Thistle city Barbican Hotel Reviews

Basic hotel; "reasonably priced" by London standards. A little noisey due to the busy road and pub opposite.

Clean rooms, could do with a spruce up. Nice pool and leisure facilities although a little busy.

Dreary old hotel badly in need of a refurb or preferably demolition.

me and my husband stayed there for a long weekend we found the hotel to be very central to what we wanted to do .The staff were very pleasant and the overall appearance of hotel was good . we had a breakfast for the 2 days stay everything you could ask for even had a chef making fresh ommlettes which I was very impressed with. T he spa facilities were great as well . definatley stay there again very soon

Staff are lovely, clean rooms. Great breakfast! Not ridiculous prices for London!

TV menu nearly totally illegible... Picture quality over saturated, audio is just awful. Lamp smashed. Room a little small, but at least clean.

Unfortunately very, very neglected
The beds were clean, but that was all

Okay place to stay, price is right. If it's hot in London make sure you ask for a room with air conditioning.

Good value hotel for London. Slightly eccentric, the hypercentre is accessible in about thirty minutes on foot. The reception and the restaurant are modern and well maintained. By cons, it spoils a little for the rooms, especially those starting with a 2 (in the other building). At a minimum, they would need to be refreshed. Dirt and mold are common on walls and ceilings.

We booked this hotel for my parents golden wedding anniversary (18 September 2015). The staff were absolutely wonderful and really looked after them very well. I cannot recommend this hotel highly enough. Thank you so much, you made their anniversary very special. Sharon Kane

Cleaning of rooms every day, good bed. What I don't like it is the noise outside and even the window was opened, it was still too hot

Dated rooms but clean, if something is missing in the room they resolve it immediately. Food in hotel is expensive and not really tasty. Breakfast on the other hand is extensive enough and tasty. The only thing you miss there are sandwiches.

It's a good place to stay. Not too far away from the St Pancras station.

hotel very well located and breakfast very good, big black point the price of the rooms which are dilapidated and which are too expensive in particular the bathrooms, and on 2 rooms one did not have the heating which worked ... flat also if we could at least have a TV channel as that of the French loop news, it's a shame because after the days of visiting we rest before going to eat ...

Very outdated rooms and also the wellness area looks much bigger and nicer on the internet from no variety in the food service very nice

Hotel good place subway bus 5mn breakfast very good and varied restaurant of the hotel rather good menu child well pity that the pool must be surely shared with a nice personal sports club

Really cosy room, great show. However, the location is a little inconvenient

Very dated. Dirty skirting boards. Pool full of plastic cups, wet wipes and elastoplasts. Sauna and steam room unavailable. Bedroom was smaller than a prison cell. Would be very unhappy if I'd brought the wife here for the weekend, luckily it was a business stay paid for by work. Would not come back.

Service was great and hotel facilities were very good. Room service menu was better than most and food is served until 11 pm which is brilliant as it's later than most hotels This hotel is in a great location and a nice place to relax

Good hotel in the Central London with proximity to most of tourists locations, some walkable.

Only thing is in case you booked through third party i.e., through travel agents, it is kinda difficult to have changes to the booking done or solve any queries wrt booking done as reception team and reservation team are far apart in communicating, though they sit nearby.

Pro: Staff are friendly and helpful. Con: You could end up in the building across the street from amenities.

Room very small and outdated, cleanliness could be improved. Good breakfast, staff very friendly

Be careful - the cheap rooms are over the road and pretty rubbish. Lacklustre breakfast, dirty and poor room facilities.

When visiting the thistle Barbican hotel you're greeted with a luxurious reception area and fantastically helpful staff, all of which are exceptionally well mannered and generally want to help you. This is really good! Unfortunately, when you're informed that your room is in the next building, adjacent to the nice building, you aren't prepared for what's to come. I was fortunate enough to swap my twin room for a double room but was shocked at just how much noise pollution there is from rooms around yours. I think this is partially due to the fact that the is a door between double rooms (at least in my instance) and the ceiling is made out of polystyrene tiles, which would usually be reserved for 90s office buildings. Fortunately being here for business reasons, and being able to sleep with a relatively large amount of noise, this wasn't a huge issue. The furniture in the room is functional if not a bit old fashioned and the bed is quite comfortable; all great things. The bathroom is also functional; not outstanding in any way, though i do have to appreciate the multiple ply toilet paper which is a rarity in most hotels I've visited! Unfortunately the shower was controlled with the same taps as the bath, which in itself isn't a problem per-se, however, the control that switches between the two was knackered, leading me to MacGuyver a solution using only the objects around me and the moon's gravitational pull. I was successful in my endeavour, but it does raise questions about the overall quality of the hotel. The temperature of the room was also uncontrollable and quite hot and i couldn't figure out how to open the windows. I was fortunate to have breakfast included in my stay. The coffee available was provided by a machine; it tasted fine- quite a strong roast! The food was tasty, but cold. Breakfast runs from 6:30am until 10:00am and i got to my table for 6:45am however all the food was still luke-warm. There is a selection of cold drinks also, such as orange juice, Apple juice and ice water, as well as a selection of pastries and cereals. Again, the staff were courteous and polite. It feels like the hotel could do with only a few tweaks to make it much better, but overall it could only just be rated as satisfactory.

Fits the purpose. Friendly staff. Bit of a confusing layout of the rooms but got there eventualy.

Comfortable, clean and quiet hotel. Stayed in a deluxe room on the 2nd floor, breakfast was well received every morning with lots of choice. Stayed on business but very happy with my stay here. Room was air conditioned with usual amenities and a large TV mounted on the wall which could easily be moved.

Stayed for one night during a conference. Rooms were okay, nothing special, were clean and tidy and that is the main thing. En-suite bathroom was rather dated and the shower poor.

The small in-house gym was reasonable enough, with free entry to guests.

Fine hotel, rooms are small but the price is relatively fine for London. It's definitely a good price for a 3 star hotel in London. But there are cheaper options in London with similarly good facilities.

Very helpful staff and lovely hotel would stay again.

Me and my girlfriend were having a stressful time due to several issues on our anniversary, but the manager bent over backwards and went above and beyond to ensure that our stay was a memorable one, and really did go out of her way.
Judging from other peoples reviews I think it depends on the staff which are serving you, and which room you get as to how enjoyable your stay is, I am aware some rooms could do with a bit of a refurbishment (but nothing to drastic), but overall the hotel really was very good value for money when you consider that you have access to a gym, swimming pool, Jacuzzi and more, and they really did try their best to accommodate our needs.after a complaint I made (which I appreciate was about something which wasn't actually their fault).

Room on the 5th floor but the 2 lifts out of order. Inconceivable !!!

Good price, nice rooms, gave me a double bed for a room with 2 singles. Pool is quite nice but the hot tub was full the whole time I was there. There's a steam room and a sauna, changing room, showers. Nice big smart TV in the room, free fast WiFi with email address. Regular room service. Only issues were that the flush didn't work well and the 24 hour room service wasn't available. Expensive drink prices in the night. You may have to go through doors that say keep closed to get to your room

We booked at this hotel for the following reasons - indoor pool, location to theatres, and the hotels boast of good service. bars and facilities
So you can imagine that we were shocked with the filthy pool area, broken lights floating in the pool (taking a dip), the fact the coffee making machine at the bars had been out of action for 3 days, bar staff seemed as though it was their first day, the bar closing at 11:30, despite a function going on.
Manager was shockingly rude and disinterested. Don t stay here, room is average, for the price there are far superior hotels to stay in.

Worse hotel I've ever stayed? I think so.

First, I love their food and WiFi

However, I don't know how stylish it is to have a shower which is activated only by holding up a knob.

The room was large and we'll equipped, shower worked well. Certain areas (tv and bathroom) looked like they were due a refresh.

This is the most fabulous hotel I have ever been to. Nice clean room and leasure facilities including Sauna, jacuzzi, pool and Gym. Excellent customer service from both the reservation and customer service teams. Overall, for me this Hotel should be rated as 5 stars Hotel rather than 3. I strongly recommend that every should visit this hotel and enjoy.
I would like to thank Miriam from the reservation team and all customer service team for making my Valantine eve stay in the hotel more enjoyable

Delicious breakfast, but small, old rooms and damaged equipment in swimming pool area

Looks like it hasn't been updated since the early 90s.

This is a reasonable priced hotel located in London which is perfect for a weekend breaks.

The rooms are spacious and nice, they are a little dated (80s fan on the ceiling) but they are just what you need.

The spa and gym are included and are a great start our end to the day. The reception is big and spacious with a restaurant and separate bar.

I was considering booking in for one night in October. Save me going back and forwards to Brighton.

However, two things.


Additonally, looking at the reviews, I decided home is best.
Thistle is clearly not paying attention to the reviews, doing nothing about 'cold lobby;' poor quality of rooms, bad foreign service.



Disappointing - Catch UP UK Thistle . I have stayed in Thistle Hotels in S.E.Asia. They are excellent. And Spotless.

Main areas are very well presented but rooms feel dated and faulty air conditioning. Not sure it's worth the money charged.
Edit- I have now dropped my review to 2 stars as they failed to record properly I have a meal allowance on my booking sent in by my company so I have had issues and had to make a personal payment, I have checked my booking reservation sent in and it confirms the allowance with payment details, not worth the hassle of trying to sort it out with the reception team.

The hotel is a short distance from the nearest metro, about 10 mins to walk. However, it was close to the conference center we visited. The check-in / out worked great, and the staff was friendly and accommodating. The room was small and would need renovation, but still ok.

Too bad it is a little out of the way, otherwise nothing has blamed.

So this is a pretty bad place to stay in my opinion.

The ground floor restaurant is adjacent to the lobby with no deciding walls, which only serves to lower the relaxed atmosphere. Its also poorly designed as when the doors open to the lobby, a gust of cold wind rushes through the restaurant chilling not only the guests, but the food, too.

The wait staff are inattentive and slow, 2 nights in a row I've been seated in a rushed manner and then had to ask for someone to take my drink/food order because I got tired of waiting (and seeing people seated after myself get served long before I).

As for the room, the bed was large, however it was terribly lumpy and the pillows were awfully stiff and rigid. The linen smelt fusty and the decor is very budget motel.

The air conditioning unit was loud and clunky therefore it could not be on when I tried to sleep and the window barely opened, so I was doomed to sleep on a lumpy bed in a room of ever increasing temperature.

I highly advise you find an alternate place to stay if you're looking around this part of London. I would suggest a hotel called Apex London Wall, its just down the way, very lovely and closer to public transport links, too.

Nice weekend 10 minutes walk from the metro. Otherwise take the bus .fast breakfast !!!!!

Nice comfortable hotel, not far from convenience shops - quite hidden away considering the size and location of the hotel. Quite quiet for a city hotel.

I can only comment on the bar as I visited here for a drink before an event. Seems a pretty standard hotel, nothing special. Drinks were over-priced for what they were (not that I was paying), but typical unnecessary hotel bar mark up.

Very nice hotel that was booked through a Red Letter Days package. Good sized room and very clean. Couple of niggles such as a wobbly toilet handle and the usb plugs next to the side of the bed didn't work meaning our phones didn't charge overnight. Breakfast was also very nice and plentiful.

Rooms: The rooms were cosy, but needed a renovation. There was a good signal in the lobby but there was little to no Wi-Fi connection in our room. Noise travelled between the rooms. No air-con.

Service: The staff were very friendly and often helpful, our room was done very well.

Location: A handy location near the Barbican center and easily accessible to the bus lines and the underground (short walk) Our room unfortunately didn t have a good view, but the view may differ from room to room.

Lovely place.. amazing facilities like free gym, hot tub, sauna, steam room and pool for guests.. would stay here again if it wasn't so far from where I'm going to.

I probably should not complain. It was cheap! However the experience was not pleasant

Nice personel
The entrance quite nice

Now, unfortunately, the negative

Room very outdated, bathroom how should you put it, we weren't very demanding, not even for the sake of the price, but we had more comfort in London, it was almost impossible to shower, we just had a disgusting feeling, including the toilet the toilet lid would not slip, no removable shower head and not to mention the pressure of the shower, the sink on the right a tap with cold water and on the left with hot water which made it impossible to get lukewarm water.
I only recommend the hotel to people who have no claims to the room. One more thing there is only one German TV channel that is RSos
Connection was great
London always gladly but not this hotel.

Room - 1,5 stars. Small, old, wore down and expensive.

Gym - 3 stars. OK gym, nothing standing out.

Breakfast - 4,5 stars! Great selection and high quality. I wish it was my long Saturday breakfast, but it wasn't..

Modern. It has everything you need. Beautiful indoor pool.

Quiet hotel, very clean. Hearty breakfast, excellent staff. Small problem with water interruption, solved quickly. Daily towel change. The slightly small room. The rest ok.

Great location nice staff very helpful clean rooms will stay again

Bed was a little hard, bathroom a little small, but overall a great stay and a great experience in London

Standard cheap place given the location. No thrilll placw.

It does what it says on the tin and is a good Thistle Hotel. The fish restaurant opposite is also a reason in itself to stay here.

The rooms are extremely small, the bathroom in need of renovation, but clean, very nice staff, large and delicious breakfast buffet

Fine, comfortable room. Some strange whistling noise for a while in the evening.

Hotel is okay but expect better in London but I can see why it's only 3 star. Executive King rooms should be taken care of better. Staff were great though.