A typical Holiday Inn Hotel and nothing more
Written: Oct 27 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great location, a block and a half away from the underground
Cons: small rooms; unfriendly staff at the check-in counter; facilities are not family-friendly
The Bottom Line: More sensitivity training perhaps with the check-in counter staff. First impression is important and makes a big difference especially for discerning guests.
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| rdasis's Full Review: Holiday Inn - Kensington |
This hotel is very nicely located in a safe & fashionable neighborhood/borough of Kensington. It is about a block and a half away from the underground. Lots of nice & charming shops around including a grocery store across the street. Places of interests such as Kensington Palace, Natural History Museum, the Brompton Oratory and Harrods department store, etc. are within walking distance.
The hotel I believe has recently undergone extensive renovations. The lobby looks nice but appeared narrow. The room is much smaller than what we're used to here in the U.S. It reminds me of a standard stateroom in a cruise ship. The refrigerator is the usual standard small type that fits under the counter. It however contains censors connected to a computer system and kept tabs of the items you take out from it. Since we were traveling with an infant, this created quite a problem because there is no place to store the baby's perishable items. Not aware that there were sensors, we emptied the fridge to store the baby's fresh milk and to our dismay, we were charged for all the items that were taken out. We end up getting billed a 'service fee' (the equivalent of $5.00) for room service to credit back the cost of the items that were automatically billed. The hotel staff did not provide us with an alternative way to store our perishable times. In addition, there were only 2 ice machines located in 2 different floors for the entire hotel which made things more inconvenient.
The staff at the check-in desk were not as friendly and accommodating as one would expect in a 4 star hotel. Our flight came in early and as expected we arrived early at the hotel. Despite our best efforts, we were made to wait almost 3 hours before we could get settled in our room. Traveling with a 2 year old is never an easy thing especially if the hotel staff keeps you waiting at the lobby for a very long time and with this baby getting crankier as time goes by. We learned later from another staff member that rooms were available for early check-in.
The concierge and the bell-hop staff on the other hand were very nice, friendly and accommodating. I left the staff on duty a list of my appointments to confirm including our return flight back to the U.S. which he gladly took. Upon our return to the hotel later that afternoon, everything was confirmed with names of personnel he spoke with, confirmation numbers at various events, etc. I was very impressed. The doormen were very helpful in providing directions and giving us a heads up about the neighborhood and other places of interest. They will go as far as to call the venues in order to provide you with good and accurate information.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
rdasis
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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