Mercure London Kensington Hotel

Absolutely superb, I can't find a fault at all. The rooms are a tad small but who needs a huge amount of room in a hotel room anyway? Everything is fit perfectly into the room with all the facilities you'd expect of a hotel room with the added bonus of a bath AND shower - something I was very pleased about! The bed is probably the comfiest bed I have ever slept on and the view from our room is brilliant. The staff are excellent, very friendly and very helpful. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

We had a two night stay here. We arrived early from Heathrow and hoped for early check in and emailed in advance, but it wasn’t available when we arrived at ~6:30am, but I realise that’s extra early! My partner’s gold membership allows us to early check in from 10am, but we were told to come at 12noon. We were able to leave our bags. There was no shower facilities, which was a shame as we’d come from Australia and felt a bit smelly! We were able to change in some bathrooms though. When we came back to check in, we did get an upgrade from our original booking which is nice, though not sure exactly what to. The reception staff were all very friendly. The bed was very big and comfy and we slept well. In the fridge there was complimentary water which was a nice touch. We were on the 6th floor and it was quiet. The elevator is just large enough for two people and two suitcases. The room was rather compact and it showed some signs of age/wear and tear, particularly the bathroom. The shower is over a bath, and relies on a shower curtain which was white but had an unpleasant stain. The side of the toilet you can see from the shower had a big water stain. One day we were given a hand towel with two holes. When they cleaned our room, they forgot to give us more shampoo, but I managed to catch the cleaner in the corridor. So, whilst it didn’t feel very luxurious, it was functional. I don’t think it’s a four star, but a 3 star hotel. The location of the hotel is good and we walked easily to the tube and quickly got around. We chose not to have breakfast at the hotel (it’s not free as google maps says) and found some cute cafes in the area such as Muffin Man which was very English!

Location great, staff attentive and helpful, breakfast was good but rooms were tired and in need of renovation. First room bathroom had not be cleaned and the vanity was stained and had old cigarette burn marks on it. We moved to another room which was cleaner but Air con was not working and after maintenance fixed it we were woken to a waterfall coming from the ceiling at 3am. This kind of thing shouldn’t happen. Please update your rooms, people want to feel at home and expect quality from a four star hotel. Our room should have been better. We were given a bottle of wine and apologies and we appreciated the gesture but stress caused having to constantly complain made the experience a not so good one.