Holiday Inn London - Kensington High St. by IHG — Hotel in London

There is a laundry list of what is wrong with this hotel. Location and convenience were not a priority for me as I meant to just take advantage of the air conditioning during the heatwave of the last weekend of June and also just relax. Grateful for the a/c that kept boiling heads at bay. Here's a list in no particular order:

Check-in would have been okay if I had not asked for a room that faces Wright's Lane. I have stayed in the this hotel before and prefer this view rather than other building and exhaust fans. I was given a room that, unfortunately, was right over the entrance of the hotel. Even with the double glazed windows it was loud. I went back to front desk and asked for another room on a higher level, and this time it didn't matter if it faced the front of the building as long as it was quiet. I was "upgraded" to a suite in the furthest room of the hotel. I don't know if the lad was taking a mick, but he had a bit of a loud, rude manner of talking and his excuse was, "This is the way I talk." In the room, I found food in the mini fridge that looked like it was tossed in there and left by a previous guest. I was then moved by Anuja to a room, in the front of the building that was newly refurbished. I don't know where this was before. But that was the saga of check-in.

Front desk staff are either too eager to get things done or just too over with their positions it felt like. I enquired about an extension of a day and was told the system was not showing any rooms available but to try websites and book from there. Last means, they told me to call "O" from the hotel phone and enquire there. It took me around 15 to 20 minutes to get someone to answer. Was given an extension by the front desk manager, Alex, for a gross amount of £££ but I didn't care anymore. And when asked why did they say there were no more rooms, he said, I freed one up because you're an IHG Gold member. The rest of his staff didn't even think to do that?

It might be a small thing, but the name on the welcome screen never reflected my proper name. It was either a code or someone else's name. I just think, if you're to provide this service, provide it properly.

If this was a Holiday Inn Express I would have managed my expectations to zero but because it was a Holiday Inn in a very good area, there was a modicum of expectation that service may be a little better. Doormen and Bellboys are helpful enough. There is some semblance of work satisfaction from the bartenders in the bar/lounge, housekeeping gets the job done if I put the "Please clean rate room" sign on the door. But the front desk staff really left a sour taste.

The room I have was, according to the security that came to my room, one of the newly refurbished rooms in the hotel. I think he mentioned there are only a handful of rooms. It's decent enough with a few practical things that have been left out. If a newly refurbished room in this hotel is so so, I would worry to see the other rooms.

During my stay there was a massive group of students that were distributed to rooms around the hotel, unfortunately I had a pleasure of being next to one where the kids would be screaming at 0100. And the next night the noise barrage continued till 0430. The first night, I went to the lobby as no one was answering the guest services phone. That's why security ended up in my room. Second night, I was able to contact someone.

This is a long review, mostly for the eyes of Holiday Inn Kensington people to see. Wanted to talk to a manager, but they were busy "training" - god help them. But for the people considering to stay in this hotel, do it without expectations, get ready to share your space with a multitude of packaged tour groups, play the lottery of working a/c rooms (as I've read from other reviews) and see if you even get one of the refurbished rooms. I would not recommend this hotel other than for its location. But for people who want to also relax and enjoy a hotel stay, this is not the...

good points

room tidy and well kept by cleaners

useful fridge

sink water pressure and temperature good

air conditioning good, once the relatively complex operation mastered

bad points

pool staff - did not request ID on first visit, did not ask for deposit for locker lock and key on first visit; asked for id and locker key and lock on second visit

pool unavailable on two out of four occasions

room we were given felt not much bigger than standard room (I stayed in a standard twin last year). A fraction more space and two chairs hardly seems to make a room into a suite

room we were given seemed to be a double bed room badly converted into a twin room as wardrobe access against one twin bed and therefore difficult to access

bad bathroom layout, small sink, no sink surfaces, no hook on back of door, bad lighting for mirror use

small surface above toilet, not best place for toiletries

small and seemingly grubby bathroom cabinet

bathroom mirror difficult to use, as no lighting directly above

no lighting above bedroom desk

bathtub shower door leaked badly on first time and every time of use, flooding bathroom floor, took three attempts to get a fix but the fix didn't work

main shower too low, I am 5ft11ins and grazed my knuckles on low hanging main shower head when washing hair while showering

-- lots of noise from corridor fire doors outside the room

tv felt old fashioned with limited channels and sluggish slow operation

only one bathrobe found for two guests

wardrobe door stiff to slide, fell off in use on first day

wardrobe door also has broken handle

because of misinformation, had to complain three times before room maintenance issues resolved

I paid a significant amount for a "suite" upgrade, but seem to have been given a very poor quality suite room

we regard our stay as extremely unhappy and bad value, very disappointing for me as an IHG Silver Platinum member

I responded to, and paid for various IHG upgrade offers for Holiday Inn Kensington High Street, and yet ultimately still had to pay more than $900 for a substandard room

because of our entire bad experiences at Holiday Inn Kensington High Street - no where near their promised 10 out of 10 experience - we feel considerably less confident in choosing IHG...

Most of the initial hotel staff was nice so far however a bald skinny man of the hotel staff some kind of floor walker was rude and obnoxious trying to tell people not to close their eyes while sitting because he thinks they are sleeping. My wife was was sick not feeling good and was dizzy we sat down in the lobby were waiting on our room when he approached us saying that she was sleeping however she was awake trying to calm her stomach by closing her eyes. He proceeded to argue with us about what sleeping was. If he had been polite and respectful I wouldn't have said anything but he was being an arrogant asshead. Just having this man being as a representative of the hotel caused me to give this rating arguing with your guest and customer. I travel a lot and do reviews on youtube with over a million followers and this place is one I will not recommend, I will be sure to let them know to avoid it.

Update

Got into our room to find my suitcase is bigger than the room. Unable to walk around the bed without hitting the wall or sliding bathroom door. This is like a small version of a college dorm room. Location is good but room size and having to deal with a rude floor walker just made all the positives pale in comparison.

Georgina at the front desk was great and the young man at the bar was very helpful and nice too.

I think most of the reviews on here are blinded by the excitement of their trip and or location over quality and value for your money and what a 4 star or 5 star hotel is supposed to be. The place is more like a 2 or 3 star at most. I really think most of the positive reviews are p@id for.

Rooms

Too small need a microscope to see. Bump into walls and furniture every time you turn tv didn't work bathroom even smaller.

Food & drinks

Free bottled water at the lobby desk.

Noteworthy details

Lobby furniture and floor needing a serious cleaning very dingy after sitting and walking through you feel like you need a shower. Picture on site was when the place was cleaned long over due for a...