England London Thistle Royal Horseguards Mayfair-Soho

[bturner13]

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>I GOT PRICELINED! </span>

YES, I WAS GIVEN AN UNACCEPTABLE ROOM UPON CHECKIN! I had read on other posting that there was a huge difference in rooms. Yes, I do strongly believe that SOME hotels do have specific rooms set aside for PL Customers! I quickly but nicely complained and was given a much nicer room. How do these hotels think they can get away with this nonsense?!?

My room was huge with a separate sitting area. The bathroom is also large with a separate bathtub from a shower (most unique--It will clean possible!!)--on the other side of the room. Plus I was close to the lift!!! Room 302 is a winner with a queen size bed and individual adjustable thermostate and the windows open!!

5 Mins walk to EasyInternetCafe!!

I was double-charged at checkout for this Pre-Paid PL room! I quickly corrected it with PL documentation. So doublecheck at checkout that the same double-billing does not happen to you!

[bluesavvy]

Best thing about this hotel is the location, which is close to Embankment and Charing Cross tubes, as well as Trafalgar and Leicester Squares. However, the streets around the hotel were nearly deserted, because the area included many government buildings and several vacant former-government buildings. A few staff members were helpful, but several were borderline rude. Even the concierge didn't know much about excursions out of London and had trouble directing us to the correct train for a day trip, and that was if we could get his attention. Hotel has computers for guest internet use, but price is steep (4 GBP for 20 min) and printer was non-existent. A very nice woman at the front desk got an exception for us to print our tickets from her computer for the next day's trip.

Room 551 was typical size for London accomodations (smallish), but beds are hard and uncomfortable. Wallpaper was peeling from the walls in bathroom and bedroom. Small tub/shower with good water pressure. Nice size bathroom. Poor selection of TV channels for a business hotel. Room had a nice balcony, but it faced a boarded-up building and the doors only opened a few inches, so we couldn't get onto it. Door latch to balcony also didn't hold, so it was always open a little and there was significant street noise at early hours for street cleaners and trash collection. We also heard the man in the next room when he coughed during his sleep. For 20 GBP, room could be upgraded to a view of the Thames, and for 40 GBP, upgrade was to a deluxe room (larger). I didn't see the view, but I'm glad we didn't spend money on the upgrade. We were told the 20 GBP only got a view, but the room would be exactly the same. We declined the offer to look at the room first.

For the location (Mayfair/Soho), the hotel was worth what we paid ($101), but the overall appearance and amenities made it seem more like a 3-star than the 4-star ranking it has on priceline.