Hilton London Metropole, London

I have stayed at many hiltons around the world and this was the worst. Service was awful, when you had an issue they did not fix it or told you they did and did not, beds were not comfortable. We waited 20 minutes to get service at the restaurant and then at 10:30pm they came and said the chef closed. There are many good places in london for the same money. Stay somewhere else.

My reservation in May 2008 was for a non-smoking room with a queen bed. I was sent to the second floor of the tower and the cigarette smoke was overwhelming the minute the elevator door opened, the room was worse. Looking out the window of the room I was sent to all that could be seen were cement walls. I'm sorry to say this but the first thing that popped into my mind was "dog kennel." The room was that awful. After three trips to the reception area I was compforable in my room. My stay was one week and I had to sleep on a twin bed the whole time. The hotel is close to the tube and there is a small market close by. If you are sent to the tower run for day light or kill yourself which ever is easiest.

I have stayed at this Hilton beginning of 2006. The Executive is great: modern, comfortable, quite big for a Londonian bedroom. Room service: excellent, great à la carte choice, good food! Staff: very helpful, intimate even though the hotel is one of the largest in London. The sauna hammam and swimming pool is really a relaxing place. Famous buffet breakfast of Hilton: excellent, cooking station+great fresh food for a great wake-up foodie moment!! Go for it!

My wife & I stayed at the Hilton London Metropole for 4 nights from Sat. May 19 – Wed May 23, 2007. I was given a room in the Tower building on a high floor. Though at a considerable distance, London Eye was visible. The room appearance was somewhere between regular and poor. The lobby was nice but the style was old. Service was good; however, you have to queue to speak to the concierge. I waited in line for 35 minutes the Sunday evening I was there. (Since a lot of restaurants are closed on Sundays in London – including the hotel restaurant - I was looking for a place to dine. We ended up with fastfood). The surrounding area is inner-city working class. I felt safe in the immediate area around the hotel at night. There are several convenient stores near the hotel and a major grocery chain (I believe it is called M & S) across the street which was great. There are three or four pubs in walking distance; they were nice for drinking with the fellas type places but nothing upscale. The subway is just across the street. Of course plenty of cabs out front. All-in-all the hotel is more of a 3 1/2 star place than 4 stars. If you are in London with friends and don`t care to impress the person you are with, the London Hilton Metropole is a convenient place. I personally will go for a place a little more upscale next time I am in London.

Visited London the first week of August with my daughter-in-law and 13 year old granddaughter. Had booked the hotel on the internet and was surprised at how large the room was. We had the family room deluxe plus. My daughter-in-laws mother also joined us. We felt very safe via location and the conceirge was fantastic. Each morning we hit him with where we planned to go and what bus or tube to take. They gave us a map and bus numbers and we never had one problem. We had scheduled tours the first few days and they picked us up at the hotel. This was one of the most pleasant trips I have made to London. This is my 3rd visit and the room costs are more than a typical London Hotel but for 4 women it was the best. This is our first time here at the Hilton but I will go back on a return trip. For us we were able to stay all together in one room with lots of room to spare.

Booked a deluxe 2 queens sized bedrooms for two adults and two children on the Hilton Website for 2 nights. Arrived at 1pm to check in - early I know but with two asthmatics I had to be sure I was getting a no smoking room. The receptionist lovely and even promised no smoking, corner room overlooking the canal. Reception area overcrowded with tv's showing lots of horror stories, not the welcome we expected but still we were putting all our hopes on a nice room at £200 a night, we were treating ourselves and v excited. Came back at 6pm to find our room was given to someone else, we had - yes, you guessed it.. a smoking room!!! It absolutely stank and even guests in the corridors were making comments. Also, there were fag burns on the bed linen and on the furniture. The view was vile..some industrial estate, that we could live with but not the smell. Please note that it will take years for that smell to go, so don't be fooled into thinking now that smoking is banned - all will be okay. Hilton would not change our room, so we left at 8pm with nowhere to go having broken down and cried and pleaded with the Manager to do something. Did they care? NO. The manager said she was still going to charge me if I left!!! Can you believe it.?? She insisted that they could not guarantee me a non smoking room. The Hilton took my credit card details 2 weeks earlier when I had booked and in this day and age of advanced technology their computer could not place my name next to a non smoking room and even upon arrival having assured it was done manually by the receptionist but obviously we should have camped in the reception area until 3pm to guarantee our non smoking £200 a night room. ..Please be warned there were others queuing at the same time as me to complain about having single beds when double beds were booked etc. It was a total nightmare. We have stayed at the Holiday Inn Kings Cross - half the price which is clean and fine, try that and the Center Inn, Westminster, a bit cheaper than the Hilton and far superior in quality. We liked the location of this Hilton as we travel via Paddington and were seduced by their website which is nothing like the real thing. We had a wonderful stroke of luck and managed that night to stay at The Landmark...WOW, absolutely fantastic, double the price of the Hilton but really worth it. I am still glowing from the fantastic experience.

First time to London, and I was worried about being located in an area that was inconvienent to most parts of London. That was not the case. Great Hotel, nice, clean, modern, and yes big...but great service, and close to the tube.

This hotel is too impersonel. it is clean, but much toooooo big. the staff themselves do not know their way around.I asked the staff where the Palace room was and was sent in the wrong direction . I asked the bar staff where it was and they had no idea. I have to say that I did find the staff to be nice and pleasant but most seemed like temporary staff. The hotel is like a big city within the big big city of london. some of the lights as well as the the TV in my room did not work but i could not be bothered to complain as it was clear that that the staff were just too busy to care. This is the first hotel that I have been that I have had to Queue 20 mins to register and a further 30 mins to check out. this is a basic hotel pretending to be a top class one. However, it is near the tube stations and is near the tourist attractions.

The Hilton London Metropole (HLM) is a very nice hotel with three tower rooms. The East (new and remodeled rooms more for executives) the West (for most part new remodeled and larger rooms, mainly for business people on conventions and families), and Tower rooms (very small rooms, be careful not to hurt your legs on the bed corner, on the way to the windows. By the way, windows do not open at this hotel, unless you have a screwdriver. However, air conditioning works and some times, too much on cold days. Some of these rooms are inviting, others are not, they display signs of mildew on the bathroom ceilings, and if you like to take a shower with a bar o soap, bring your own, the hotel does not offer one as they use liquid soap. Although prices are in Sterling Pounds, and if breakfast is not included with your room charges, it can cost as much as 28.00 pounds per person, nevertheless, it is a very nice one. The front desk people are friendly and helpful. The hotel has a Spa and guests do not pay to use their gym (minimum equipment) the dry and wet sauna and the pool with two laps. While I have been in many of the rooms at this hotel, I do not like rooms at Tower because they are too small (closet space), I have seen an executive suite on the East room (beautiful and spacious) it is nice to know that the hotel offers a nice room for the money. Lastly, I have stayed at a suite on the West tower; while it was roomy, the carpet in the living room was dirty and not inviting. The staff seems to care and I have seen many of them on the hallway repairing and exchanging bulbs. Be careful with your hotel bill, while checking out one time, I was told about a 16.00 pounds bill I did not consume, so check your bill, as guests may place their bills on your room account. I like to have a room safe, but not having cable is not good. The hotel offers only local channels few BBC channels, a French, one Italian, and one Arabic channel. (American TV shows are on channel 05). The hotel location is very convenient, two Tube stations (Subway) a block away. If taking the tube, which is much fast, buy a day pass which is 4.90 pounds and you can take the tube all day long, otherwise you have to pay per zone (it can be costly). Plenty busses are in front of the hotel and they can take you everywhere, (too long b/c of London traffic) but it is cheaper 1.30 pounds per ride and you can also buy a 3.00 pound day pass. While it takes long to go anywhere, if you have time take a bus and go to the upper deck, you can see London for the price of a ride. The area where the hotel is located is also very ethnic, Arabic and Muslim people are the make up of the area. You can find wonderful ethnic cuisine, but you have to deal with smoking (as everyone smokes). Another noticeable, but not a problem, was seen men congregating on restaurants (you wonder where the wives are, probable home taking care of the kids, while the husbands and male children get to enjoy coffee or a smoke at the restaurants � do not feel bad, this is cultural and acceptable for this group). It seems safe to walk on main streets, after all London has over 2 million cameras looking at you at all times, nevertheless, be careful London is dark at night and with many old buildings, it looks creepy to be walking alone at night. At least the hotel is on a nice location for those arriving at London Heathrow. Take the London Heathrow Express (pricy � 14.00 Pounds I think) but, in just 20 minutes it will take you two blocks from the hotel at Paddington train station.

It was a totally awesome location near Claire's, Accessorize, Marks & Spencers, Madame Tuseauds, The Planeterium, and H&M I love it there and the food was perfect and I got to swim in the middle of winter! =]