More about Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes London
How did Sherlock Holmes Hotel hurt my vacation? Let me count the ways
by A TripAdvisor Member
1) Public hair on the bed that I hadn't yet used. Got in late mid-August and my daughter and I were about to climb into bed around midnight when we pulled the duvet back and discovered pubic hair on the sheet. They sent someone up with new sheets except the sheets were too small and he was the night accountant who worked there two nights a week. He didn't know how to make a bed. I also had to ask for a new duvet cover, which he initially didn't bring. My daughter and i ended up having to make the bed with him and had to put two sheets end to end to cover the bed.
2) Ineptitude with attitude, especially among the staff of the front desk.
3) The concierge gave me the wrong schedule for the Tower of London tours when he sold me the tickets. He said they let people in up till five but that those inside could stay until 6. My daughter and I got there at 4:15 to discover that the doors close (meaning everybody out) at 5.
4)Don't keep their wordl Since we were arriving late Saturday evening, Iwas concerned we would get the dregs--the dark room looking at a brick wall. So I called the headquarters a month in advance to make sure that didn't happen. I was told I should call early on the day of arrival so that a good room could be allocated to me. I did and spoke to the front desk manager. When we got there, we got the small dark room with no headboard, a desk that almost blocked the way to the bathroom, and a bathroom with no hooks to hang the towels. And yes, the made bed with the pubic hair.
My friends' no smoking room had a cigarette butt in the toilet.
5) Lack of paperwork. They transferred me and the rest of my party (we had three rooms altogether) the next day---and the rooms were fine. One room was even an upgrade. The staff had put our bags in the different rooms and we were handed the key cards. But the folder the key cards were in didn't have our names. In fact, they had other people's names that were stricken out. When my friends checked out a day ahead of me, they found out that they were checked into my room and vice-versa. but we had no way of knowing we were in the wrong rooms because there was no paperwork. They were assured it didn't matter that the wrong names were on the receipt, but when I came down later in the day to check on my airport car reservation, I found out that my reservation had been canceled because the people in my room had "checked out." I was not in the system at all.
6) Service, no. Laziness, yes. It took me about 20 excruciating minutes to get the whole mess cleared up. I had to repeatedly give them my name and they repeatedly told me I had checked out. The front desk manager---the same one who assigned the lousy rooms in the first place--had known about the mix up but apparently didn't think it was necessary to correct it on the records or to inform me about it.
7) HOT, AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY. the air conditioner in our room was weak. It took them two days to figure our they couldn't do anything to fix the motor. On our last night they sent up a small desk fan.
8) ONLY ONE staffer, a concierge cum bell hop, seemed at all interested in providing service. When my daughter and I said so after he brought our bags to the airport limo, the driver of the limo wholeheartedly agreed, saying he heard the same sentiments from other guests.
9) DEFINITELY NOT A HOTEL OF QUALITY as they claim in a book left on the night table.
Sherlock's Bar & Grill, Baker Street Hotel Dining
by sue_stone about Sherlock's Bar & Grill
Sherlock's Bar & Grill is located on Baker Street, and is part of the Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes Hotel. You enter the restaurant via the bar area. The bar is a nice place for a drink as they sometimes have live music. Be warned though - drinks are expensive here - you will get the same drink a little cheaper if you order it in the restaurant.
I had dinner at Sherlock's one evening with a friend. To be honest, I wasn't expecting too much from the place so was pleasantly surprised by the sophisticated décor and friendly service. It was fairly quiet though which affected the atmosphere a bit. A couple of the starters did sound tempting, but we both have a sweet tooth so didn't want to fill up too early. Main course for me was the Poached Scottish salmon fillet, with wilted spinach, asparagus and beurre blanc sauce. The ingredients were good quality, but the whole dish was just too bland - I had to add salt and I NEVER add salt to anything. My friend had the Sage and lemon veal piccata, with aubergine caviar, white asparagus and grain mustard sauce. This was nicely presented and appeared to be tasty.
Desserts sampled were the Pineapple and mango tatin with coconut ice cream, and the White and dark chocolate mousse with vanilla ice cream. Both looked great but weren't worth returning for.
Overall, it is a nice looking place and the food was ok, but nothing special enough IMHO for a return visit.
Great location!
by TripAdvisor Member mbv_2002
My husband and I stayed at the Sherlock Holmes Hotel for three nights. We arrived at 8:30 am after an overnight flight from the US, and hardly expected the hotel to have our room ready that early. We were pleasantly surprised to be able to check-in!
Another great aspect of the hotel is the location - right near the Baker St tube station. Just one tip- they charge you for housekeeping service, so if you don't want the extra charge you should put the 'do not disturb' sign on the door.
You should stay here!
by A TripAdvisor Member
I can't recommend this place enough. We enjoyed four wonderful nights at the Sherlock Holmes hotel. A great spot for our first trip to London.
For starters, the front desk was able to give us a room even though we arrived at 10 a.m. Rooms are modern, but comfortable with plenty of goodies. Hotel lounge appears to be a hip stop for locals -- and the bar stays open for guests long after the pubs close -- also concierge worked hard to get tickets to a sold out West End show.
Marylebone is a great location to stay, not too busy, but close enough to all the sights - the Baker Street tube stop is 2 minutes away. Recommend dinner at nearby Michael Moore's (it's named after the chef, not the filmmaker).
I Will Be Going Back
by TripAdvisor Member derosa
I have to travel to London on business every month or so and am tired of staying in anonymous corporate hotels. On a friend's recommendation I stayed recently at The Sherlock Holmes Hotel and found it to be brilliant. My room was clean and well appointed and the staff were friendly and helpful. The front bar was excellent and had a mixture of local people and tourists - instead of one or the other which is so usual in London. I actually enjoyed my stay instead of viewing it as a place to spend the night.
Every time I go to London now I ask to stay in either The Sherlock Holmes or The Pelham, both of which have good clean well appointed rooms with friendly and welcoming staff.
They are both well located for tube, restaurants etc etc.
our stay here was excellent
by TripAdvisor Member CaliforniaMarsha
We stayed in 3 different hotels in England and this was our best experience and we paid less here than anywhere else. The airconditioning was welcome during our summer stay and the hotel was extremely accomodating in giving us a bigger room when our daughter came for a night.
The bar is fun and the bar food was great.
STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS
by A TripAdvisor Member
I stayed at this hotel about a year ago, and thought it was unique, quaint and well-situated.
I stayed again in August '04 and was shocked at the turnaround. Not only did the place seem shabby, but corners were cut everywhere I looked. To give an example, I had one piece of paper left on the writing pad in my room. Despite the fact that I wrote on it and moved it next to the phone, rather than replace it with a new pad, the maid put the scribbled-upon sheet back in the pad's place.
There is NO business center in this hotel, and even in case of emergency, the staff has been instructed to not allow any of its guests to use the front desk printers, even if we offer to pay!
The final blow came when I reviewed my bill after leaving the hotel. Shame on me signing a bill that I hadn't closely inspected, but they overcharged me to the tune of $80/a night for the second two nights I was there, despite a reservation guarantee.
Park Plaza hotels ought to dump this shabby hole in the wall from its lineup.
Surpassed expectations
by TripAdvisor Member jkbrooklyn
I was more than a little anxious given the wildly varying reviews of the Sherlock Holmes, but having just returrned from a five day stay there, I can only assume that the harshly negative reviews must have come from people with limited experience of the London hotel room marketplace. As a former resident of the city and frequent visitor on business and leisure, I know how few choices there are in mid-range hotels and the Sherlock Holmes was a very pleasant surprise. It is not a five star hotel (or even quite a legitimate four), but for the price (@ 80GBP/night as part of a Expedia pkg) it is a very nice solid three star, and one with some style. My room was comfortable, spacious, and clean; the staff was very accomodating (accepting pkgs and holding them for my arrival, getting me into a room early after a long flight, etc), and the location (5 mins walk Baker St tube) is absolutely perfect if you have business around Regent's Park/Marleybone/Fitzrovia. Skip the overpriced, underwhelming restaurant -- there are much better choices nearby, especially for breakfast -- but the little lobby bar is a nice place to meet for a drink before heading out in the evening. Compared to what you typically get for the price (outdated, cramped, no services), the Sherlock Holmes far surpassed my expectations. Recommended.
view on airco
by TripAdvisor Member erps kwerps
nice room, but no possibility of opening the window. View on massive , very noisy airco installation in the patio. No double glazing. T.i. double windows but no noisecontrol. AC or heating were out of order. To hot in the room.
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