Hilton London Olympia Hotel

Stayed here for a week while vacationing in London in October 2015. Walking to the London underground (tube) is a 5 – 10 minute stroll, but the bus comes right by the front of the hotel, so if you do not want to walk you can take the bus (or a taxi). At the desk, Emanuelle Crasto, was extremely friendly and helpful. Rooms were decentand the executive lounge for breakfast and cocktails in the evening was excellent. All the staff here was both friendly and efficient. Every night we walked to a different restaurant and had a broad variety to chose from — middle eastern, Indian, traditional English pub food, continental, Greek, etc. Great place to stay with great staff. Price range was moderate (for London).

This hotel is not conveniently located to the tube. The bed is ridiculously lumpy as shown in my photos. I arrived back late one evening to discover the cleaning service had thrown away my contact lens case. The best the front desk could do was offer the paper «cups» they use to cover the glasses in the rooms. I wouldn’t stay here again.

Oh Hilton. You tried. I know you did.
We stayed from Sept 9 – 13. Maybe I was spoiled by my previous trips to London, during which I stayed near St. Pancras and then near Paddington, but I cannot conceive of anybody finding this a convenient location if they plan on using the tube. True, the overground is around the corner, but it’s a hassle to use that to switch to Underground at Shepherd’s Bush.
Okay, first the positives:
The staff could not be nicer. They allowed an early check-​in for us, as well left us free champagne and dessert in our room for our anniversary. Also, they gave us vouchers for free drinks at their bar/​restaurant each day. Room cleaning was on point, and the room was spacious. The décor was modern and the television was large, offering a variety of channels. There were some cute small restaurants and one pub nearby. There’s a Costa at the hotel, which is tremendously convenient, as well as their own restaurant called Society. We did not eat there, but the drinks were decent.
The negatives:
You must pay for spotty wi-​fi. I know you shouldn’t go on holiday and worry about your internet connection, but it was a little bit annoying considering other hotels offer that for free.
They have a computerized mini-​bar and tray of offerings on the desk, meaning if you were even to nudge one, you’d get charged. This somehow happened to us, despite our being very careful to avoid those things, when a charge for a lemonade showed up on our bill when checking out. It was easily resolved, but still, it’s quite annoying to place an easily disturbed tray out on the desk like that.
Location was not the best. The Tube stops were about half a mile away. The only good thing I can say is, when you get that far, there’s loads of shopping and dining around. And Kensington Palace is just a mile away from the hotel.
The walls were horrifically thin. And not just for loud neighbors, such as the crying baby to our left. The people just having a regular conversation to our right could be heard very easily. Naturally, this meant that traffic was easily heard, but we were on the 6^th floor. Maybe it’s a different story for those higher up?
I was excited to see we had a tub but was disappointed to see the anti-​slip bumps had been worn away and the rust areas were exposed. It was not pleasant to stand on either, while showering.
Despite the niceness of the staff, I can’t say I recommend this hotel for anybody unless you need to stay near Kensington or the Olympia Exhibition Centre. There are nicer places, with thicker walls, new bathrooms, and better locations.

A little too far from the tube, so it’s probably not the best for tourists who rely on public transportation. I struggled to give this place four stars because of the location, but the hotel was decent enough that I couldn’t give it lower than 4. The hotel itself is well appointed with a nice restaurant and work out facility. Great customer service, but small elevators and rooms. The hotel is very convenient to grocery stores but as far as getting to the tube. You will need to walk a few blocks to get to the nearest train station.

Location: Great for the Olympia exhibition halls but probably not great for tourists.
Noise Levels: poor if you overlook the Main Street. Lots of traffic until the early hours and sirens for emergency vehicles usually happens serval times per evening and night. With jet lag this made sleep even more troublesome.
Food: not bad (only did the breakfast) but if there is a convention don’t try getting in quickly during the same time everyone else is… you may have a LONG wait.
Rooms: Mine was not unreasonably small for a London hotel but (a) smaller than expected form a Hilton and (b) a couple of my colleagues has MUCH smaller rooms that was a problem for them. Make sure you book a larger room.
Shower: Ridiculous. You step up into the bath tub reducing the height to the ceiling. I’m 5ft 11″ and I could barely stand upright. One of my colleagues is 6ft 3″ … He had to sit down in the shower to fit (so I’m told by him).
WiFi: extra$$. Worked at high speed so was impressed but you would have to log on every time you turned off or moved location. Became very very tedious. The speed did make up for it a bit. Warning, no wired internet but the WiFi was fast enough.
Water: Bottled water supplied in the room is a real rip-​off. With the price of the room this should be included. Disgusting. £3.65 for a small bottle of drinking water is crazy. Drink the tap water here.
Overall, not too impressed but great location for the Olympia Exhibition hall and that’s probably what they are leveraging. It’s a shame other elements let the place down a bit hence the 3 stars. Not Hiltons best in fact probably only just mediocre.

Don’t spend your money here. As great if a location as it is and the front desk staff does what they can, this place is a disaster… Windows that don’t lock, hearing that doesn’t work, dirty and unkept… Simple things as toilet paper holders missing in bathroom, TV that won’t work properly, channels freeze. Great location, place sucks…

So I had to be in London for a college fair and I had looked at a couple of hotels near the event site. I had stayed at one of the Millennium hotels before and had a great experience, but since Mr. Snarky is earning HHonors points and wanted to see what an executive lounge looked like (since the Hilton he stays at on a regular basis does not have one), I decided to book the Hilton instead. To be honest, that was a mistake.
Getting to the hotel if you have a lot of luggage by public transport might be a little bit difficult. There is the Olympia Overground station nearby and if there is an event at the Olympia, then there might be Underground service, however, it is not a regular service. Within 15 minutes walk are both the West Kensington and High Street Kensington Underground Stations. Mr. Snarky (who lived in London previously) had remarked how this might be the one place in London where the nearest tube station is 15 minutes away. Normally it feels like the stations are so close together. There are bus stops outside of the hotel as well.
The lobby is extremely dark and actually quite small compared to the amount of people lounging about and waiting to check in. There didn’t seem to be enough staff on hand for the afternoon rush to check-​in, not to mention a coach full of tourists had just pulled up. When it was my turn to check in, the staff member behind the desk was not just unfriendly, but completely unhelpful. No information about breakfast, check out, wifi, etc. And when I asked him about some of the amenities, it was like pulling teeth to get the information. On top of it, when I asked about parking for Mr. Snarky’s evening arrival, he was quite condescending. He was getting ready to put two keys into the packet so I asked if I could leave one of the keys at the desk as Mr. Snarky would be arriving later, but I would still be at the college fair. Whoa… you would have thought I asked him for a kidney with the way he tutted and acted like it was such a problem. Welcome to London!
The two things that kept this review from being one star is the size of the room (much larger than what I have found in London allowing both of our small suitcases to be open on the floor) and the lack of noise coming from outside. I know that others have mentioned the noise in their reviews, but my room was on the 7^th floor and overlooking a residential area rather than the street and it was actually the quietest stay I have ever had in London. Didn’t hear sirens, buses, etc. and it was lovely!
The room looks like it was partially renovated… the furniture looks a bit modern (although it is scratched up a lot), but it just looks like they may have stopped in some areas, like one of the walls seemed to still have the textured wall paper from the last décor. The wifi did not work once while we were there even after receiving an access code from the staff. The ceiling in the bathroom is quite low. When I went to shower (I am 5’10), I was very close to the drop ceiling. Mr. Snarky is 6’2 and he was about a centimeter from the drop ceiling while in the shower.
The thing that disappointed Mr. Snarky the most is the Executive Lounge. Many of his colleagues talked about the Executive Lounges at different Hiltons and while we know that these may vary from location to location, he was still fairly excited to make use of it. When we went in, a couple minutes after 8 p.m., we were told that they stop serving canapes and drinks at 8. We were offered a coffee or tea, but that was it. Even a couple of the people sitting there were drinks were heckling the lady at the desk saying that she should offer us a little something more because it was only a couple of minutes after 8 p.m. When we went for breakfast the next day, while the lounge is nice to sit in, the breakfast itself was comparable to that at the Holiday Inn Express. Powdered Eggs, Instant Oatmeal… guess I don’t understand what makes the Executive Lounge any different from going downstairs to have breakfast. I actually think I need to update my review of the Swindon Hilton and add a star as I think they do a better job all around than this Hilton.
I have to acknowledge one of the staff members who had tried to address our wifi problem as well as troubleshoot a couple of our other issues (room keys not working, wrong name on the invoice, etc.). He was very helpful and even when we came back the next night and needed to pay for our parking, he asked us if his colleagues were able to help with the invoice and made sure that the parking receipt also had the correct name. If I have to be in London on business again, I’ll be staying elsewhere.

The hotel is dated but clean. However, its extremely noisy. If you are in a crunch, its not a bad place to stay if you are looking to save money or be near Kensington. The area has a lot to offer.

As an American tourist in a strange new city, I was looking for a hotel that was centrally located, offered good service and had decent rooms. This is exactly the perfect way to describe this hotel. Weird, right?
From the airport, it is a 30 minute and 70 pound cab ride, and served my business travel needs just perfectly. The rooms are spacious, but do not offer a view. Everything is clean, if not a little out of date. The lobby is decent. Everything can be described as above average.
In other words, if you need HHonors points, want to be away from hustle and bustle, and stay near the tube station, this is the perfect hotel for you.

Excellent service. When you are in need– appearance does not matter. I had a happy safe, comfortable stay. All my requests were attended in a snap. Excellent full breakfast too. Close to the busses that get you to the main districts and square. Concierge is helpful and knowledgable.

I’m kind of conflicted about this one. I guess in actuality the Hilton London Olympia is probably closer overall to 3 stars than 2, but I’m giving them a 2. The price is high, and the rooms are very small… and outdated (IMO).
We were given rooms on an «updated» floor, but my question is exactly when were they supposedly updated? 1989? With the exception of a flatscreen TV, the room, and bathroom were seriously outdated. The bathroom has some type of drop ceiling so you can easily bang your head on one of the tiles even if you’re a person of average height. The water pressure in the shower was kind of inconsistent too.
Maintenance? The room got cleaned every day, but it just seems like a lot of corners were cut, and the cleaners just wanted to get out of there. They left some of our room service that had clearly been left to be disposed of on the table and just cleaned around the dirty dish (!). Common sense, people. Oddly enough, even though we had put a «do not disturb» sign on our door, management came by two times (!) to check to see if the room had been cleaned. Oh dear. The towels were over bleached and rough. It goes without saying but one might like a soft towel after they take a shower, no?
Room service? It was EXPENSIVE, and not very edible. Yes, it is room service so by nature it will be over the odds, but this was ridiculous. Obviously management has delusions of grandeur but we paid 40 pounds (over $ 60) for two grilled cheese sandwiches, two «chicken soups», and a bottle of water. I know London is expensive, and room service is expensive, but come on! For kicks we looked at room service at another hotel far above the Hilton’s station in life, and the prices were comparable. I’m sure we would have enjoyed the food better at the other hotel.
If you like peace and quiet, you might not find it here. The back of the hotel overlooks a school of some sort and machinery. Also, the room doors are not «soft close» — when people enter or leave, the slamming and shaking can be heard or felt down the hallway.
The concierge people were very nice and helpful though, so brownie points for them. The rest of the hotel, not so much. This is a Hilton in name only it seems. Not worth it.

The Hilton London Olympia gets a lot of bad press because of their location, which I don’t believe is totally justifiable.
Yes, it is located close the Olympia overground station, unfortunately that train does not arrive on a regular basis. The other option is to take the High Street Kensington station which is down the street, however transporting your luggage does not make this a fun walk.
If not taking the much closer Olympia station, I would suggest getting off at the High Street Kensington station and taking the #9 or #10 bus, which almost drops you off at the front door.
As you enter the hotel, the registration desk is directly in front of you. Check-​in was quick and efficient. I was given an Executive King Room with Executive Lounge access. As a Hilton HHonors Gold Elite, room upgrades are based on availability, as is access to the Executive Lounge.
It should be noted that I contacted the hotel prior to my stay, as we were staying the Hilton London Olympia for our anniversary. I had requested a room upgrade if it was available during our stay, and received an email from the Business Development Department informing me that we would have an upgraded room during our stay.
As you enter the room, there is a stand up closet directly to the left which also contains an iron, ironing board, robes, slippers and safe. The bathroom is located right next to the closet, and contains a shower/​tub combination along with Peter Thomas Roth amenities. Although the bathroom is not huge, it is much more spacious than many other bathrooms in Europe.
The bed is comfortable, but does not appear to be a true king bed.
There is a desk with a dresser next to it, on which the TV sits. The desk has plenty of work space.
There is also a small table with two chairs. As a surprise, we were given some chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine.
As a Hilton HHonors Gold, benefits include free internet and free breakfast. The breakfast buffet was fantastic and included hot dishes such as eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, hash browns, beans and oatmeal. There was also several types of smoked fish, cereal, breads and baked good, yogurt and fresh fruit.
The Executive Lounge is clean, well maintained and spacious. The attendants are very friendly and accommodating. Different types of soda, beer, and wine are offered, in addition to water, juice and coffee. There are several types of snacks including nuts, crackers, cookies and fresh fruit. Breakfast is also offered as an alternative to the breakfast buffet. There are also hors d’œuvre in the evening.
The Executive Lounge also has two computers with a printer for any business needs that may arise.
The staff is very friendly and helpful, as is the concierge.
Although some reviews online are not favorably of the Hilton London Olympia, mainly because of its location, with a little knowledge the location of the hotel does not pose a problem.
I would highly recommend staying at the Hilton London Olympia and would stay here again without hesitation.
See blog for pics.

Do yourself a favor and stay somewhere else. Small rooms, the worst wifi experience at any Hilton I have seen, electrical problems in rooms and common areas, indifferent desk staff. After a 3 week tour through Europe all in Hilton’s this is the one to avoid.

Visited London with family in May 2013 and stayed at the Olympia. It’s not the most luxurious hotel, but the breakfast buffet that was included more than made up for the slightly cramped room, which were perfectly livable — coming from someone who always stays in suites during Vegas trips. Great location and staff!

We got this place on Hotwire, so it was a steal. It’s right on a great bus line, and not a terrible walk to the train. The room was comfortable enough, and big compared to other rooms I have had in London. Nice bathroom, too.
When in London, I pretty much only need a place to shower and close my eyes, so this was as good as any — or better for the budget I had to spend and the fact that I was there in expensive summertime.
Would I stay here again? Maybe not, but it’s nothing about the hotel; just my lack of brand loyalty (to just about any hotel company but Kimpton in the US).

I really don’t like this hotel and I stay at many. The best thing here is the Costa next door. Oh and maybe the Indian restaurant down the street. The staff are pretty nice, most of the time. The rooms are about the size of my bathroom back home. I actually had to pick up my bag to get to the other side of the room because you can barely pass between the bed and desk/​tv stand. Don’t get me started on the bathroom, needs a new tub to start. The toilet sounds like a plane trying for take off. I’m sure the whole floor can hear me flush. I also love that after I get off the elevator, that fits two, I STILL have to trek my bags up a flight of stairs yay! Really? Who designed this place?

Oh my freaking lord, I’m about to blow a fuse here!!! Just spent the entire night talking with my fiancé as he was trying to check in for his week-​long business stay and the hoops they put that poor man through were insane! I am disgusted that they’re actually going to be making money off him and his employer because they don’t deserve one freaking red American cent.
I can’t believe that after an eleven hour flight and a trek through the rain, they would belittle him the way that they did and lied about not having a corporate account with his company, demanding the entire 7 day stay, plus incidentals, plus a deposit (!) to be charged upfront to his personal credit card. Oh, just a few thousand dollars you weren’t expecting and didn’t budget for… no biggie, right??? They’re right next to the headquarters and have people from his work staying there on that corporate account on at least a weekly basis, so to pull this stunt, in the middle of the night no less, is unconscionable. A simple computer query would have settled this but they were what, too lazy? too incompetent? too bloody mean to do it?
Corporate called this morning and settled everything (they’re pissed as well) and Hilton refunded him the money he had to put upfront without so much as an apology for all the stress they put him through. No upgrade, no free breakfast, no free wi-​fi, nothing!!! He has seven days he has to work out of that hotel and he’s too swamped with work to actually change hotels at this point, but I swear to all that is holy, everybody up the Hilton chain will be hearing from me if this doesn’t get turned around. This isn’t cute and this WILL be resolved. I don’t remember the last time I was this angry but I’ll be damned if they didn’t work hard enough for this. I’m telling you, Unilocal should grant us the ability to put one negative star rating only once a year so that we’d be careful who to dole it out to. Just one, for the WORST experience of the year. Because I would award that so hard to Hilton right now it wouldn’t even be funny.
Seven days, people. Let’s see if anything changes around.

I stay here often. It is one of the cheapest Hilton hotels in London. It is good value for money but dont expect what you would expect from a £300 room here. The executive lounge at best is basic and the rooms roomy for London.

I thought staying at a Hilton meant something. I expected something of quality. Hiltons are not usually bottom of the barrel, but this one is the exception. The Hilton family should be ashamed (of course for many other things besides this hotel).
We got a deal on Priceline for $ 100/​night. While the room itself was clean, that’s about where my compliments end.
Despite taking the elevator, our room was still up another two small flights of stairs. The receptionist failed to tell us about the closer elevator which would of saved us one flight of stairs. We had 2 bags /​person; I think he could have at least pointed that out instead of steering us to the wrong one.
The next night we came back and had some picnic bites with us. We asked if we could get some plates and silverware from the front desk. He said of course, but they’ll have to sent them up to our room. He took down our room number, but nothing ever came. We ended up falling asleep.
They asked us for a credit card for the mini fridge, but there wasn’t even one in our room. Our food spoiled.
The closest tube station only runs on weekends, and the trains come rarely. It’s about a 20 minute wait to go only one stop to then transfer. This is difficult with bags, but without bags, it’s worth it to just walk to the further station.
This hotel was just so lackluster. The staff was rude (especially the night front desk crew). We got dicked over by them twice.
It’s just an old hotel with some new paint. Don’t be fooled. Stay here if you can get a deal and don’t mind the distance. It’s certainly a no frills hotel. There’s also no food around open at night.

$ 100 a night for weekend in Kensington. bargain! The room was clean… good start.
From there it was down hill!
«rooms tend to be small. Maybe I got the „Priceline“ room» SNAP! Not too bothered about this but it was a sign of things to come.
This hotel is a conversion — old with some new paint so getting to our room with HEAVY bags involved 2 sets of stairs :(
Location is really quite bad considering — Olympia tube only runs on weekends and sooo infrequently it is a joke. A 20min on the platform to go 1 stop! The next closest tube stop is a good 10 – 15 min walk. Too far with bags!
Staff where not friendly at all and in some instances down right unhelpful. They did a great job of not caring! Even very simple requests where completely ignored. Their local knowledge was also very poor.
Disappointed; it has definitely made me question Hilton’s standards

Yes, rooms are noisy. I wonder if there exists something like noiseprotecting windows in the UK…
The Executive Lounge, unfortunately, does not offer the same standard as it is provided on the continent. In fact, one who books an executive room or a suite feels treated somewhat in an inferior way than someone who booked a standard room… although the atmosphere at the Executive Lounge is very appealing.

Hilton hat Luxushotels — das ist klar, aber nicht überall wo Hilton drauf steht ist auch ein Luxushotel drin. Kurz um, wer schön öfter bei Hilton übernachtet hat kennt das auf und ab zwischen ganz okay und echt schön — das Hilton Olympia ist ganz okay, die Mitarbeiter freundlich, die Lage noch relativ zentral und die Zimmer, nun ja sauber aber etwas «angestaubt mit den Jahren» wie auch die Flure und das gesamte Hotel allgemein. Wer jetzt unter Hilton Luxus erwartet und vielleicht nur nach dem dem berühmten Namen gebucht hat könnte etwas enttäuscht sein. Partygirl Paris würde hier sicher nicht einchecken, da gibt es weitaus bessere Hiltons in London. Einfach mal die Raten checken, ist der Preis gut ist es sicherlich in Ordnung dort zu übernachten. Leider eines der schlechteren Hilton Hotels in denen ich übernachtet habe auch wenn sich der Service in allen Bereichen wirklich mühe gegeben hat (fürs Zimmer alleine wären es nur 2 * geworden). Auf
kann man sich alle Hilton Hotels in London mit den Preisen zum jeweiligen Datum anzeigen lassen und teilweise auch ein «Schnäppchen» machen.

Pluspunkt für den großen Fernsehen, Rezeption, Bar und Frühstück.
Minuspunkte für die Zimmer allgemein, den Flur, Handtücher, Matratze.
Vorteil ist dass es ganz nah am Olympia Gelände liegt — keine 3 Minuten zu Fuß dorthin!
Nicht vergleichbar mit bekanntem Hilton-​Standard!

If you expect well-​known Hilton standard, you might be not be very satisfied. The rooms are quite old and haven’t been renewed for too long time. At the time when we have been there, there were a lot of school classes there and it was quite noisy. Also the service is far away from Hilton standards. We had booked a pre-​payed room and when we arrived they told us that tgey are ful and do not have any more room available for that night. I did not expect something like that from Hilton
Nevertheless they rebboked us for the first night to another London Hilton at Trafalger Sqare, which was by far better than Hilton Olympia.
After the first night we had to come back to Olympia and we both, did not receive an upgrade nor any apolohies for inconveniences. As I said, I do not expect this from Hilton.
The good news for Hilton Olympia is that the location is quote good for London visitors, but I will definatly not come back to Hilton Olympia.