The Carlton

Don't stay here- stay in a public toilet cubicle overnight and get the same experience but for free.

Dirty, noisy, tiny rooms- yuk!

My boyfriend booked this as a surprise for me as it is close (10 mins walk) from the Apollo Victoria where we saw Wicked.

On arrival we noticed a strange musty smell but as my boyfriend had prepaid we decided to stay. Plus the lady at reception was friendly enough.

On entering out room 208 we were struck by the tiny size of the room. Barely enough room to squeeze around the one side of the small double bed. The windows were old and single glazed so we had the pleasure of drunken revellers and traffic all night long.

Being pregnant at present my only concern was a comfy bed and a nice bathroom. Unfortunately the Carlton had neither. The bed was rock hard, with frayed pillowcases and not at all inviting after a day walking the streets. The bathroom was a glorified cupboard. It was in effect a tiny wetroom with a showerhead almost over the toilet.

We hoped that the breakfast wouldn't be as bad as expected but it was worse.

The breakfast room is only open from 8am to 9am and has around 6 tables to seat 4 people. It was crammed into a small room in the basement. We went down to eat at 8.15 and the room was full so we went back to our room for 10 mins. We went down again at 8.25, 8.35 and 8.45. At 8.45 we decided to stand in the hall to wait for a table. We finally sat down to eat at 8.50 but there was no food left! We waited for 10 mins but none arrived.

On the whole this is a smelly, overpriced excuse for a hotel.

Please book anywhere else but the Carlton B&B!

I read the TripAdvisor reviews of this hotel before booking and, having travelled extensively staying in hostels, dismissed the complaints as the typical whining of tourists expecting 5-star treatment for 2-star prices. I can put up with a bit of dirt and cramped quarters if it's central and cheap, and who spends that much time in their room anyway?

Please read all these reviews and believe what is said about the negative aspects of this place because it is true, and more. Our room was on the top floor (room 220) and not only were the sheets stained and the mattress mildewed all down the side, but the carpets were filthy and frayed, there was long black hair in the bathroom, the toilet was leaking from the base and had "sunk" into a pool of vile-smelling liquid on the plastic floor. Sitting on it was precarious and an exercise in not getting one's feet wet from the leakage. When having a shower in the tiny 3x4 bathroom with a stained, smelly plastic shower curtain (impossible not to touch and have it stick to you when showering in that tiny space), water would run all over the floor, creating an overpowering urine stench from the obviously crusty stucco-like plastic floor and the pool of water/urine around the base of the toilet which would wash all over the bathroom floor when the shower was on. My daughter and I had to go out and buy flipflops just to make the bathroom experience tolerable. We requested another room (also because my elderly father was joining us mid-way through our stay and could not climb the 8 flights of stairs easily) and were treated fairly rudely by the night clerk. (Although the young woman on the desk during the day was quite polite and helpful.) When we did change rooms (to room 209) it was somewhat better, having high ceilings, a balcony and a clean(er) bathroom floor. It still had the basic cleanliness problems including other people's bandaids, razors and used tissue under the beds and cigarette butts and beer bottles on the balcony. We also had an over-anxious maid banging on our door at 10 am one day when we were trying to sleep in, insisting she clean the room. Don't bother with the breakfast - instant coffee, wonderbread toast and tang. Croissants, yogourt and tea were OK though. Spend a bit more and stay at the comfort inn next door (it's lovely but twice as much) or the easyhotel.com or the belgrave inn on the same block which are cheaper - there are lots of hotels in this area that are a bit more expensive but infinitely nicer. At the very least insist on seeing your room first, as our second room was much better than the first one. I may not have had the same reaction if we had been given that room first.