Grand Royale Hyde Park — Hotel in London

It's disappointing and definitely, in my opinion, not a 4-star hotel. I don't think that the images used to promote the hotel are truly representative of the general rooms.

I found the reception area very dull because of the dark brown decor. The receptionist was very pleasant and mentioned that she noticed that our visit to London was to celebrate my wife's birthday so I had thoughts off one of the rooms portrayed in their promotional material.

Unfortunately, I was told that it was on the ground floor - more like the basement as it was downstairs!

The room was very small - even by London standards. The window looked out onto a wall 6-10 feet away. Although the window could be opened, it wasn't advisable as ducting attached to the wall vented fumes from the kitchen below into the room.

If I thought the bedroom was compact, the bathroom/toilet was even more restricted. The hand basin was so small that it was impossible to fill the kettle as it would not fit under the tap!

The toilet was a joke. It was facing so close to the wall that anyone taller than 5ft 6in had to sit sideways - my 6ft 2in simply did not fit. At least this lead to some 'toilet humour' which made my wife and I laugh.

The shower was even more challenging. I can't imagine how anyone over 16 stone can squeeze into it, nevermind applying soap.

The hotel is of historic interest being the home of Lily Langtry, complete with the theatre and bar where she performed. I think the hotel makes too little of this aspect - especially with so many Americans visiting London.

Although there is a restaurant, this was only open for breakfast at the time we stayed.

NOTE: Reception told me that breakfast is free if reservation is made direct. You can select breakfast upon arrival and there is a significant discount if you reserve the evening before. No exceptions, even though I mentioned to reception that a health issue of mine cannot guarantee being able to be there.

Apart from the reception area and a brief look at one of the lounges, I never saw any rooms shown on the hotel's website.

Access is via a few steps and there were steps down to our room off a narrow corridor. I didn't see a wheelchair ramp at the front entrance

I'm not sure that a wheelchair could access the main entrance or room we were given.

To me, too much of the hotel is looking old and tired. I appreciate that central London buildings of this era are challenging to redevelop and maintain as hotels. Nevertheless, I wish that I could be more positive.

I don't normally start my reviews with negative comments but I have to be factual if they are to be of benefit (I'm always prepared to correct inaccuracies).

The front desk staff were very professionally and friendly but I question what discretionary powers they have:

The hotel knew that this was a birthday present for my wife, as they did leave some fruit, chocolate and a card in the room. The hotel was not full. The room booked was not the cheapest (try to imagine what the cheapest is like) and, given the circumstances - my wife's birthday and my health issues - an upgrade to something like the rooms they show would have been nice.

I'm not sure that disabilities are well catered for. I could not guarantee being able to get out of bed in time for breakfast. So, I would have pay the higher rate. I'm handicapped. Not disabled.

Good Points The location is perfect, just a few steps from an Underground station and buses giving rapid access to all of the best city in the world

Plenty of restaurants close by.

Cross the road and lose yourself in the vast Hyde Park and Kensington Garden; both full of interesting statues, museums, art galleries and so much more. All free.

Tire yourself seeing London and dinner at one of the many wonderful restaurants in the knowledge that you will soon be sleeping in a very comfortable bed.

Free WiFi.

If you've read this far, why not follow me to see more free, impartial write-ups of my experiences in London and...

I am writing this review nearly a month after my visit, the reason for this was I was hoping for the hotel to reply to my several emails regarding a complaint, however I have had no reply or contact from them at all. We booked a stay at the hotel for June 29th 2025, as we were going to see Zach Bryan in Hyde Park. It was my fiancée and I, and another couple all traveling for the festival. About two weeks before our arrival, I reached out to the hotel, stating I was no longer fully accessible (my leg was in a full brace) and if they could help us with early check in for this reason. I had the generic reply which I expected. We tried to check in about 12:30, but as expected we were too early and they offered to hold our bags. They gave us ticket/receipts with our bag numbers. We then came back at check in time, secured our room key and made our way up to the room. We didn’t have our bags as we were told they would be brought up. First impressions were extremely disappointing. We had very steep stairs going down to the room. I must say the room is tiny, barely have space for the bed and unit in front. My fiancé took her shoes off and walked to the bathroom. She was met with a soaking wet carpet all along the side of the bed, which leads to the bathroom. (Picture attached). I was quite surprised that this had been missed when the room was cleaned as it made a noise walking on and bubbled. Clearly it was not cleaned properly. I rang reception and explained. They said they would get back to me. After about ten minutes, I had a knock on the door. A chap brought two out of three bags to us. He could not locate one of our bags! So in a full leg brace, I had to help search, not one, not two but three rooms! Before I found my bag. I might add this was in lower of the hotel. This concerned me greatly, anyone could have taken my bag and possession’s as the hotel had lost all proof of who owned what. More time passed and I had not heard from reception, so I rang again. He said it was busy at check in and they could not get hold of maintenance, so I have to wait. At this time we had lost an hour in the festival, from waiting in the room for help, that never came. As such, we left to attend the festival. We expected at the least the floor would be dry on return or a room change. How wrong we were. The floor was just as wet when we returned that evening. Then the quality of the bed and bedding. The blanket stuffing/innings were congealed into a corner at the bottom, so it wasn’t really a blanket, more an empty sack with some weight on our feet. The pillows were horrendous bumpy and not full. Really bad sleep. Upon showering in the tiny bathroom, the shower glass/curtain thing was about 12 inches wide. This offered no protection from the water going on to the floor. The floor turned into a slip and slide, and a serious hazard. I will say the breakfast was decent, only good thing about our stay. The photos when you book are very deceiving, they do not show the true conditions of the room. After we left, I raised a complaint through Hotels.com as we booked through them. They were next to no help. The hotel offered us as compensation, for us to return and be upgraded to the next class room and a bottle of wine. This would mean, returning to London, paying for the transport, paying for the standard room and all food, all at our expense, for an upgrade to a slightly not as worse room. This was laughable. We do not want to return to this hotel, we wanted a refund. We paid £180 for one night. Yes this is London, but you also have to have basic standards and cleanliness. I proceeded with three emails to the hotel itself via Montcalm Collection but have been ignored on all occasions. This is a huge shame and I am still pursuing a refund for a such an awful stay. There are much better hotels...

There’s a reason for the low ratings here.

The building is old in a great location, very English lobby, old. Has that charm

But the rooms are from previous century. Have mold. There was black hard spots. Maybe rust in the room kettles, please check them. The shower was like a vertical coffin.

All the pictures were misleading of the rooms. Be aware. I contacted my booking agent to file a complaint for how misleading they are in the images.

When we got there we checked in. We thought we got a good room. But to our surprise it was horrible. Stuck on the first floor which has stairs. And was hard with our bags. The bag walla that helped us took only one bag and banged then across all the stairs as he carried it like he didn’t care. The room had a random stair case in it separating the bathroom from the bedroom portion. The bed room was too small couldn’t even fit our bags in. They immediately called asking us if we like the room. As if they already knew. Half the window was covered by a wall.

We said no. I went to the front desk to ask if they can upgrade us we will pay more. It looked to be the manager he was kind and gave us a new room at no cost. He upgraded us so he said. But it seems he upgraded us to what we originally booked? Even then that upgraded room had its issues. Kettle had disgusting black rust or mold in it. Mold in the coffin shows. The toliet, your feet can’t go on it you have to sit in an angle because it touches the wall!! lol

It was comically bad. And it made me realise I shouldn’t have taken a chance on a non branded hotel, I thought this charming English hotel would be it. It wasn’t.

Even then my partner tried to see if another room was avail. As in we will pay to upgrade. The room she saw was bigger but HAD NO WINDOWS. Insane. So we said no. They kept trying to shuffle us on the first floor.. it felt dodgy. Or shady. And a girl followed us to our room - without saying a word to us. Just to check the bathroom had soap in it. Odd behaviour.

And when we left the next day taking our large luggage down the stairs. The bell boy bag walla, same one that helped take our bag in a rough way… he just stared at us as we struggled taking our bags down the stairs. I don’t know if they tried to pull a fast one on us but they did.

There was fruit in the lobby and based on the experience I wouldn’t trust that it was washed!! We were in a hurry to get out of this nightmare hotel. Never had an experience like that.

Oh and when I went late night to go get food around the corner… there was no night manager in the lobby, when I came back no one. Like a haunted hotel, I guess the night manager was in a room next to the front desk sitting there. Not attentive. No greeting when coming or going.

Very odd experience. I’d skip this for a hotel that has more accurate pictures of the rooms and or a brand chain where you know...