Thistle Kensington Gardens, London

I went to London for a week and the first thing I noticed about the hotel was it is right above a gas station. If you look at the pics you'll notice that the bottom is always cropped. My room was fine I did not have any problems with it other girls in my group had problems with their rooms. It reminds me of a Holiday Inn in the United States or a Best Western. It is of walking distance to food and the tube. Hyde park is across the street. The service was fine. I got sick from the food the second day so after that I stayed away from it. Overall it was not a bad hotel if your on a budget its perfect, but if you want a really nice hotel this one isn't it.

We just spent 5 days at the hotel and we were surprised with what we found compared to what the reviews we had read. It is definately a value hotel that was clean and conveniently located. It's about 3 blocks from some terrific restaurants, close to the underground and right across the street from Kensington Park. The hotel wouldn't stack up with a comparable one in the United States as far as quality and size of the room, but the service we received was excellent. The staff went out of their way to make our visit enjoyable and fun. As far as the negative reviews, we didn't encounter anything that we had read. If you want to enjoy London with a value hotel, I would recommend this one. We'd stay there again.

We definitely liked the location. The room over looked Hyde Park. Tube access was very easy. The bed was a little uncomfortable. The bed did not have a sheet between the bed and comforter. Over breakfast one morning water was puoring from the ceiling over the breakfast buffet. If we were to go back, we would go for a more central location.

We checked in for a 5 night stay and had a decent room overlooking Hyde Park - room was clean. The location of the hotel was great - after breakfast each morning we for a walk through the park, and the Tube was only a couple of blocks away. HOWEVER, on the 3rd night, our opinion changed significantly. We acquired next door neighbors who woke us numerous times throughout the night. Even after letting two hours go by (at 1AM needless to say!) and turning on the TV to mask their revelry, we were obviously not going to sleep. Phone call to the front desk - "We'll call them and ask them to quiet down." - Half-hour later, another phone call - "we'll call them again." - Another half-hour later (by now it was almost 4AM) my husband finally went down to the front desk, and personally escorted the clerk to the next door. Finally some sleep! The next night was a repeat of the same - finally WE moved to another room, that was smaller, dirty, and literally falling apart - oh, and overlooking the dumpsters in the alleyway! A complaint letter was sent to both the hotel and Virgin Vacations with no response. After exploring London for several days, I urge travelers to look elsewhere - this particular hotel in the Thistle chain is NOT recommended!