| Hotel Rating: |   | | Satisfaction: |    | | Reviews: 9 | Photos: 6 | | Scarsdale Place Kensington |
 | London Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington Reviews | 1 - 9 of 9 |  |
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 | Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington: Comfortable lodging-Kensington (Priceline)
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Most recent stay August 2008
I've stayed at the Copthorne Tara at least four times, all winning bids on Priceline for a 4* in Kensington, the most recent in August 2008 was $90 per night plus tax. I've seen a lot of bad reviews and maybe I've been lucky but I've never had a complaint while staying here. Perhaps it's not a 4* hotel but believe me it's a heck of a lot better than what you can get by paying $100 per night without using Priceline.
I'm not a very demanding traveler, I like for my hotel room to be clean, the bed to be comfortable, the hotel convenient to sites or to public transportation and to be quiet at night. The Copthorne Tara fulfilled all of those requirements.
Check in was quick, maybe 10 minutes. The room was prepaid and I didn't have any charges so we slipped our key in a box on the front desk on the way out. We requested rooms with 2 beds in them and the request was noted in their computer and honored.
The hotel is in a nice residential neighborhood within walking distance of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, the High Street Kensington tube station with access to the circle and district lines was no more than a 5 minute walk, there was a Marks & Spencer food hall, a Tesco Metro and Whole Foods within a couple of blocks and a Waitrose within about 10 minute walk to stock up on breakfast supplies. A lot of restaurants within walking distance including branches of Wagamama, Strada, and Giraffee and a couple of the Maroush chain-Randa and Ranoush Juice.
The room had a hair dryer, a/c and a small refrigerator which is great for storing drinks, yogurt, milk, etc. I believe there's an ironing board and there's a teapot and tea in the room.
I've stayed in both twin rooms and double rooms, most of the rooms have separate faucets for hot and cold but we had one that had both out of the same faucet. The rooms are decent sized, for a few nights we added a cot to one of the rooms and had to pull the small table out.
Toiletries are shampoo, bath gel and bar soap. Shower pressure good, plenty of hot water and decent towels.
Some of the rooms face the tube station which is above ground at that point and although we could hear it, the noise wasn't terribly loud. It's a very popular hotel with tour groups and airline personnel.
Internet access in the lobby for £1 for 20 minutes, more convenient than running down to the Easy Internet cafe down the street.
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| Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington: The Great Hotel Next Door
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 View from room in hotel by RaVenSymPhoNie
The hotel staff is great, and provide a place to store your luggage after you check out if your flight doesn't leave for a few hours. There are Internet terminals in the lobby for hire, and there is always a man at the door who will hail your cab for you.
FYI, this hotel is situated over the tube tracks, so you may get a little noise. It didn't bother me, though.
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| Copthorne Tara Hotel London Kensington: Shabby "4-star" hotel
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***PHOTOS COMING SOON***
We stayed at Copthorne Tara Hotel in January 2007. This large (833 rooms!) hotel is situated in Kensington, close to High Street Kensington tube station. The hotel is situated in a quiet residential area - but the shops and cafes of Kensington High Street are just a 5-minute walk away. One side of the hotel overlooks the tube line - which might be an issue for light sleepers.
Check-in and especially check-out was very chaotic. Service was somewhat lacking - our booking confirmation stated that broadband was included in our room rate, but we had to argue with the receptionists for quite a while before they finally agreed. (WiFi is not included in most room rates, and cost £20 for 24 hours.)
Our double room was quite small, and most definitely in need of urgent, serious renovation. (The photos on the hotel website must be quite heavily photoshopped!) The carpet was stained and dirty, and the furniture very, very dated - but the double bed was quite comfortable. Amenities include a TV and a fridge. The bathroom was pretty shabby - the whole room could use a good scrub, and both the sink and the bathtub looked ancient (and had separate hot and cold taps, which is quite common in England - an English peculiarity, that...;o). Our room also had a funny smell which seemed to come from the aircon.
Our room rate did not include breakfast - but there are lots of cafes on Kensington High Street.
The Copthorne Tara is marketed as a 4-star hotel - which it definitely is not. I would not recommend this hotel, unless you get a very, very good rate.
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