Presidential Apartments, Kensington — Hotel in London

Check in time was 200p, and the room was not ready when we came a little early (1230p). This wasn't a shock. We walked about a block down the street to the local Pub to relax for a bit.

When we returned, we got our room. The front desk staff was very helpful in talking about things in the neighborhood (eateries, Underground stations, etc.). Tourist information was on display in the lobby, as well as a vending machine.

The room looked good. It was a large studio with a good sized sitting area, a table with room for three, a small sofa, large LCD TV, bed, and full kitchen complete with freezer and refrigerator, stove top and oven, sink, and even a dishwasher. There were kitchen utensils along with plates, forks, and spoons. There was a combination washer dryer, and the bathroom was a fair size. Closet space was tight, but usable. There was a safe in the closet, and several drawers for clothes storage. All the power connections were 220v/230v. We had no issues with our power converter.

There was daily breakfast service that consisted of some pastries, butter and jam, yogurt, juice and coffee. We set the time and was told it could be changed. This is a VERY nice touch!!!

Upon checkout, we had some time before our train left for our next destination. The staff was very helpful and held our baggage while we did some sightseeing before leaving.

That’s the good.

The bed was rock solid. My wife and I both woke up with sore joints and not a very good sleep for the nights we were there. The bed wasn’t the only reason.

There is little insulation from the outside and that REALLY shocked me because construction looks more solid than it obviously is. At first, we had one of the windows open for the cool night air. We forgot to close it. Later that night from the Hostel across the street and from the other hotels and residences around, people would go outside for a smoke or to talk (and in some cases YELL) into their phones. It went on all night. When the pub’s and local eateries closed, we could tell. Those that shut them down were boisterously walking down the sidewalk 2 floors beneath us. We heard every word. My wife in a light sleep at one point thought people were in the room. She remarked later when she started hearing this, she closed the window and returned to bed only to continue hearing the outside conversations. Closing the window had NO effect.

On Monday, trash pickup in the neighborhood starts around 630a. We found that out the hard way.

The property is a little over 2 blocks from the nearest underground station (Earl’s Court). There is a grocery store about 2 blocks away, along with multiple local and fast food type options within 4 blocks.

We did have a situation where my wife felt threatened with individuals a couple of doors down. They were not speaking English, I won’t identify the nationality because that’s not the point. We didn’t know what was said/yelled at her/us, but my wife felt very uncomfortable. I note this only for information and do NOT blame the Apartments for this. It happened once and we didn’t see the people after the incident. My wife said if it was just her, she would’ve left the area. We had no other incidents, and absent this, I felt safe at times we were out. There were always people about (we know this because we could hear them). After we left, we did comment to each other that we didn’t see any families (tourists with children), and very few single females walking around this area.

We would LOVE to love this property, but the up-sides just don’t offset the down’s. I wish them luck and thank them for our stay, but we can’t recommend this...

This was our fourth time staying here in 10 years. The first time was spectacular, it’s gone steadily downhill since. The location is very good and the housekeeping is excellent. In my opinion, there’s much that can be improved upon:

1. Check in: this is a big problem. Their check out time is noon so for many people arriving early morning from overnight flights, we were forced to wait 7 hours for a room to be ready for 3pm check in. We ended up wasting an entire day not having slept wandering around like zombies in yesterdays underpants. We had even emailed them days in advance about the early arrival. Management has check out at noon, which is late by all standards. If they would move it up to 10am, they could check people in sooner. Most people don’t mind an earlier check out time but need an earlier check in time. There were several others loitering in the lobby waiting for their room to become available as we were.

2. The mattresses need to be replaced. It felt like we were sleeping directly on a very old broken metal box spring. I literally cried through the first night and leaving with back pain, never got a single good night sleep in 7 nights there. Awful.

3. The Wi-Fi is non-existent. We found one spot in the stairwell that worked on occasion.

4. There’s no temperature control in the room. The room was very cold most of the time and there was nothing to be done about it.

5. Little conveniences would be appreciated: A dish towel and potholder in the kitchen would be nice (we had to use facecloths for both), shelves in the bathroom (theres nowhere to put your toiletries), a couple of knobs for coats in the foyer (it would be nice to hang up wet coats).

Unless we’re assured some changes were made, we would never...

My husband and I stayed here for 6 nights. We picked this hotel based on a very high star ratings on expedia website that bundled together with air tickets. However, the room we stayed did not pass the basic cleanliness as a guestroom. I suspect they have other better rooms, since there are good reviews written about the property. We paid a reasonably good price but seem to have allocated an uncleaned room.

The bathtub was grown with horrible black molds between the wall tiles and tub. The towels supplied were discoloured (not a clean white), stained marks and smelly. Wash basin area was uncleaned. When we did not want to change towels daily (by not leaving on the floor as per instructions), the housekeeper folded away and hang the towels on rails, made us difficult to differentiate which one is mine and which one is used by my husband. Floor was not vacuumed daily with hairs and lint lying around. The window curtains weren't clean either. Kitchen cabinet was smelly when doors opened. One broken door was not fixed. It just shows poor maintenance.The movable glass panel at bathtub served as 'shower curtain' is impractical and dangerous. It's not a good idea to have exactly the same continental breakfast served daily, as I got bored after the second day. There was no tissue paper box provided in the room, even when we asked for it, they said they just don't give one. I guess they expect guests to use kitchen paper towel or toilet roll or buy yourself one?

The only plus side of my stay at this property is close to tube, shops and has a washing machine in the room. I would never...