Imperial Court Suites

If you book well ahead and get a cheaper rate, it does the basic job: a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in. We stayed two nights after flying in from Norway for a concert, and had booked late, so the price was quite high for a lower end hotel. The lobby looks quite nice and luxurious, but the rooms tell a different story. There were odd stains on the wall by the bed that I’d rather not think about. Staff were friendly at both check-in and checkout. I also thought it was funny money to spend on having someone open the lobby door full time when the rooms aren’t kept to decent standards or cleaned properly. A bottom-end hotel in Norway costing half as much per night would still be miles ahead for cleanliness and interior standards. I know standards differ, though, so you can’t expect it to be as good as places elsewhere.

Good location, but there was no cleaning service. I still haven’t received my £200 deposit, 10 days after checking out.

The staff were kind, and for the price and location, to be honest, I think it’s fair. It’s a bit far from Paddington station, though Baywater and Queensway station are close. Check-in is at Hyde park International reception, which is open 24 hours, and there’s a 200GBP deposit. The basement room wasn’t so good. You can see outside, but there are lots of tools and other staff there. The space is good enough for one or two people. The top room was a bit small, but got lots of sunlight. The room itself isn’t so beautiful or new.

We got there at 1pm during the Hyde Park festival, which started at 2pm, but it took over an hour for them to assign us a room and give us the key. By then we’d missed the first act. The hotel didn’t communicate with us during the wait. When we finally got the key and opened the door, the room clearly wasn’t ready, despite what the images showed. There was a razor blade on the side too. Terrible experience.