The exterior of the hotel looks okay. So does the lobby and breakfast room but from there it's all downhill. Sure the building is old - built 100 years before I was born, but the rooms are worn and tired-looking.
Gads, are they joking? Is this a closet turned into a room? I had the feeling that if Glenn had been with me, we would have spun around and left. This hotel was booked through the travel agent, which was probably a mistake. Since he booked through a third party, it may have been more complicated to cancel. However, I didn't care to spend time looking for another hotel, so this dive would be my home for four nights. Luckily, the clientele seemed perfectly normal. Most mornings I shared a breakfast table with a kindly gentleman from New Zealand who was about to embark on a train journey around the country.
The bed is up stairs and crammed next to a wall. The bathroom, enclosed in a 'box' at the bottom of the stairs, is so tiny that you risk knocking something off or whacking your head. Floors creak, and the window bangs in the wind. I looked at another room but it was even smaller and it faced the noisy street.
At least there is a desk and a kettle.
But it must have been quite the joker who wrote on this hotel's website that the decor
'is of the highest standard.'
On the plus side, the room was quiet, there was a luggage rack and a working internet connection. Breakfasts were included, and service in general was fine. The hotel is handy to the Tube station. However, the lack of English accents with the hotel staff and in the Bayswater neighbourhood didn't give me the London experience I had hoped for on my first stop in England.
