London Hotel Tips by Djinn76

I've stayed twice at this hotel so far, each time for business!
Thanks god, I was not paying by myself, it is bloody expensive! Even if the hotel was good in general, I found the ratio price/quality a bit disappointing.
The room was big but filled in with two huge double-beds, staying there alone, it was not making too much sense to me...
...not much space left for the armchairs and the small desk!
Comparatively to the room, the bathroom was really small but the minimum was there...

Couple of magazines were available, always useful when you have to take your lunch alone in the restaurant!

Quite amazing, there is a swimming pool as well but I haven't got the time to enjoy it!

**update** NEVER AGAIN!!! I was supposed to stay there a third time but they overbooked me!! They downgraded me to a second class hotel in a nearby street! I have been dropped in a dark tiny smoky room in the basement!! According to the taxi driver, I'm not the first one!!

Unique Qualities: The restaurant provides good food at a reasonable price!

The hotel is perfectly located, right in the center, really close to a tube station.

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: most expensive
Prices: US$180 and up  » Currency Converter
Address: 50-52 Southampton Row
Directions: Holborne tube station

Another expensive hotel but I'm not going to complain since I was upgraded to a suite! That was a bit ridiculous, I was staying there alone and could enjoy two bedrooms and two bathrooms!! I should have organized a party but I was only staying here for a night and that was for work...

Located at the last floor of the building, the view of London was fantastic!! The drawback is there was only two lifts to handle the whole hotel and one of them was out of order!

Very comfortable bed, I've spent a restful night (and I specially needed it!)

Internet was free!! That's something that should be granted but most hotel are usually charging insane prices for this basic commodity!

Unique Qualities: Good restaurant at reasonable price. I could slightly complain about the service: the waiter forgot to bring a side dish I had ordered! I also had the feeling to be left on my own, when I finally managed to grab his attention, it was too late...

***Update May08 ***
Second time I'm staying, this time without being upgraded to a gorgeous suite! Well the standard room is ok as well. Even if the decoration is a bit dated and the bathroom is quite small, the room is big enough and the bed is still quite comfortable. The breakfast isn't cheap (17.5£) but definitely worth it!
On top of it, Internet access is still free!! Big drawback though, the noise from the street, even from the 8th floor it was rather annoying! Try to get a room not facing the busy street!

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: most expensive
Prices: US$180 and up  » Currency Converter
Address: 22 Portman Square, London, EN W1H
Directions: in the area of Marble Arch tube station

This is definitely the best hotel I've got the chance to test in London and on top of it the rate was not the higher one!!
My room was spacious and nicely furnished in a luxurious 'old style'.
Old style doesn't mean old fashioned, wireless Internet access was also available!

On a side note, Grosvenor square is also where the US embassy is located!

Unique Qualities: The restaurant is handled by a famous English "chef" I had never heard of...
... that makes it quite expensive as a result!

I had a soup followed by a fish-dish, it was excellent but for something prepared by a chef (if he really was in the kitchen), I would have expected something even better! Too much spices in this case...

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$180 and up  » Currency Converter
Phone: 44-020-7629-9400
Address: 44 Grosvenor Square London W1K 2HP
Website: http://www.millenniumhotels.com/MCIL.nsf/lu_hoteldoc/39$$hoteldescription?opendocument

Considering the story, my feelings about this hotel are probably slightly biased!

Indeed, it looks like the Grange hotel chain owns several hotel in Bedford Place, the Clarendon is one of them.
I'm now under the impression that the politic of this chain is to lure customers with their flagship hotels and then drop them in these second-class hotels!
I should have been suspicious when booking the Grange Holborn, the rate was much lower (90£ instead of 150+£) than it used to be! At my arrival, the receptionist asked me to take a seat, his manager was willing to talk to me! That never smell very good... and indeed this guy told me some crazy story about a computer crash to explain an overbooking! However he had relocated me in another hotel nearby and was offering an English breakfast, was it ok with me? My feelings about the Grange hotel were already not very high so why not, it couldn't be much worse... How wrong was I!!

The Clarendon is indeed pretty well located, in a street nearby the Grange Hotel, not for from the tube station...
This is pretty much its only quality! I've later found out from some website this was considered a 4 stars hotel, this is quite puzzling or I've got the worse room in the place!
This is quite possible, my conversation with the receptionist when checking in:
- your room is at the ground floor, lift is over there
- why would I need a lift if my room is at the ground floor
- well, you misunderstood me, your room is indeed *under* the ground floor

They dropped me in a small dark tiny room in the basement!! I had reserved a non smoking room but the smell of cold smoke was quite strong! The two huge double beds from the Grange Holborn were now replaced by a single small bed...

This hotel could qualify as a good budget hotel for personal travel but looking at the price on the web, normal prices don't even seem to be so cheap!

Unique Qualities: The English breakfast was indeed complimentary following that story!! Good thing it was, the regular breakfast buffet looked quite poor and was less than appetizing...
English breakfast is not from the buffet, if not included, you'd have to pay extra for it! After placing the order, you still have 5-10 minutes to wait before they bring you the breakfast in a plate! It was not too bad!

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$120-180  » Currency Converter
Phone: Tel: +44 (0) 20 7307 1575
Address: 34-37 Bedford Place, London WC1B 5JR
Directions: close to Holborn
Website: http://www.grangehotels.com/the_clarendon_hotel/index.htm
Other Contact: Fax: +44 (0) 20 7307 1576

Definitely less posh than his counterpart in Mayfair - this is definitely an advantage to my eyes - this is one of my favorite hotel in London so far! Agreed the room was smaller than usual and the bathroom had not been renovated to the latest standard but unlike the chain hotels, this hotel really has as soul!!

Furniture’s of the room are definitely not from the latest designer but rather on the classical and elegant side! Some people may disagree but I definitely prefer the last one!
Wired Internet access was provided via the hotel but wireless access was also available via T-mobile.

Don’t expect a room with a view, there is none in this area! Its location is the only down side of this hotel: quite far from the City but conveniently enough just in front of a tube station!

Unique Qualities: If we have the choice between stairs and elevators, obviously, lazy as we are, we’d pick the latest! Well, not exactly in this case, it was a pleasure to climb the two floors through the impressive staircase and its amazing stained-glass windows!!

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$120-180  » Currency Converter
Address: 140 Gloucester Road, London, England SW7
Directions: Just in front of the tube station!

There are two Sheraton hotels near the airport, the Sheraton Heathrow (this one) and the Sheraton Skyline (bigger, swimming pool, a bit more expensive)! I'm not too sure why, they are just 2-3 miles away from each other, it could be quite confusing!

I had read a couple of bad reviews about the hotel and was not too sure what to expect for the 3 nights I had to spend there. At the end there are good and bad things to say...

You definitely wouldn't want to stay here for the nice architecture or for the location. Yes, it's close to the airport but that's pretty much it, it's right in the middle of nowhere!
I've been pleasantly surprised by the size and the quality of the room/bathroom. Even if you still have to take your shower in a bath tub, it was really nice for UK standards!
The bed was quite comfortable and the hotel was relatively quiet. I managed to get quite some good sleep!

Thanks god, I'm not easily cold, it was freezing outside and it looks like the airco system was struggling to heat up such a big room (high ceiling)! Was it due to to the high oil price, when I arrived in the room quite late in the evening, the airco was shut down and the room was freezing cold! No other choice than setting the system to the maximum and having the feeling of sleeping close to a plane reactor!

The staff was nice and helpful. There was even a shuttle organized to my company office! Nice service but if it was quite easy to take the shuttle in the morning, coming back in the evening was a real nightmare! I never managed to do it!! If you propose a service, at least do it properly or not at all... next time I'll stay at the Skyline, just for that single reason!

Internet access was available (both wired and wireless) but on the expensive side (iPass not available), the quality was ok, only a few hiccups...

Unique Qualities: The restaurant is pretty much the only place where you can have food in the area (well there is a McDonald in front of the hotel but it doesn't count as decent food). The menu was relatively basic, the price relatively decent (less than 20GBP/dish) and I enjoyed the food. I particularly appreciated the staff of the restaurant, they were smiling all the time and really looked like they enjoyed their job! That's not often the case and simply is priceless!
The English breakfast (15GBP) was not exceptional but just what you could expect from this kind of hotel.

There is a shuttle from/to the airport: the 'hoppa bus' (4GBP), it takes around 15-20 minutes for terminal 1 (H4 route).

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Theme: Hotel
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$80-120  » Currency Converter
Address: Colnbrook And Bath Road, West Drayton, London, Eng