Cecil Court Hotel

We stayed in room 1 in April. Fortunately for one night only.

The worst aspect of the room was that the carpet was so dirty that we did not want to remove our shoes. It looked like it had not been vacuumed for weeks! There was an evident smell of damp and urine.

The room is about 9m square, so small that the door can't fully open without hitting the double bed. The view was onto a utility shaft full of rubble. Another window was around 1 metre away from ours - so much for privacy.

The bathroom is so small you can shower on the toilet. Its literally the size of a wardrobe.We booked for two people but there was only one towel. The sheets were clean but thread-bare.

As for "breakfast", it consisted of juice, yogurt and Rice Krispies which were stashed in the fridge and which we had to eat in the room, from plastic crockery which hadn't been cleaned properly.

(I wonder where the previous author enjoyed the Continental Breakfast!!! - as there is no dining room!)

We've stayed in budget accomodation in London before but have never encountered such bad value for money (we paid 78 pounds for the night).

Not Recommended!

The hotel rooms are quite small, though we did get one of the biggest... the bathroom is tiny, but the sheets and towels were clean, the water was hot, and the heater worked more than ok... I believe its a fine place to stay if you wish to pay little and have your own private bathroom. I mean, dont expect The Four Seasons but I´ve been to other hotels in Europe that are really bad, with baths from a nightmare, or people who were mean. The breakfast in Cecli Court was good, not great for the cholesterol watchers or vegetarians, but it kept us well fed until dinner. The people who work on the hotel are fine, dont expect Mary Poppins, but they were nice. We would stay here again when visiting London, its only 5 mins away from the Underground station, the circle line, that gets you to the best of London.

I hesitated about a rating for this hotel because there is absolutely nothing fancy about it that makes it rate 4 dots, but it really is a good choice for the price. I had a single with an ensuite bathroom near the top of the hotel at the back. I happened to hit a heat wave in London, so the room was pretty warm, but I had a big window that opened onto the back which I could safely open at night since I was fairly high up. The stairs were an annoyance, but the extra effort meant that my room was safe and quiet. I never heard noise from other rooms, but people passing in the hall could be fairly loud, although since it is a small hotel, there aren't that many people. The bathroom was tiny, but had everything you need. As long as you aren't too violent a tooth brusher, which might land you in the shower, it works out fine. The mattress on the bed was a bit on the thin side, but I just put a blanket under the sheet and it was okay. The furnishings were not new by any means, but everything seemed nice and clean.

The staff were extremely helpful. I got to London early from a trans-Atlantic flight and was able to leave my luggage off long before check-in time. When I did check in, they carried my bags up to my room and then brought them down for me the day I left. They also ordered a taxi to take me to the train station. They helped me sort out the mysteries of the British phone system, since I had several calls I had to make and told me where to buy a phone card and how to use it.

Breakfast is a full cooked English breakfast, which is becoming a rarity in London hotels, with more of them switching over to continental breakfast.

This is definitely a very basic hotel, so if you want luxury. look elsewhere. But if you are interested in value and a convenient location (the Edgware Road tube stop is only about a 3-minute walk) , the Cecil Court should satisfy your needs.