Melville Hotel

The entrance hall looked very nice, but things went downhill after that. Our room on the third floor was down a small, dark hallway where the ceiling lights didn't work, so you couldn't see to use the coded door. Half the lights in the room were out too. The heating didn't come on until 7pm, the window pane was cracked with a wooden stick wedged into the frame, and some shutter slats were missing. There were no teaspoons for making drinks, and the walls were dusty. In the ensuite, only one ceiling light worked, the electric towel rail was dead, and there was no floor mat or sink plug. The sink drained very slowly and the tap moved when turned on. The shower door and glass came right off their runner. At £155, it wasn't worth it. Fixing these issues would make it a nicer room. The location was ideal for our evening out, but I would NOT recommend it.

The room in the cellar was horrible. Its walls bulged with cracks, the wallpaper was torn, and there was rust in the shower and toilet room. The reception rooms shown on the website look up to date, so don't trust the room photos. It's suitable only for one person, and then only if you're used to camping and YMCA-level comfort. Kings Cross is an excellent location, just a two-minute walk away.

The location is perfect and the rooms were okay value for money, but they aren't maintained well and we felt completely ignored as guests. We stayed four nights in January while extensive room renovations were going on. The noise made it hard to sleep or relax in the morning, and it felt like being on a construction site. Even so, I'd recommend the hotel :)

The location is quiet for such a central area and close to three mainline stations, but the hotel was expensive for what it offered. I wouldn't recommend it, and I was too exhausted to complain at the time, so I just went to bed. The room was tiny, hot, and claustrophobic, with dated, over-the-top decor. It felt like it was trying to be funky and failing. The Georgian building would look better pared back so its character could come through. Though the room was charged as a double, it felt like a single with a double bed squeezed in. Someone else we spoke to also said their room was tiny. I was told the other half of the hotel, which combines two houses, was better quality, but I won't come back to check. We had left our bags with the concierge at 2pm. When we returned for our first night, no one was at the desk, so we assumed the bags were in our room. We couldn't get in. The evening number got us the concierge, who said our bags were in a different room at the very top of the hotel. I'd booked a first-floor room because I have arthritis, so being sent up there worried me. He accused me of changing the room myself, was quite aggressive, and didn't apologize. The morning staff member was very nice and apologized for the night staff's rudeness. There was no breakfast, the outside garden was fake grass, and the front had half-dead trees and no disabled access. When we came back at 2pm to get our bags for the train home, we again couldn't get in because the front door was locked and no one was at the desk.