Thistle London Hyde Park Kensington Gardens

The rooms were comfortable and everything worked as expected, though there was hardly any hanging space in the cupboards and no drawers. We also really enjoyed the restaurant, especially breakfast, which had a large selection. The staff at Thistle Hotel Hyde Park were excellent and nothing felt like too much trouble. We’d planned a couple of days in the Capitol, and the location was a big plus, close to restaurants, shops, underground stations and pretty much everything else.

The best part of this hotel is the staff. Farhan and Jo at reception made my early check-in easy, Sarika and Nitin were cheerful while serving breakfast, and Thomas Kutty helped with luggage storage and checkout. I’m very grateful to them. The rooms were good, with a view of Kensington Garden, and the location was very convenient. Staff were efficient, helpful and friendly.

I was pretty frustrated when I went to reception because the air conditioning wasn’t working and the room was hot. I can’t say I was easy for them to deal with, but the receptionist called the manager over. I didn’t catch her name, though I think it started with K. She was an Eastern European lady and apologized for how uncomfortable the heat must have been. She calmly explained that they check the air conditioning regularly and wondered if the windows might have been left open. They had been. One of the maintenance team came to explain why that affected how well the air conditioning worked, so we realized it wasn’t the hotel’s fault. I was still really impressed by the manager’s patience and hospitality. She offered us cold drinks at the bar for free, and then offered breakfast on the house the next morning, saying they’d like to welcome us when we woke up feeling fresh. Bless her!

We started our honeymoon here, and it was such a lovely, accommodating stay. The place was clean and the staff were friendly. A special shout-out to the front desk, especially Pelin, who upgraded our room when she heard it was our honeymoon. Such a great start to the celebration. We’d definitely stay again.