More about Umi London
Decent
by A TripAdvisor Member
The Westminster is not a dump, but it is not the Ritz either. Basically, you are getting what you pay for.
The rooms are on the small side, but they are comfortable and fairly clean. My only complaint was a weird odor, I wouldn't doubt it if the furnaces were rather moldy.
The complimentary breakfast was a nice bonus. Although it was nothing special, (just juice, bread, milk, cereal, coffee, tea, yogurt) it was a nice start to the morning.
The staff was friendly and helpful, and the location is great in a quiet area of Notting Hill Gate overlooking a courtyard.
Comfortable, nice-looking, does the job.
Thanks, Westminster Hotel!
Average
by A TripAdvisor Member
This hotel looks ok when you get there but like most hotels they always try to make the reception area look good in a hope that when you arrive the rooms will be the same but they are not. The rooms are pretty average and in somerespects are very dated however there are a few signs that the management is endevouring to update partd of it.
The corridors are really outdated and they look it, the wiring isnt hidden in any way its just clipped to the calls and painted over a number of times.
The floor boards creek no matter where you step and the floors can be uneven in places.
The Staff on reception are really friendly and helpful and deserve top marks.
The housekeeping staff however barge into your room after one knock on the door and dont give you time to respond, they also make as much noise as possible for some unknown reason as they go from room to room, moving equipment shouting to their colleagues in some cases and totally ignoring the do not disturb sign, if in fact later in the day the sign is still on the door they will still knock and when they cant get in they will strat ringing your telephone - this is really stupid.
The hotel say they face a quite garden area in bayswater, however the gardens and parking next to it cannot be used by the hotel, in addition the residents round about will play lots of loud music till the early hours depending on the weather conditions outside and the time of year. This can be further problematic when there is no air conditioning in the rooms (which get very hot) and you have to open the windows permanantly to try and get the air moving. The windows are the original sash type and often drop when u least expect it. There is no double glazing either.
The bathroom if you could call it that is a cupboard contaning a shower and a toilet. If your a big person you havnt a hope in hell of getting in there. The cupboard is that small there is no room for a sink so that has been placed in the main bedroom area.
The wardrobe is small, an ok size but contains only 4 hangers not exactly enough for todays traveller. There is an ironing board and iron provided which is really useful.
There is an extra charge for using the inroom safe deposit box which is a bit naff, that should be a service within the daily rate not an addition.
The internet access for laptop users is £7.5 for a 24 hour period however be warned that the 24 hour period runs from mid day to mid day and mid day to this hotel is 11.00 so if you buy it at 10.00 you will only get an hour - - pathetic.
Overall the hotel is good but as previous users have said you get what you pay for however with this hotel you should get alot more for the price.
Sub Standard
by A TripAdvisor Member
Warm water runs from the cold top
Rooms are hot with no air conditioning
Noise from the surrounding streets is appauling (loud music from residents to the early hours)
Poor maintenance of rooms
Showers run at a trickle
No mineral water provided in rooms even though the website indicates this is provided - perhaps it evaporated in the heat!
Cleaning staff make to much noise and have no consideration for guests or do not disturb signs.
Walls are not very thick between rooms you can sometimes hear next doors TV!!
All the rooms are in serious need of some updating.
Excellent Location
by A TripAdvisor Member
We were looking for an older English hotel in a great location with friendly staff and we certainly found it with the Westminster Hotel.
The Hotel is older so there was a musty odor in the stairwells, but it has elevators that can be used to avoid this. There is a trick to flushing the toilet but the bathrooms are very clean and if you're on the fifth floor, they are very large and have a tub. The bathrooms on the second floor were small and only had a shower.
The staff was VERY friendly and eager to help us with directions, bus tours, etc. There is a breakfast room downstairs that served cereal, breads, fruit, yogurt, and coffee. There is a small bar upstairs.
The Bayswater Tube Station is a very short walk away and the neighborhood is surprisingly quiet for being in such a great location. We went exploring the first day and ended up in Kensington Gardens... and eventually Oxford Street. It was a nice walk, although we just took the tube back to Bayswater from Bond Street.
There is a mall just around the corner, complete with Starbucks, Burberry and a movie theater. There are many cafe's and restaurants all within a couple of blocks. Lots of souvenier shops and many western fast food places like KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, etc. all within a few blocks.
As I said... Excellent Location.
Only good for the location
by TripAdvisor Member whitSF
Do not be persuaded by the attractive website, the only reason to stay here is be close to Notting Hill for a reasonable price. The staff was sweet but incompetent, the non-smoking “grove rooms” were tiny and still smelled of smoke, the beds were lumpy, the shower very small with little water pressure... There are much better places to stay in London.
Good budget hotel
by TripAdvisor Member mmk8a
This hotel was very nice for what it is...a budget hotel. It is conveniently located near two tube stops (about 5 minutes walking from Bayswater or 10 minutes walking from Paddington). The breakfast buffet was large and diverse. The single room was small, but was better furnished than many rooms I've stayed in in Europe: TV, desk, wardrobe, even a balcony. The staff was helpful and friendly.
With that said, I agree with some of the complaints of other reviewers: I could only get warm water out of the sink, there was no A/C, and I could hear other guests walking up and down the hallways. But for 40 pounds a night in central London, you really can't be that picky. The hostel I stayed in earlier in the week cost more than that!
All things considered, I thought this was a very good value for the money, and would stay there again.
Do Not Stay At the Westminster
by TripAdvisor Member miag84
I stayed at the Westminster with a friend over the summer and would never recommend this hotel to anyone. When we first arrived our room was not yet ready so we decided to walk around a bit (even though we were both exhausted from our long flight) when we got back to the hotel the room was still not ready so they then gave us a room on the fifth floor. Their elevator only goes to the fourth and we had a lot of luggage with us and they had no one there who could bring our luggage up so we refused to take the room and opted to wait until our room was available. Next they gave us a room on the second floor but it just so happened that our room was the only one on the floor that had a flight of stairs leading down to it. I especially did not find this funny because I had made it clear that we did not want to lug our luggage up and down a flight of stairs.
Finally we were able to get a room but I will never again return to this hotel. Not only because of the rude staff but because the rooms were awful. I understand that in Europe rooms are smaller and old but that wasn’t the problem, the room was dirty and the bathroom was worse, the bed was uncomfortable, you could hear everything from the streets at night, and you could hear people on the floor above walking around.
London is wonderful city filled with plenty of decent places to stay. Do yourself a favor and do not stay here.
best London Hotel I have stayed in
by TripAdvisor Member andy_scot_uk
I was not looking forward to staying here after some of the other reviews but at £35 a night I thought I could bear it. What a pleasant surprise! Staff very helpful and friendly, excellent breakfast with fruit, yoghurts, cornflakes, meats, cheese, croissants and English option ( £3 more). Room spacious with flat screen TV, desk and clean. Even more amazing was an iron and ironing board in wardrobe - I was there on business and this was great. I checked at reception and they said only some rooms had the ironing board.Internet access downstairs and a bar. Locally there are loads of restaurants from chains like Subway to ethnic. Single woman may feel a bit nervous is some of the surrounding streets which have budget hostels so stick to main road and access hotel from there. There was never a problem but my wife gets nervous as we are not used to the big city.
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