The Riverbank Park Plaza overlooking the river on the Albert Embankment (020 7958 8000) is a seriously smart and new 4 star hotel, said to be the first new build hotel to be opened in central London for 30 years. It is situated just south of Lambeth Bridge, about 15 minutes walk from Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square and Big Ben.
The Novotel at 113 Lambeth Road** (020 7793 1010) is just round the corner from the Park Plaza - an attractive modern 3 star hotel, again excellently situated just east of Lambeth Bridge.
Days Inn at 54 Kennington Road** (020 7922 1331) is another good value and good quality hotel between Lambeth Bridge and the Imperial War Museum.
The Comfort Inn at 87 South Lambeth Road (020 7735 9494) is a well presented budget hotel, just 10 minutes from Vauxhall station. It has its own dedicated and informative web site.
Journey's Waterloo at 73 Lambeth Walk is a clean, friendly and inexpensive backpackers hostel.
There are three premier quality restaurants in our area. From North to South:-
And there are plenty of other good places to eat. Here are a few:
Nar Restaurant (7820 8282) in the arches just north of Vauxhall Station offers an fascinating and tasty mixture of Italian and Turkish food.
The Fentiman Arms provides very good service and tasty food in a very pleasant atmosphere - on the corner of Fentiman and Carroun Roads.
Zeitgeist - in the old Gardeners Arms on the corner of Black Prince Road and Tyers Street - is London's first German Gastro Pub. It offers 13 German draught beers and more than 30 bottled beers. Their kitchen serves excellent German food, from schnitzel through sausages to specialities from Cologne and Bavaria. And they show Sky and Setanta - including German Bundesliga - on their two big screens.
There is a large Portugese community around the South Lambeth Road. Probably the best Portugese restaurant in that area is the Cafe Portugal at 5A Victoria House, South Lambeth Road (between where the two arms of the Old South Lambeth Road join the new one). The phone number is 020 7587 1962.
You have to admire the web site and menu of the Hot Stuff Restaurant before either visiting them at 19 Wilcox Road for an Indian meal, or calling them on 7720 1480 for a take-away. Over in Kennington, other highly recommended Indian restaurants are:
The best Chinese restaurant in the area is undoubtedly the Dragon Castle (7277 3388) at 114 Walworth Road, SE11 just a couple of hundred metres, on the right, down the Walworth Road from The Elephant and Castle.
Thai Ming at 1-5 Windmill Row, SE11 5DW (020 7735 9338) - just off Kennington Cross - is highly recommended by its customers, and is excellent value for money.
Bela Vista (020 7582 1218) at 51a South Lambeth Road, near the corner with Fentiman Road, offers an intriguing mixture of excellent Italian and Portugese food.
Sirena's (020 7587 0683) in the basement of Southbank House, Black Prince Road is at Italian restaurant which is justifiably hugely popular with Lambeth's nearby firemen and office workers. Unfortunately it is closed in the evenings and at weekends.
One of the best places for vegetarian fare within the capital, the Bonnington Cafe at 11 Vauxhall Grove is a communally run restaurant with a long tradition of amazing food, served within a bohemian and laid back atmosphere. Just two minutes walk from Vauxhall stations.
There are plenty of pizza restaurants in the area, including the ever-excellent Pizza Express (7820 3877) at 316 Kennington Road (on the corner with Windmill Row).
The Windmill Fish Bar (7582 5754) at 211 Kennington Lane, on the corner with Windmill Row, is highly recommended, including in the media, for its high quality traditional fish and chips.
I have yet to find a black cab company that offers a reliable "for cash" service south of the river, which is one of the reasons that Transport for London are encouraging us also to use licensed minicabs, which may be contacted via this TfL website.
Please contact me by email if you would like to recommend that a business should be mentioned on this page.