Queens Park Hotel

(2014 Review) This is your average run of the mill two star hotel in London, very inexpensive and gets the job done. It is very close to the tube, roughly about a 5 to 8 minute walk or roughly 2 to 3 small blocks. The elevators are small, roughly can fit 1 to 2 people without luggage and roughly 1 with luggage, but better than hauling it upstairs. The front desk was very straightforward and quick with the checking in process which is always a plus. The hotel is always very close to Kensington palace and a beautiful park for morning, afternoon, or nightly strolls.
The bedrooms were small, but lets be honest, who spends a lot of time in a hotel when you are in London? It is fitted with a TV, clean bathroom and comfortable beds to get a good night’s rest. Yes, there is a window and most likely you will be looking at a wall or small alley, but not a big deal if you plan to spend the time in the room for just sleeping.
The breakfast is plain and somewhat boring, but good amount of carbs for energy that is needed for the amount of walking you will be doing in this awesome city! Breakfast is served early and there is plenty of options and seating to make it quite convenient to get in and out. I found that waiting till a later time (9ish) was really when the large crowd rolled in which led to less seating and longer lines for food.
All and all, I would book here again the next time i’m in London and would suggest this to anyone looking for a clean and cheap hotel (2 star) close to the tube (Queensway).

People are so damn picky.
If you just want a place in the center of London, with free breakfast, that’s cheap in price, a bed, and a private shower GO TO THIS HOTEL!
Why spend $ 400 a night for a super fancy room you’ll hardly be in? I don’t get it.
Pro:
Free breakfast every morning (all you can eat buffet)
Lowest price rooms ever
Location (center of everything, next to tour bus stop, 1 block away from train station, shopping strip also one block away)
Private bathroom, tv, able to open windows
Friendly staff OMG!
Con:
No free wifi
No AC/​Heater
Paper thin walls and noisy floors.
The staff…
I don’t expect the receptionist to jump on their feet and shake my hand when I walk in. I expect them to answer my very blunt New York style questions and answer courteously, which they did. Every other British person outside that hotel that I ask questions to were rude because of the way I ask for things. I asked to find out where I can print, and they offered to print my documents for me. They even took the time to point out locations on my map to show me where an internet café might be.
The room…
It was old. It’s an old building. I don’t care about the smudge marks on the bottom of the walls from thrown sneakers or bike tires. I care if the bed was made and the bathroom’s clean. It was. Every time I left the room, I came back to a nice clean room.
Mattress is an old spring mattress, but the pillows and covers were comfortable; I slept well. They store an extra quilt in the closet for your convenience.
It was hot in the room due to no AC; I told the receptionist and ask for the fan. They gave it to me. I had a well air circulated room with windows open and the fan on medium. Awesome nights.
Shower was a bit tight squeeze. But I don’t need no Jacuzzi and waterfall. If my boyfriend of stocky build can fit in it and get the job done, that’s all that matters.
The breakfast…
AMAZING. I find it weird Europeans eat beans and steamed tomatoes in the mornings. But you know what, it was hefty, it tasted good, and it filled me up until noon. AND IT’s FREE. I saved $ 140 for the week I was there from the free breakfast.
The floor does make noise. So what, it’s an old building. That’s what happens. But note to the hotel people… please change the carpet… I didn’t feel comfortable walking barefoot on it. Please tell me you clean it regularly. I’ll be honest, I didn’t trust it lol. P. S. it’s hard to be frisky at night when the walls are paper thin. shhh… But the noise level was at a zero. No complaints.
I don’t know why I thought this hotel had free wifi. I was pretty mad about it. Maybe it said so on a different website. But you know what, because the receptionist was friendly about it, I didn’t mind paying the 2 pounds for 30 minutes just to check my mail. Go to an internet café nearby for longer online time for cheaper. IT’S NEARBY CUZ THE HOTEL IS IN A GOOD LOCATION.
I will DEFINITELY return to this hotel in a second. I just hope to be put in one of the newer sections so I don’t have to worry about paper thin walls and old carpet.
⁵⁄₅!

I’d award 3 stars for it’s location and no stars for the hotel itself, so 1 star overall.
Cons: Upon arrival we weren’t welcomed with an expected hello and a greeting, just like we’d receive back in Ireland. Not one hello, not one smile, utterly cold. Receptionist asked for name and handed us a key card and that was all. We were a little shocked but too tired to complain.
There was a torrential downpour right before we arrived and not even a tissue was offered to dry our hands before we could sign documents… how do these employees have jobs?
Rooms will suffice if you are just looking for somewhere to stay for the night, but that’s all. Décor is horrendous, NOISE is a big problem here as all doors literally a 3 inch gap between them and the floor. You can hear everything as if somebody was in your room. Even a friend of mine who stayed here commented on this issue.
Pros: Location, location, location! Right on top on Hyde park and beside Kensington palace, also verrry close to Bayswater and Queensway tubes. Bus stop is a few meters down the down and runs 24 hours.

Fabulous location close to Hyde Park so great for walking if you are young or fit, level access to 2 tube stations and bus stops if you prefer a more sedentry visit. Lifts very small, steps inside hotel on most floors so be careful if looking for disabled access. Very small rooms, although beautifully clean and warm. TV also small and only terrestrial TV. Micro ensuite however adequate for overnight stay and if you are not spending much time in rooms.
Difficulty when booking in due to slight disorganisation at reception, hence only 2 stars, otherwise 3.
Staff very friendly and welcoming.
Some upgrade work ongoing so maybe some things change.
Locally late night store for snacks etc, also takeaways and bars

Okay, to be perfectly fair, this place would normally get 1 star from me. Buuuut… I have to say that a few days after my stay here, I wound up somewhere else in France that was much, MUCH worse. So they will get my one star review, and this place gets two.
Now, onwards!
Cons first, so that we can leave on a happy note. I’m a student on a budget, so I don’t expect 5 star quality when I stay at a cheap hotel, but there are some basic amenities that I would expect anywhere. Such as, oh say, TOWELS? Right after our 12 hour plane ride, naturally both my roommate and I wanted to shower to refresh ourselves. There was exactly one bath towel in the bathroom. No biggie, we thought we’d just call for more while I showered first, and by the time I was done my roommate would be equipped with more towels.
This was sadly giving them far too much credit. Both of us ran out numerous times to ask employees for towels. We spoke to a minimum of 3 different people, but it still took at least 45 minutes for a clean set of towels to arrive.
The next thing was an old, dilapidated heater. Our room was freezing cold when we checked in, but we were momentarily distracted by the lack of towels and didn’t pay too much attention to it. We made note that the heater wasn’t working and reported it to them around 5pm. We left for some sight-​seeing, and returned around 9 or 10pm, to find our room still at subzero temperature (okay, so I might be exaggerating, but believe me it was COLD). Had to go out and wait 15 minutes or so for the one lone employee to finish his heated phone conversation with another guest before he came to our room to turn on our heater. This process was a interesting combination of turning various random knobs that he was not even sure of, so there is no way that a tourist from another country in this modern age could have figured it out.
Now, the pros. The hotel is very conveniently situated near a lot of things. It’s a hop and a skip away from Kensington Gardens, and further down is Oxford Street. It’s only a block or two away from Queensway Station and Bayswater, making it very easy to get around and with lots of little shops and restaurants nearby.
The employees are nice. I enjoyed talking to them and asking questions about where to go and how to get there. Most of my inquiries were rewarded with enthusiastic suggestions and a lot of tourist knowledge.
Continental breakfast was neither a pro nor a con. It’s nice in the morning to have something just ready to eat so that you can be on you way, but selection was very minimal. Mostly I ate toast with butter and/​or marmalade and some coffee to get me going. Eggs and bacon are extra, and I figured I had better things to spend my money on while in London.

After a 10 hour plane ride and 1 hour shuttle from the airport, all I really wanted to do was shower and venture out into the wonderful city of London.
Check in was quite easy and fast. However, we entered our room and immediately notice how cold it was. Tried to turn on the heater, but we couldn’t find the knob. No problem, just call the receptionist and ask for someone to fix it.
«Someone will come by in 15 minutes to help you,» said the receptionist.
One weird thing was that they gave my friend and I a three bed room. Strange considering it was just the two of us. Even stranger because once my friend walked into the bathroom, she was annoyed that we were only given ONE towel. Not even one set of towels, just one bath towel. Small problem, so we called the receptionist again to ask for more towels.
«Housekeeping will be notified immediately,» said the receptionist.
I told my friend to go ahead and shower first while I wait for the towels and heater. Waited about 20 minutes total before I called again. By this time, I could tell the receptionist was getting tired of me. She told me that housekeeping was already notified of our needs and to just wait. Waited longer. By this time, my friend was already done showering. I even walked out to the reception area to ask another person about towels and he said he’d let housekeeping know. Waited about 50 minutes in total by now before I decided to walk around and hope to find the housekeeping woman. I encountered her near the reception desk and she said she’d bring them shortly.
I decided to take a shower after talking to the housekeeping woman, hoping that the towels would be there once I finished. But nope. No towels. Instead, I got to put on a big shirt over my wet body and stand around drying off in a cold hotel room. Wow. What a horrible way to spend my first couple hours in London.
We decided to leave and head out into the city rather than wait for someone to fix our heater, because certainly they had already forgotten about us.
Anyways, the rest of our experience here wasn’t too bad, as long as we didn’t need to contact the reception area for any reason. Breakfast was free, and that’s about the extent of it’s pros. About 50% of the people at the reception desk were helpful and nice.
Next time I decide to book a travel deal with hotel, I’ll make sure to pay the extra for a hotel upgrade…

We had booked this hotel through an online travel site that came bundled with airfare. It was a good deal in that the bundled price was less than if I were to book just the airfare separately through discount travel sites such as expedia or orbitz. So we had really low expectations.
The Good:
1) Cheap
2) Location location location
The Expected:
1) Really small
2) Really old
3) Blah breakfast (hey, it’s free though)
The Bad (hence the 1 star rating):
1) The bed — I don’t expect a nice pillowtop, but come on, if there were more room in the room, I think I’d rather sleep on the floor. At least it is a flat surface. Even with two blankets, I can still feel every spring. It was uneven as well. I know about wanting to cut cost, but seriously, these mattresses are way past their time.
2) The «business center» — Again, not expecting much here. But if you want to charge $ 3 to use the computer in the lobby, at least get a printer to go with it. Again, not a big cost with getting a cheap printer so that your guests can possibly print out a boarding pass when checking in to the flight.
Everyone’s criteria and priority is different when it comes to hotel selections. So if you need to stay in a good location (close to two Underground stations) and need it really cheap, then this hotel *might still be somewhat attractive to you. Just also make sure that you have a very low expectations on the bed as well and ask for extra blankets for «cushioning» purposes…

Don’t stay here! Horrible hotel. There’s absolutely nothing to this hotel but the room, a bed, and the bathroom. The room is tiny to say the least. No air condition, no cable, just a plain old 14 inch LCD TV. The bed was a crummy full size bed, not your usual queen bed like in the US. The bathroom was also tiny. There is no bathtub, just a shower stand that you can barely fit in. Then there is the elevator that fits 2 people max without luggage. Never again, I would not recommend this place for anyone.

Tiny tiny rooms. I think a cruise cabin is bigger.
Continental breakfast wasn’t too bad.
Good location and walking distance to stores and transit.

I went here in May 2009. We (my fiancé and I) got this place as a replacement for another budget hotel we booked as part of a travel (air/​hotel) package.
Even with the understanding that this place is a budget hotel, it was god awful! The «complementary continental breakfast» consisted of stale bread and rolls (although the croissants were okay), a large bowl of sad looking tinned fruit (varied from grapefruit sections to sugar-​laden, from-​a-​can fruit salad), rice krispies and corn flakes, reconstituted orange juice, and coffee and tea. We ended up grabbing tea and croissants most mornings, then heading out somewhere to get a big English breakfast that would last us until dinner. Also, the dining area was way too small; we hardly ever actually got a seat in there and usually had to sit in the very small reception area to «enjoy» our tea and toast.
Okay, onto the rooms: tiny as all get-​out. I think we had the same room as Genevieve… basement dungeon room with a window looking out into some weird sub-​street storage area. There was one bed, despite claims of being a full, was barely twin size. The sheets were so thread-​bare we could see through them. The in-​room safe was broken. The walls must be constructed of tissue paper, since we could listen to whatever television program the neighbors had on next door. The shower flooded, spewing dirty drain water over the entire bathroom floor. We realized this happened when we turned the shower’s flow rate up to something higher than a trickle.
Thank god we didn’t have to use the elevator, because it fits one person and one piece of luggage, barely. We stuck to the stairs.
The one thing it does have going for it, though, is the location. We had no problems getting to tube stations (two are within easy walking distance) and walking to a few places (like Hyde Park).
Next time I visit London, I’ll be spending a bit more on the accommodations… I think a tent on a remote country field may have been better.

2 nights at the Park Hotel came w/​our plane tickets to London. This place is HORRIBLE. First of all, they don’t seem to have a computer system to check/​manage rooms (they use like 5 different booklets) and the people at the front desk are HELLA slow! by the time we got there (well after check-​in time) our rooms weren’t even ready. When we finally got up to our room, my mouth dropped. We had made a reservation for 3. the beds were TINY. like smaller than twin beds. How the hell are 3 ppl supposed to sleep in this damn room? The room was also tiny so there wasn’t even enough floor room for me to sleep on the floor…
I went downstairs, requested a bigger room and of course they are booked for the rest of the week… I had to book another hotel (Holiday Inn express) so I could sleep somewhere.
also continental breakfast sucks.

This hotel is a rip-​off. Tiny dingy and dirty rooms with old cheap furniture, narrow hallways with countless hall doors and stairs which makes it very difficult to manage your luggage and a one man creaky elevator. This hotel was not cheap when we stayed there — I paid close to $ 200 for the night.
They have a 3.5 false guest review and it is obvious that they have their staff post favorable false reviews. Do not stay there and do not waste your money!

This has to be the most horrid hotel I’ve ever stayed at in my entire life. Granted, this was about two years ago, but by God, it will haunt my dreams forever.
I don’t even know how my mom and I found this place on the internet, but we were under the impression that it was a pretty decent hotel from the deceptive pictures and the price we paid, which from what I remember was about $ 200 a night. Well, boy… were WE in for a shocker once we arrived. It was the most dicrepit, crickety, ancient, about-​to-​fall-​apart P.O.S. hotel I’ve ever seen.
After dragging our suitcases into the elevator, (that I thought was about to break and was so small only one of us could fit in it at the same time with our bag) we struggled with our suitcases through the tiny, doorway-​laden hallways with numerous unnecessary (and non-​ADA or fire escape friendly) stairs that made our rollerbags pretty much useless, we finally found our room. This room was probably about 9×9 feet, with two beds smaller than twin size, and not even enough room to bring my suitcase into. Those beds… shudder…were stained, dirty, sinking in the middle and looked like some truly hellish things had been done to and on them in the past.
We immediately dragged our bags back downstairs and demanded for a better room. They then gave us the dugeon/​basement room which was slightly better because it had a remodeled bathroom but was equally decrepit and scary. There was a random, large window that looked out into this strange basement/​alley room that had a ton of trash and crap in it… I thought bums were living in there and about to come crashing through the window of our room and murder us in our sleep.
Never again. Next time I go to London, I’m shelling out big money to stay in a decent hotel.