Yasmine S

Review of Park Grand London Kensington

The few good things about the hotel is that the do...

The few good things about the hotel is that the doormen, receptionists and the handyman were very polite and accommodating and the location is very convenient (close to everything a person would need.) However, it can be hard to enjoy the surrounding area because it s usually overcrowded to the point of it being hard to walk without people bumping into you and the pavements are usually very littered but that is obviously no fault of the hotel, just something to keep in mind. The deluxe room I booked was very small with barely any space to move around or place belongings; it was also rather dusty upon arrival and the carpet needed a good vacuuming (which hotel staff tended to when I asked but it should have been done properly in advance.) The carpet tended to emit a lot of lint and dust, and there were areas like behind the bed, tables and closet that were completely covered in dust, which caused my dust allergies to flare up very badly that even my allergy meds weren t always enough to keep my itching and sneezing at bay. These areas would require furniture to be moved to for proper cleaning. The sheets and pillowcases were very rough and scratchy and the pillows were very thin and sank too much. The air conditioner had very little air flow, even at the highest fan speed, and was unable to adequately cool the room during a heatwave and on other days it either cooled the room too much or too little and its control panel was pretty much useless in trying to achieve a comfortable temperature - all that made it really hard to get a good night s sleep. The bathroom is extremely small and its door opens to the inside so, unless you re almost just skin and bones, going in and out without bumping into anything is a challenge and the toilet did not flush well and was a hassle to operate. Showering was also a major issue as the friction bath mat that s provided did not stick to the tub floor very well so it was somewhat slippery and there was no sturdy shower handle to hold onto when getting into or out of the tub; after almost slipping several times, I eventually had a really bad and painful fall. Most of the room-keeping staff were loud and greatly lacking in tact and professionalism, usually talking loudly in the hallway outside my door for hours almost every day and would usually knock my door once then enter the room immediately, not even giving me the chance to respond. Their cleaning was careless and haphazard, always making mistakes and misplacing my clean belongings on dusty or dirty surfaces. It was also difficult to communicate with most of them as they barely spoke or understood English. The only elevator for guests in the hotel was also very slow, small and stuffy and had no air conditioner.

The overall condition of the hotel was very old and poor for a 4 star rating and it s been made very obvious that management are trying their spend as little as possible. I tried my best to make do with staying in it because the location was very convenient for me and I felt safe but by the end, I was really miserable. I contacted management and both a man and lady manager arrived and the man manager refuted almost every point I made and implied everything I said was not actually the case. He then told me that if I had previously asked to be upgraded to a bigger room upon my initial arrival, it would have been done at no cost but how is a customer supposed to know that when it s not even mentioned anywhere? He then tried to offer free breakfast or dinner. Another lady manager also emailed me later on, apologizing profusely and made similar offers. While I appreciated them, they wouldn t have really solved all the major issues. If the necessary improvements and renovations are made to the hotel, it would be a very enjoyable stay. I have stayed in budget hotels and other less pricey 4 star hotels with far bigger rooms and better overall service in London during previous visits but this time, it was very disappointing.