| Hotel Rating: |   | | Satisfaction: |   | | Reviews: 5 | Photos: 1 | | 45 - 51 Buckingham Gate |
 | London Crowne Plaza London St James Reviews | 1 - 5 of 5 |  |
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 | Crowne Plaza London St James: Great Location
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 Courtyard of Cronw Plaza
Buckingham Gate by LisaMJ
The rooms a a little less modern than anticipated after seeing the lobby (as I usually like modern hotels), although my mother described it as quaint English style - so if thats what you are after you may like it. It has everything you need, and is spotless, but it was maybe a little 'English' for my liking as opposed to International.
One plus was that our standard room no. 558 had a door opening onto a balcony, where we overlooked the pretty central courtyard with fountain. I imagine on a summers day this would be lovely.
The bathroom is spotless, marble, with great shower. In comparison with my parents rooms next door, our bathroom was smaller but he bedroom bigger, and vice versa for my parents. I personally didn't class the room as small at all. There was a lounge chair, coffee table, 2 bedside tables, a desk, TV with about 10 channels, and mirrored bar alcove, with plenty of room for the 2 of us.
The hotel apparently has a gym, although because we were only there one night we didn't use it. There is also a sauna and jacuzzi but no pool. Also within the hotel are 3 restaurants, and 2 bars. The bar we have visited many times before on previous trips is Zanders, which has the longest bar in Europe. Expect to pay a good £20 for a round, the same applies to the Hampton bar inside the hotel, where a Baileys, 2 whisky & Cokes and a Mai Tai cocktail were £28.
Victoria tube station was baout 5-7 mins walks, past several cafes, cash points and if you must, a Mcdonalds & Burger King - all around the Victoria area.
St James Park tube station is closer, although we didn't use that one.
The best thing for me was the location. It's not too far from the tube, it's on Buckingham gate which always feels very 'London' to me, and you are only 2 mins walk from the Queens house so that can't be bad.
One of the best parts was getting off at Green Park tube station, and walking through the park, past the palace and then to the hotel, in total only a 15 minute walk.
As a general rule, I really woulnd't worry which area of London you stay in, as long as it's relatively safe, and you are near a tube station, then you are sorted.
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| Crowne Plaza London St James: Just Terrible
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My wife and I travel to London and stay in the city two – three times per year. We love the central / convenient location of the Crown Plaza, St. James and have had a number of positive experiences over the past 5 -6 years.
This past visit, (22 – 24 September), was absolutely terrible.
The problems began at check-in:
- two very inexperienced young women (with no apparent supervision) at the check-in desk
- our room (booked on their internet site) only had a double sized bed; despite the fact that the internet site referenced a “queen sized” bed
- when we complained about the size of the bed and the mis-representation of the internet description, the front desk clerk told us “this happens all the time with Americans” (!!)
- we were then moved to a room with two double beds pushed together (room 229)
- while larger, this room was old, in a terrible state of repair (cracked tile, door), was very dirty (carpets stained, odd stains on the walls), was positioned on the property such that we couldn’t log on to the internet, was hot (…and the air conditioning didn’t work)
- daily newspapers we ordered at check in didn’t arrive
- “complementary” water bottle in room was already opened (creepy) and top replaced
- on day of departure, we discovered we were only provided ONE TOWEL (for two people)
- in addition, on day of departure, the apparent “supervisor” knocked repeatedly on our door asking “when we were going to leave” the hotel!!!
- No member of the hotel staff was a native English speaker – which made communication difficult; and, I believe, was used by the hotel to avoid having to deal with our issues
- (Conveniently) the front desk did not have any customer feedback forms; no customer feedback forms in the room either (surprise, surprise)
- breakfast was incredibly expensive; poorly stocked; and as above, no member of staff spoke English – other than to ask repeatedly if we’d completed their room charge form !!!
Absolutely the worst visit we’ve ever had to a Crown Plaza property. Theme: HotelPrice: US$180 and up » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than averagePhone: 248.990.5195Directions: Near Buck Palace and St. James' Park
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| Crowne Plaza London St James: Not as good as you might think
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I stayed here on a Friday and Saturday night in late September 2006 on business.
Would I stay here again? Er, no.
Why not? Well, at £179/night I thought that the carpets in the hallway really shouldn't be as tatty as they were (the foyer of course is spotless), that the elevators should actually work to save me lugging baggage and laptop up three flights of stairs, and that it ought to have some decent sound insulation between walls/windows, given that it's a 4 start hotel (allegedly). It does not.
The man in the next room to me coughed, and I actually thought there was someone in the same room (I was in Room 315 in case you're interested). Noise travels down the hallways like you wouldn't believe, and if you're unfortunate enough (like me) to be situated on the front wall of the hotel facing the street, then you better pack earplugs if you plan on actually getting any sleep, because when the garbage men come round at whatever unearthly hour they did (on both nights that I stayed), you will get woken up when them empty 10,000 bottles (or what sounds like it) out of wherever it is they are emptying. A TraveLodge has better sound insulation.
Oh, and my (male) business colleague and I shared a room - a delight (not). It was a twin, but the beds were close enough so that if he mistook me for his wife in the night, we'd have been in a lot of trouble.
Ha!
The noise, the carpets, the elevators. Oh, and not forgetting the big, noisy bar attached onto the side of the hotel. But it is 5 minutes walk from Buck House and Jim's Park if that's what floats your boat. Otherwise - avoid. Usual overpriced London tat. Theme: HotelPrice: US$180 and up » Currency ConverterComparison: more expensive than average
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