acres including fully grown oaks and fruit trees, growing in just 1.5m of soil, and a flowing stream stocked with fish and wildlife.

And the're all on the roof of a house!
THISTLE MARBLE ARCH

The Thistle Marble Arch is an art deco style, 4 star hotel located in the heart of London overlooking bustling Oxford Street yet opposite the 340 green, rural acres of Hyde Park. The financial district is 10 minutes away by underground, and Paddington station with its fast, direct link to Heathrow Airport is a 10 minutes taxi ride away. The Thistle Marble Arch, with 692 bedrooms, offers the ultimate in luxury and comfort and is said to have the largest air-conditioned bedrooms in London and has an unrivalled position from which to enjoy London.

As you would expect from a 4 star hotel, the Thistle Marble Arch has a modern Club Floor business centre complete with phone, fax and PC networking and all the other high-tech equipment and secretarial backup needed to make your conference a success. There are 11 conference suites and 7 syndicate rooms for smaller meetings, all in a flexible format set around a business lounge and catering for up to 33 delegates. The Thistle Marble Arch will provide a dedicated event manager to ensure everything runs smoothly and an audiovisual assistant to run the technical side.

The huge retail opportunity that is Oxford Street is literally on your doorstep at the Thistle Marble Arch and the bustle of Covent Garden with its bars, cafes and market stalls is within walking distance. If you need exercise you can use the Just Gym facilities at the Thistle Marble Arch, walk or jog in the rural splendour of Hyde Park or hire a boat on the Serpentine Lake. Art lovers can enjoy the Wallace collection or travel slightly further to the Royal Academy or the National and National Portrait Galleries in Trafalgar Square. The Thistle Marble Arch is an ideal base for visiting London's many theatres and cinemas as well as concert venues such as the nearby Wigmore Hall. The theatre desk can easily organise tickets. Disabled guests are also catered for with specially adapted rooms and accessible public areas.

If you want to stay in, enjoy a meal in the Marble Arch carvery. The lively CoMotion coffee shop is a mix of New York deli and Italian cafe in an Art Deco style providing a speedy, flexible and informal dining experience. Round your evening off in the Glen Miller traditional English bar where there is jazz and live entertainment most evenings.
Three Kings - Pub

It's not an ordinary pub - it's a place to eat, drink, talk to your friends, play snooker or just watch a football match on a big screen. This is a place where you can go and relax on your lunch break eating a great scalops and fries or meet your other half on Friday night having a cosy evning on the couch. Sounds great? the pub is on two levels, have a great reddish decor and it's placed on West Kensington. I sincerely recommend it to those tired and in need of a good fun.