More about The Selfridge - Thistle Hotel
Positive v Several negatives
by A TripAdvisor Member
Having already booked a 3-night weekend break through a local travel agent, a visit to this web-site and its numerous negative reviews filled me with visions of a disappointing New Year experience. I should have paid little notice of the Prophets of Doom!
Despite the absence of my lovely wife, who was enjoying a Hen Party in Arran for a few days, a lonely weekend was made bearable in no small part because of the friendliness and competence of the Selfridge Hotel staff.
Reception was efficient and queries concerning strange credit card arrangements answered promptly and the Single Executive Room,while hardly spacious, was well-maintained and was more than adequate. Indeed within a few minutes of arriving a chambermaid soon put right a faulty remote control.
Breakfast on the three mornings of my stay was well-presented,with a good choice of Continental and Full English options. The tables were clean and more importantly all staff were welcoming and cheerful.
Well done and certainly good value for the location. I would not hesitate in booking another stay here nor in recommending the Selfridge to friends or family.
Wonderful Stay
by TripAdvisor Member DJM13
We stayed at the Thistle Selfridge over the weekend, my husband, 8 year old son and myself.
The hotel is ideally situated, staff were very friendly and helpful. Particularly when we arrived to check in half an hour earlier than stated.
Breakfast was good, we were seated quickly and politely.
The only real problems encountered were rude guests who seem to delight in making the lives of the staff a misery.
Please and thank you go a long way no matter what nationality.
Neat Japanese Clothing and Housewares
by mariocibelli about MUJI
Cool Japanese shop with inexpensive home furnishings and clothing. Not what you will find at Conrans, BHS or Ikea.
There are locations all over London. LOCATIONS:
CARNABY STREET
41 Carnaby Street, London.
W1V 1PD
Tel: 020-7287-7323
Opens Mon-Wed & Fri-Sat 10:19:00, Thu 10:00-19:30, Sun 12:00-18:00
KENSINGTON
157 Kensington High Street, London.
W8 6SU
Tel: 020-7376-2484
Opens Mon-Fri 10:30-19:00, Sat 10:00-19:00, Sun 12:00-18:00
KINGS ROAD
118/118a Kings Road, London.
SW3 4TR
Tel: 020-7823-8688
Opens Mon-Sat 10:00-19:00, Sun 12:00-18:00
LONG ACRE
135 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London.
WC2E 9AD
Tel: 020-7379-0820
Opens Mon-Wed & Sat 10:30-19:30, Thu 10:30-20:00, Fri 10:00-19:30, Sun 12:00-18:00
OXFORD STREET
187 Oxford Street, London.
W1R 1AJ
Tel: 020-7437-7503
Opens Mon-Wed & Sat 10:00-20:00, Thu 10:00-20:00, Fri 10:00-19:30, Sun 12:00-18:00
SELFRIDGES, London.
Dept. No.3452, Ground Floor, 400 Oxford Street, London.
W1A 1AB
Tel: 020-7318-3452
Opens Mon-Fri 10:00-21:00, Sat 09:00-19:00, Sun 12:00-18:00
T.C.R.
Unit 4/5, 6-17 Tottenham Court Road, London.
W1 9DP
Tel: 020-7436-1779
Opens Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00, Sun 12:00-18:00
WHITELEYS
Unit D1&116, Whiteleys Shopping Centre, Queensway, Bayswater, London.
W2 4YN
Tel: 020-7792-8283
Opens Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00, Sun 12:00-18:00
Weather, clothing.
by mwe
Harrods can get a bit picky about scantily dressed or scruffy individuals entering its store.
London gets hot & sticky in June, July & August. The heat from London's buildings, roads etc. can trigger heavy showers/thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Take an umbrella and/or raincoat/waterproof.
If you forget to pack something, or want to travel light, there are, of course, no shortage of clothing shops in London's West End. The pictured independent retailer, at the western end of Oxford Street (Marble Arch tube) does men's suits for a reasonable £79.99. These are made in China, rather than the £400+ Italian suits in nearby department stores like Selfridges.
London does not get excessively cold, but sweaters, coats, gloves, etc. are a must from November to April. London's only gets about 25 inches of rain a year, but the weather can be unreliable/unpredictable: you'll need to pack an umbrella/raincoat/waterproof just in case. The sun sets in London before 4pm in December & doesn't rise before 8am from mid-December to mid-January. The buildings aren't that tall by New York City standards, but are tall enough to keep the sun off a lot of central London streets in Autumn & Winter.
You'll need 400-speed film in December: so you can get good pictures of Christmas lights & streets busy with Christmas shoppers/shops at around 4pm. London's weather.
Snow is a rarity in Winter, it's almost non-existent before Christmas & rarely exceeds a half-inch 'dusting' on about 2 days a month in January, February & March, plus a further 2 or 3 days of flurries in these months.
Average daytime maximum temperatures:
Jan & Feb = 7C/45F.
March = 9C/48F.
April = 14C/57F.
May =18C/64F.
June = 23C/73F.
July & August = 24C/75F.
September = 22C/72F.
October = High teens C/60sF.
November = Low teens C/50sF.
December = 9C/48F.
try to swing a cat
by A TripAdvisor Member
If you have a cat do not swing it. we had to get out of our house in london because of building work, we wanted reasonably priced accommadation but this was not cheap. The rooms were cold and SO SMALL. the decor sent us crazy.It does have a fantastic central london location, but so oppresive.
I really object to thin tablet soap for £150.00 per night. There are no views from the rooms, we would have gone stir crazy if we were ther for more than two days. A last resort!
Don't go
by TripAdvisor Member uk4
The most appaling experience of all time. Pre-visit e-mails ignored, room not ready at 2pm check-in, tried to fob me off at 3:30 with a urine smelling standard room when exec booked - "we won't charge you extra sir", called it a deluxe room when the person's colleauge said no such room existed, you had to get out of the bed by crawling to the end as there was no room each side, every visit to check in was a 15 minute queue - at one stage it was 30 minutes. Finally checked in at 4.30pm. Lock wouldn't work - took two visits.
Dirty smelly room, punctured my foot on a hair clip in the carpet. no wine, flowers, fruit, bath robes included when they were a part of the deal - and not provided when requested. This was an "anniversary visit" Left 06:30 am the following morning and went home having cancelled second night. The one rating is too high. The hotel sign said it all "Selfri" with the rest of the bulbs not replaced. This place is unmanaged and they do not care as they're full with people (like me until now) who do not take advice from these reviews.
Do not under any circumstances go here except out of morbid curiosity to see how bad it can get and what a hotel is like when it doesn't have a manager.
Wouldn't even call it a 1 star!
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed there in the summer and it was the most poky, horrible hotel I have ever stayed in. The rooms were old, small and a tiny desk fan for airconditioning!!!
Breakfast was awful.
Extremely overpriced and def not a four star hotel!
Tired Hotel
by TripAdvisor Member vickyf74
I stayed at the Thistle for 2 nights - i can imagine it was an impressive hotel 20 years ago but the decor was looking tired, carpets were threadbare in the cornes and even though my room was non smoking the walls & ceiling had a yellowy look about them. The hair dryer looked like something from the 70's and the shower dripped constantly. The bar closed at 11pm and it took us over 30 minutes to locate a night porter & another 15 for him to come back with the drinks. The breakfast was very mediocre. The best thing about the hotel was the location - just off oxfor street so the shopping was excellent.
A Sad & Neglected Hotel
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed at the Selfridge for 5 days in December 04 and were very disappointed. The hotel appeared neglected and the staff were either unhelpful, patronising or outright rude. I imagine the hotel was once impressive but I assume due to a lack of investment in the infrastructure and staff education, the hotel is now a total embarrassment. Here are some of our complaints.
Despite arriving on time our room was not ready and so we had to wait for one to be prepared.
Two bulbs in the room did not work and were not replaced when asked.
The rooms were far too hot; we understand that the air-conditioning has not worked for some time. We found it almost impossible to sleep and when we mentioned this we were advised to open the window. The noise from the traffic in Baker Street makes this impractical.
We booked a table in the restaurant on New Years Eve and were told one hour before the sitting that we had been given wrong information regarding the menu and price. (From approx £60 to £120)
The room (An executive double on the fourth floor) had peeling wallpaper and holes in the plasterwork.
I am amazed that the hotel is classed as a four star. Please read the genuine reviews listed here and avoid this sad hotel.
Thought it would be better!
by A TripAdvisor Member
Decided to take weekend shopping trip and although usually stay at the Raddison is Portman Square thought would try this hotel, will however not be making that mistake again, okay if you want to be in what is possible the smallest and most claustrophobic room I have ever been in, the worst breakfast I have ever eaten, what there was of it! and being woken 4 times during the night with the fire alarm going off and no one having a clue what was going on god knows what would have actually happened if there had been a real fire in the place what a shambles, although we did get an apology in the form of a note stuck in the lift the next morning! Anyway needless to say will be going back to my old haunt the Raddison at least will not feel like may get burnt to a crisp in the night which would be warmer than the breakfast may I add....
Photos
Captain Kidd Pub - London
Interior (2)
Wizard of Oz theme at Harrods
Night view from Tate Modern
Forum Posts
getting to Selfridge's from Heathrow T3
by dautcalm
Hi,
I'm arriving on the morning of Saturday August 12th, I'll have one large suitcase, what's the best route to Bond Street tube station, should I take the train to Paddington and transfer to the tube, or attempt the tube all the way? Or even a bus????? Is there even tube access to Bond?
Much appreciated
RE: RE: getting to Selfridge's from Heathrow T3
by bobinalong
Well hopefully there won't be to many more days like this one and so far the bakerloo and jubilee lines are not actually affected so you can do it by tube from paddington (via baker street).
I wouldn't bother with the bus unless you really need to save a quid (thats 1 english pound to you!)
But a cab from paddington isn't too far to go that it'll cost the earth, and if your case is heavy, after a long flight, with the jet lag and everything maybe you should treat yourself...!! depending on where your going from bond street you might have a walk from the tube too..
RE: RE: getting to Selfridge's from Heathrow T3
by bobinalong
Why are you going to selfridges with a large suitcase anyway? Planning a lot of shopping?
RE: RE: getting to Selfridge's from Heathrow T3
by dautcalm
i'm staying at the hotel - silly
RE: RE: getting to Selfridge's from Heathrow T3
by bobinalong
Do you have to wait till the store closes to use the beds?
RE: RE: getting to Selfridge's from Heathrow T3
by dautcalm
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that explains the rock bottom room rate
RE: getting to Selfridge's from Heathrow T3
by 1debs
Definitely take the Heathrow Express to Paddington but get a cab to the hotel. Bond Street tube is a nightmare on Saturday's because it's full of tourists and not commuters. If you are staying at Selfridge's Hotel then the cab fare will be peanuts! In fact, the Heathrow Express will cost considerably more!
Regards
Debs
RE: RE: getting to Selfridge's from Heathrow T3
by 1debs
In addition to my earlier answer, why not call Selfridge's Hotel and ask whether they have a car service between LHR and the hotel. Weigh up the price of that - if they do - and the total cost of public/taxi transport. Hey, travelling round London is always best done in style!
Debs
What is a good Central Area to stay?
by V102377
Hello there!
My boyfriend and I are traveling to London late November. It's our first trip and we're staying for four nights. I am currently searching for hotels... some of the better values I have found are for staying in Baywater. Is this a good central area? Central to pubs/restaurants? What areas would you suggest?
Thanks!
Re: What is a good Central Area to stay?
by christine.j
Hi, Bayswater is a very good area to stay in London.You are close to Kensington Garden and Hyde Park, there are two tube stations, a shopping mall and it's within walking distance to Paddington Station with the Heathrow Express. Lots of Hotels there, too.
If you like to walk, it's a walk through the park and you're in Kensington and it's a short walk to Marble Arch.
Enjoy your stay.
Christine
Re: What is a good Central Area to stay?
by ugio
i've been in london twice and i would definately recommend the selfridge hotel, just beside selfridges in oxford street.very good and close to everything you would like to see during your first visit.it's not too expensive either.very convenient!try to search the net for special offers.
Re: Re: What is a good Central Area to stay?
by bethanynights
I was just in Bayswater a week and a bit ago and its a pretty good area. Queensway is a very busy shopping route with tons of restaurants, though I didn't eat at them, and the Queensway tube which is Central Line is just a minutes walk from the Baywater tube which is Circle and District lines, very handy for getting around.
Re: What is a good Central Area to stay?
by MagicMixer
Hi
just a WARNING.....there lots and lots of really stinking lousy small London hotels, which you really should avoid.
My advice: Look around the net and then check at this site
www.tripadvisor.com
where you can find travellers reviews on most hotel all over the world.
Cheers Magic Mixer
Re: What is a good Central Area to stay?
by Padderz
Bayswater is where alot of the small(ish) B&B's are. Good location not far from the West End but just be careful that you choose a good one.
Sign in with Facebook
