Hilton London Olympia — Hotel in London

HORRIBLE !!! It's a 4 hotel that doesn't deserve more than 1.

First of all, the room (room 140): Very small (less than 160 sq ft), which is far from enough to accommodate three people (two adults and one child). Very poor quality bedding, totally uncomfortable (thanks for the back pain from the second day). Child's bed that is simply an old metal camp bed with a mattress worthy of a breadboard (this kind of bed would probably no longer meet European safety standards). Appalling insulation. We even initially thought the window had been left open on the first day, but no, it's just that it lets the air (and therefore the cold in the middle of December) through. Appalling soundproofing, whether to the outside or inside. We slept with the continuous noise of cars (well, we were woken up every hour, so "sleep" is a very big word). The interior insulation is no better: the door doesn't insulate anything from the corridor, so you can hear everything. Similarly between the rooms, where you may have the "pleasure" of hearing your neighbors' hairdryer at 6 a.m. The heating didn't work, but with such a small room, we warmed up a little at night. 1970s décor. It's an unwanted style because nothing has been changed since... Halogen lamp that doesn't work (one bulb out of two was functional). Dubious carpet that doesn't seem to be cleaned often (well, not every day, that's for sure). It should be noted, although anecdotal, that the decrease in the small cakes (three on the first day because there were three of us, two on the second day and zero on the third day) demonstrates a latent lack of care in customer management.

In the bathroom: No risk of having intimate moments with your partner inside: two people can't fit in there. No toilet brush. Damp patches on the ceiling. Bottom of the door deteriorated by wear and tear. Partially broken tile joints. Shower's non-slip mat is partially missing (therefore very slippery). Very tricky shower control. By turning the faucets a few millimeters, you go from lukewarm/cold to scalding. Be careful if you have children: the risk of burns is real (even as an adult, I find it a dangerous system).

Reception: It clearly lacks a smile and a "hello/good evening" depending on the time. It's not complicated and it's simply politeness. The public toilets on the ground floor are not cleaned often enough (on the cleaning sheet, the last cleaning seems to have been six hours before. Maybe a mistake...).

Breakfast: It ranges from okay to very bad. On the last day, we were packed in like sardines. No checks to see if food is missing (no milk for 30 minutes...). Lack of courtesy from the staff (with the exception of our first day when we were seated by a very kind man in a Christmas sweater). When you are allowed to pass with trays (which is normal and logical), politeness would require at least a smile or a thank you. If I am able to do it as a customer, you can logically do it because it is your job. Music is far too loud (we come to have breakfast, not to go clubbing). Sliced bread that is hard on one side (yes, it's difficult to preserve, but for the crumb to become partially hard, there is a small problem nonetheless). Storing milk next to the coffee machines at room temperature (non-compliance with hygiene rules).

For the positive points: Large television (the whole budget must have gone into that). Some staff members make an effort, others much less.

Regarding the location of the hotel, it is far from the center, so returning during the day is not feasible without losing an average of 45 minutes of travel time. The immediate environment is nothing special with very noisy roads (passing emergency vehicles with sirens blaring at all times of the day and night). View of a garage that washes cars (very glamorous). From the outside, the hotel is clearly ugly and deserves at least a cleaning. Hilton is normally synonymous with a certain standard. Here, it is synonymous with decrepitude. In...

I stayed here for one night as I was seeing an event at Olympia and wanted to stay overnight. While I had a great time at the event I came for, I felt like the hotel really let it down.

Starting with the room - number 141. As others have said, the decor felt very dated. It felt like the place hadn’t had much maintenance in decades, and there weren’t even any pictures on the walls, so it all felt very oppressive. The window let so much noise in that it might as well have been open, so don’t count on getting a good night’s sleep if you’re sensitive to noise as like me you’ll be kept awake by traffic noise and sirens. The room felt hot and humid so the temperature control was dubious. The bed was also the most uncomfortable I’ve ever tried to sleep on in a hotel. It got to 1am and I was concerned I wouldn’t sleep at all, which I couldn’t afford after such a long, action packed day, so I resorted to phoning reception to request a transfer to another room. This is the first time I’ve ever had to do this in any hotel I’ve stayed in, and I’m a well seasoned traveller.

The room I was moved to - number 339. This had a much better bed and was quieter, and I was eventually able to sleep here. However, it had a strange, musty smell, which makes me question how well the rooms are cleaned. In the process of finding this room I went up a stairwell at the rear, which was bare concrete and looked like it was from a run down multi-storey car park. The window was also frosted glass like you get in a bathroom, probably because it’s only a few metres in front of another room’s window, so doesn’t let a lot of light in during the day and again with the dated decor feels oppressive - see photo.

Some more points that apply to both rooms - TVs are oddly placed and can’t be comfortably viewed from the beds. There are no plug sockets near the beds either, a classic bugbear of mine and not great when you like to use your phone as an alarm clock and share live location with nearest and dearest when going away so keeping the battery topped up overnight is vital.

The staff - I got the general impression that they didn’t really take pride in their jobs and the person I spoke to on checking out wasn’t the warmest. He also seemed unaware that I had moved rooms - a situation I didn’t really want to go over again given how rough I was feeling from not having slept enough.

Credit where it’s due - the facilities were good and I appreciated being able to leave my luggage securely there to avoid dragging it into and around Olympia. I enjoyed my meal in the restaurant and the food was great. The service was a little slow (it took two people to bring the bill), but the staff were pleasant here, so it’s not quite a one star review but overall, this hotel feels like a 2-star masquerading as a 4-star and I expected a lot better from a Hilton. The night wasn’t worth the £166 I paid and I won’t be staying here again.

Edited to add: Afterwards, my pyjamas were smelling very strongly of that musty smell I mentioned after sleeping in the bed in room 339. I honestly can’t believe the rooms of a 4-star hotel can be as...

I decided to do a list of things. While I stayed here and wanted to give it a chance. Also, think about it after we left and returned home to the states. The list didn’t change.

Don’t stay at this hotel. If you’re patience, are on a budget , please look into more hotels options around London. You can probably find better deal. There’s no sense of pride at this hotel. The most uncomfortable bed ever. It feels like you’re sleeping on concrete/slab floors. The bedsheets make you feel hot while sleeping. They will make you sweat and feel gross. There’s no real filler to their pillows. Tiles coming off the bottom of shower tub. The bathroom wasn’t clean properly found an old razor cap , hair and the floor was sticky. Truly filthy. You can see the build up of calcium all around the bathroom tiles by the shower tub, sink faucet and bottom of toilet. I end up cleaning the bathroom on our vacation. It was a waste of our time. There’s only a small piece of glass that shields the tub and the rest of the shower water goes directly on the bathroom floor. The whole bathroom floor is covered with water that you will need to mop up after taking a shower. That I felt the need to buy a shower curtain , rod and rings for the shower. I 1st talked to the front desk with no help from anyone. On December 15th I got charged 72 pounds equals to about $92 US dollars by accident for X2 coffees at their coffee shop downstairs. At 1st I was told the refund should be hitting our credit card that same day. When I asked the front desk about the refund the next day and not seeing it back on my card. I was told it takes 3 - 5 days for the refund. I asked again before leaving the hotel now it’s……7 days for the refund. The charge is still under my credit card transactions. I placed a dispute with my credit card company. Room carpet is old and sticky. Paint peeling off the walls. Furniture has seen better days and super dated. I feel like this hotel was updated maybe in the mid 90s. The walls are paper thin you can hear people coughing and talking in other rooms. The room feels stuffy in December and makes you feel sick. It gave me a running nose. The heater comes on and off whenever it feels like it. There’s no set temperature. There’s was no view from bedroom on the 2nd floor. No room had a view of London. You look directly on the roof of a building and work equipment. The room service food was okay. Only alright for drinks. Ordered once and the food showed up cold to our room. Spent 58 pounds for a pizza and noodles. Waste of money. We should have gone out instead. We’re just so tired. The location was good . Close to Albert Royal Hall and Kensington Palace. Two miles away from Buckingham Palace. Good walking neighborhood. Close to the tube and bus station. Easy to grab a black cab as well. Loved London … loved visiting London… loved the people and food. Great city to visit. Just don’t stay at this hotel. My 1st time...