Blakes Hotel

My husband had stayed at Blakes many times over 30 years and in the last 10 years I accompanied him and loved it. So we booked again and oh my things had changed. The first room they gave us - a so-called "deluxe double" was terrible. Far too cramped and dark for two people and NOTHING like the charming rooms we always had. We upgraded and the room we got was just plain ODD but bigger so we kept it. We were dismayed at how frayed the hotel is looking - maintenance is not being done, floor coverings are frayed, plumbing is antiquated and not maintained and it's sad. Unless Blakes makes changes, sadly we will not be booking there again. It could be that its time has past and no one cares anymore.

I stayed 2 nights at this hotel at the back end of a European business trip. I have stayed at many hotels in London, and chose this hotel because of a special offer from Virgin Atlantic, through Tablet Hotels. The location is ok, not far from 2 tube stations. The lobby is attractive, but that's it. I saw 2 rooms, rejected the first, stayed in the 2d. My 2d room was impossible to work in - it had lots of windows (good), but the sashes were loose, so cool air blew through constantly, unless one had the heavy, floor-trailing drapes closed, which made the room dark and somewhat claustrophobic. (I live in a big city and city noise doesn't bother me, but it might some folks, but then London is a very big city). There was only 1 electrical outlet which was usable, and it was located on a wall near the bed, so there was nowhere on which to put my laptop, etc., nor plug in the usual array of devices everyone has - mobile phone, etc. Each of the several standard lamps was plugged in, and one had a spare outlet, but it was located in a really awkward place as well. There was a big sofa, which was quite uncomfortable to sit on, but no table in front of it, or on the side, so I ended up snatching one from the corridor outside my room. While the linens were nice, I'm accustomed to a duvet on the bed; this had a woolen blanket plus sheets - not my preference. The walk-in wardrobe had a wide and low shelf in front of the chest of drawers (which had rickety drawers), so that I bumped my head a number of times before learning that I had to approach the chest of drawers very cautiously. Also, there were no drawers on the bedside tables, and barely any room for anything. The bathroom was adequate, except that it had the peculiarly English tap arrangement in the sink - one hot, one cold, and never the twain shall meet - which fortunately they did in the tub. Tissues were in several places, and consisted of a wadge of tissues tied up with a ribbon - most strange, and impractical to my mind. There was no holder for the toilet paper, so it resided on a shelf, or the floor. On a positive note, the soap smelled really good.

I had to ask for a newspaper on day 1, although they had asked my preference, but didn't deliver it; they did on day 2.

The television was extremely small and situated on top of a table at the far end of the room; reception on most of the stations was very poor also.

There was a minibar, and although I didn't use it, I was charged for something, which I protested on checkout, and after they first didn't believe me, they did take it off the bill.

Breakfast was included in my (exorbitant and not worth it) room rate, but they added a service charge to the bill - again, I had to protest to get them to remove it. I have no objection to paying for service, but this isn't the way to do it. Also, I don't mind paying a lot for a hotel room, etc., but I expect value for money, as I'm sure everyone does.

As to the decoration style of the hotel, it didn't appeal to me at all, but I'm sure many people like it. That's a personal preference. I like my hotel rooms spare, large and light, but with a super comfortable bed.

I like to try different hotels, and usually pick well, but not this time.

We used Blakes as an easy point of access for the Chelsea flower show and Central London, as soon as we arrived we knew we had made the right choice, expensive but plush.