Melia White House, London

My husband and I just returned from a 4 night stay at this hotel. It was close to the Great Portland Street tube stop. The room and bathroom, especially, were small but I think that is how Europe hotels are for the most part. The room was well appointed and very comfortable. The lobby and restaurant were beautiful. We had a traditional English breakfast included in the price. It was not what we are used to for breakfast but was tasty and well presented. The concierge was very helpful and pleasant. The only problem we encountered was on the second night of our stay. Next door to our room was a group of young men being extremely loud, arguing and yelling for over 1 hour at 3 a.m. We called the front desk to have it taken care of and no one ever came to correct the problem. We were disappointed in that. The next morning we mentioned it at the front desk and they sincerely apologized for the lack of help.

We stayed here last Spring, 2005. It was an excellent hotel, very, very, clean, helpful staff and reception. Good location, close to a tube station, etc. Great rooms, a little on the small side, but very nice accomodations for the price. Would definitely return here in the future. Couldn't find a better hotel in London for the value and cleanliness.

When you book the Melia White House through Hotwire (great rate $125) (and probably other discount brokers), please be aware of the following business practice. When you check in, you're asked whether you'd like to upgrade to a "larger and more comfortable room" for 20 pounds. That sounds like a good deal, but if you're just there to have a good night's sleep, a larger room doesn't do much for you. I declined the upgrade. The room was small with two twin beds; it had a comfortable feel to it and looked good. The mattresses were among the worst I have encountered in 15 years of business travel (creaky, unsupportive, you could feel the springs). The pillows were about 3 inches thick and felt like foam. The last time I've had mattresses this bad was in Crete, where we checked into a hotel late at night without having done any research. At 4 a.m., after having tried for more than 3 hours to fall asleep, but finding the mattresses impossible to get comfortable on (and becoming increasingly angry, with visions of dragging the mattress into the hotel's reception area in the morning), I spoke to the night manager. He handled the matter well, and immediately switched me to what I now assume is the room I would have had with the 20 pound upgrade. This room had proper mattresses, a proper douvet, and comfortable pillows. I ended up having 4 hours of sleep. So... if you book with Hotwire, either go for the 20 pound upgrade, or take a chance and get the 2 star mattress. I'd suggest complaining about the mattress sooner than I did. (immediately, and with a proper amount of outrage.)

it is a wonderful hotel, a very nice brekfest. pay attention on what they charge you. because they told me to pay for some drinks from the mini bar which i didnt take. other then this - perfect

I thought that the Melina White House was a superb hotel.. The rooms were large and very clean. The breakfast that they served was beautiful, anything that you could think of was available. Overall the cost was really good value for the service and quality that you got. I would stay there anytime!

We got a standard room through expedia.co.uk, for what I would say is a standard rate for a 4 star hotel. When we arrived we were told immediately that breakfast was not included in the price, which didn�t seem like a typical 4 star service. (Though most of the hotels I have visited have not been in the UK, so this may be common practice over here, though I wouldn�t have thought so) When we went up to our room, it was quite small, but seemed clean and had a nice bed. However when we went to look out of the window we could see that a small part of the single pane glass was missing, and had been blocked up by tissue paper and chewing gum. There where no bath robes or pay per view films as advertised. The cleaning staff were quite rude when they phoned up to see when we would like our room cleaned, ending the conversation with �Whatever� before hanging up. Though another member of the cleaning staff was very polite, so I guess they employ the ones with the best customer service to call the rooms. Finally we had cold showers on the first day, and after calling to complain we were told it was because of the cold weather that the hot water didn�t work. Eventually they sorted the problem, but the taps had to be left to run for about 5 minutes before it would heat up. The hotel could make a few small improvements to make everyone�s stay a good experience, but because they have not done this already it is the bad experiences that I remember about the hotel. I will not be returning.

This White House doesn't have any freaky interns (that I am aware of), but it had nice rooms for a great price. Like all London hotels, the rooms are small, but this one is a bit nicer than most. The staff was very helpful.

The elevators are a bit confusing, but once you try them out they make great sense. You have to choose your floor on a panel before an elevator comes for you. Based on who is going to what floor, it tries to optimize the trips and tells you which elevator to go to based on that. Pretty nifty integration of technology.

The White House is a pretty quiet hotel, off the main streets, but close to a Tube station and walking distance to shops and restaurants.