Gem Strathmore Hotel

Comfy bed. Excellent location. Easy walk from Gloucester St tube. Good sized room. We booked an executive double. No air conditioning but not a problem in May. Staff super helpful. Small slow lift...but hey at least we didn't need to haul luggage up stairs. We would stay here again. Sth Kensington is lovely with lots nearby.

Overall, the staff was friendly. Checking in and out was easy and super quick. The location of the hotel was amazing. It was a 5 to 7 minute walk to Gloucester Road tube station, a couple of grocery stores, several restaurants, cute shops, and attractions such as the Natural History Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and Royal Albert Hall. The dinner options at Earl's (the restaurant located within the hotel) were tasty and reasonably priced. While there were several positives about the hotel, the negatives are what will prevent me from staying at this location again. The room was a lot smaller than I had expected (we stayed in a double twin room). It's not the worst thing in the world, but with two people and suitcases (1 per person), there wasn't much space to move around. The beds were hard and uncomfortable, making it difficult to sleep. The rooms do not have any air conditioning, so the room was hot at night, adding to the sleeping difficulties. You can open the windows and are provided with a small fan, but it didn't help much. We had issues with water draining properly from the tub. When we showered, the water drained so slowly that the tub would fill with water; it was like you were taking a shower and a bath at the same time. This issue was brought to the attention of hotel staff three times and was never resolved during our 7 night stay. Each time, we were told that maintenance would be notified and asked to look into the issue, but the issue was never fixed. If you have mobility issues, you may want to steer clear of this hotel. There is no ramp to get up and into the entrance/lobby of the hotel. The elevator (or lift) is slow and small; you can fit 2 people in it comfortably, 4 if you squish. The sides of the bathtub are really high, making it a little difficult to step in and out of if you are short or have mobility issues (I am unsure if they offer walk-in showers). It may seem like an odd complaint to some, but there was no cold tap water for drinking. The best we could get was luke warm, which would have been fine if there was an ice machine, but there wasn't one. Lastly, the breakfast at Earl's is a bit of a ripoff. The continental breakfast was £19.99 for a basic selection of cereal, fruit, deli meats, cheese, and pastries. If you want any items such as eggs, bacon, or sausages, it will cost you £ 24.99.

If I could provide a zero I would. The hotel staff blatantly lied stating they had air conditioned rooms. However when then reading a review from the same month it was clear the hotel was not air conditioned. I called back to ask a second time to which they said they needed to confirm if they did. When i challenged the employee to saying do you not know if your hotel has air con they stated the hotel does not have air con but this was something they were planning on doing. The manager then attempted to bully me into accepting a basement room promising this room was air conditioned. Initially the manger stated that they would refund the room if it was not. However when I asked for this in writing the manager stated that as we were accepting the basement room they would not offer any refund if the room was not acceptable on arrival. Due to the communication style of the hotel we did not feel comfortable staying at an establishment where hotel staff lie and bully their guests.