Dreamtel London Kensington

“A low cost option in an expensive city”

Before you arrive, remind yourself that you've chosen a comparatively low-cost option in a super expensive city, and adjust your expectations accordingly. Everything here is tiny. The corridors, the lift, the rooms, the staff's capacity to engage with guests, etc. The one exception was the towels … more

Before you arrive, remind yourself that you've chosen a comparatively low-cost option in a super expensive city, and adjust your expectations accordingly. Everything here is tiny. The corridors, the lift, the rooms, the staff's capacity to engage with guests, etc. The one exception was the towels which were bath sheet sized! Our triple room was triple weird. It was on the third floor and, on opening the door, you were greeted by about 10 descending stairs. It smelled musty and I didn't think I could stand it but got over it eventually. The bathroom was clean and modern but the room was very drab. It's right next to an overground train line so it's noisy but in a soothing kind of way. In short, I hated it when I arrived but was fine with it once I settle in. Juat a couple of minutes walk from Earl's Court tube and plenty of eateries including a Vietnamese restaurant right under the hotel.

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“Great location - average room”

Positives: Great location for sightseeing by foot and by the underground. Earls Court station is minutes away from the hotel. It is on the Piccadilly Line which runs from Heathrow Terminal 5. We walked to the Natural History and Science museums then used the underground to get around. Surrounding … more

Positives: Great location for sightseeing by foot and by the underground. Earls Court station is minutes away from the hotel. It is on the Piccadilly Line which runs from Heathrow Terminal 5. We walked to the Natural History and Science museums then used the underground to get around. Surrounding area had many places such as Greggs, couple of pubs/restaurants, Co-op Room was described as deluxe. Not sure about that (Room 307). It was small but functional, bed and pillows were comfortable,iron, fan and air con in the room. Tea/coffee facilities, complimentary bottle of water, TV, hairdryer, towels and toiletries including a little tube of toothpaste with toothbrush. Negatives: We asked the hotel via the booking.com request form if we could check in early as our flight landed at 10am (check in 2pm). The hotels reply was that they would try to accommodate this request but we didn't get a definitive answer. We arrived at the hotel just after 11am and asked again if we could check in early if the room was available. The receptionist confirmed the room was ready and we could check in early. We thought, great, but then he said any early check in before 2pm was £20 even though the room was ready. The bed height was ridiculous, and a bit of a struggle to get on it due to the fact that wooden planks had been attached to what we figured was a divan base without draws, to raise the bed. Some guests would probably need a step stool! Shower over the bath was adequate but the shower head holder would not stay in a usable position, and water was constantly running from the bath tap even when not in use. We reported both issues to reception and the maintenance guy said he'd take a look. We got back to the hotel room later that day and neither problem had been resolved. Went to reception to ask why the issues had not been sorted to be told that they didn't have the parts to repair them. Do they not have plumbers and hardware stores in London? Shower head holder not important, I tied the complimentary shower cap around the rail and holder.However, constant flow of water, not a drip, was running for the 3 days we stayed here with no attempt to rectify. So much for their request to save resources! As part of our booking, we included breakfast but had to have this confirmed by the hotel as Booking.com had said no meal plan included. Do NOT bother paying extra for the breakfast. It is provided by a restaurant underneath the hotel. Described as a continental breakfast, the choices were, some type of noodle dish one morning and rice with some kind of minced meat the next day, hard boiled eggs, baked beans, mini chicken sausages, all lukewarm. Cereals, fruit, yoghurts and pastries. Cheapest 'plastic' cheese and turkey ham that was on request - don't bother, and white bread for toast which was mouldy. We asked for some fresh bread and was basically told it was fresh as it was from the supermarket! If you paid on the day for this breakfast, they charged £15. There is a Greggs, McDonalds and KFC minutes away on Earls Court Road which provide much better value breakfasts. If your priority is location and somewhere to sleep then this 3*hotel is ideal

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