Christmas At Copthorne Tara Hotel, Shannon Suite A&b

🗓️This review is based on our stay a year ago. 😊We went to London in December and the truth, for price and location, it was the most reasonable. When we arrived the pleasant surprise was that having made the reservation through Booking they gave us breakfast for free and even on the last day they gave us a Breakfast box (you have to order it in advance) with juice, biscuits and fruit because our flight was leaving very early. The room was fine, that's all. A bed, a bathroom and a TV, just what you need to rest. The appearance is a bit old but you can't ask for more for the price being in London. 📍😊The location is excellent. It's in the heart of Kensington. It is a real pleasure to leave the hotel and be able to walk around and enjoy the neighbourhood and get to Hyde Park. The underground is nearby and you can find some supermarkets and restaurants. 😞The downside was that the heating was old and didn't work. The first night we were a bit cold. We told reception and they came to fix it. And they did, they fixed it but there was not much warm air coming out.

Context: 1 night stay Mid March Twin room 7th floor Do not be distracted by the pretty photos that appear on the site which I unfortunately fell prey to. I expect most businesses to embellish their services somewhat and hand pick the photos that appear; however the gall that this hotel has is impressive. First impressions are of course everything in life and this is no exception and having worked public facing jobs myself, dealing with the general public can be frustrating so I do feel for the front desk staff, but I would recommend that some may need to find a new line of work, they are clearly jaded and fell out of love a long time ago and are just holding on for dear life. Booking via their own website does bag you some interesting benefits with their free membership, shame that once you arrive the hotel just doesn't seem interested in telling you about them to the point where I think they just don't know about them themselves. One of the benefits of the membership was related to early check in/late check out which was something I always try and take advantage of wherever I stay. Trying to find the information on if it was available was something I did not believe would be difficult however after three separate attempts via the phone, one of which was spent simply explaining what the concept of early check in was, I was asked to use most of my morning to travel to the hotel in person and then they would be able to tell me it was available - it wasn't and I was informed I would have to return later, something I wish could have been shared over the phone. Understandably when a hotel is busy things such as Early Check In do become a pot luck luxury. However, when a website says "Guaranteed Early Check In with a membership" you do expect some form of adherence to that. My guess is that when I was informed they were full, so early check in wasn't available, they were referring to being full of students who seem to be this hotels main stay feature; now admittedly this part is not strictly a problem with the hotel, more the patrons that it attracts. However what is an issue is that the walls are that thin that you can hear everything going on above, below and next door. This also includes the tracks which run directly adjacent to an entire side of this hotel. Which meant I was awake till 3am; I wish the hotel would have allowed for early check out as I sat awake 11pm till about 3am contemplating as to which local hotel I would move to for the rest of the night. On the subject of early check in, of course this is offered once a room is ready and clean for it's next occupants. However our room whilst somewhat tidy was certainly not clean as I had to wash down the tub as well as remove some choice strands of long hair from my bed sheet and pillow. I say somewhat tidy as the wooden accents such as the cheap and old wooden chest and drawers had very large chunks missing. Nowadays A.C units are a must have in hotel rooms, it's a lovely feeling after a long day walking around London and then being able to set the A.C and get into bed and feel nice and cool whilst you sleep. This hotel admittedly does have A.C in the room but clearly no thought was put into how it was installed. Every other hotel I have every stayed at the A.C unit has either been installed in the ceiling of the room or on the inner wall meaning that it offers no obstruction and cannot itself be obstructed; but here it is installed below a window, which itself does not open, which means that when it comes to go to sleep and you draw the curtains closed you realise that the A.C blowers are now completely covered and no offer no cooling whatsoever. When it comes to sleep, the beds in these rooms offer little to comfort you during the night. I had a bath when I first got into the room and when it came to sleep in the evening I found that the mattress filling was poured from concrete and that the bath I had had earlier was actually more comfortable to lie down in; prompting a genuine desire to take the pillows and duvet and (attempt to) sleep in the bath.