Holiday Inn London King's Cross / Bloomsbury

A great hotel near the centre of London. We took the train from Edinburgh to Kings Cross (don't think we'll be doing that again, but that’s not for this review!) and found it to be only a 10 to 15 minute walk from the station. A friendly London policeman helped us with the final directions!

The reception staff were nice and friendly and welcomed us with a smile, which was nice. Room was on the 7th floor, which again was nice as so often large hotels shove people on the first or second floors and keep the top floors for grumpy solo/business travellers, so we had a great view of the morning and evening London skyline. The rooms were clean and tidy, the bathroom was too. Having read reviews on the "state of the rooms" and "state of the shower" you can go in with a predisposition that is unfair. What you have to remember folks is that over the course of a year you could have 3 or 4 hundred people staying in your room before you, so expect to have a small scuff on the skirting board, a faded corner on the duvet cover, a bit of soap stain round the taps or faded tile grout in the shower, that is real life. Is your own house or flat free from such imperfections?, think hard.

The room was nice, cosy and quiet with very little road noise from the streets below, the windows were very sound proof which was a refreshing change to some hotels I've stayed at in big cities when all day and all night long you are disturbed by vehicles and sirens. Kings Cross at Farringdon Road may just be the sleepy hollow of London!

Plenty of pubs nearby, and some convenient shops to use in an emergency for a bottle of water and a packet of nuts!

The hotel bar was small but quiet. The barman was nice and friendly, and was happy to serve, well worth tipping. Comfy couches and tall bar stools, and a widescreen TV with Sky TV ... perfect! A great selection of wines, spirits and beers.

Breakfast was busy, the hotel was packed, but we were up early enough to avoid the queues. A great selection of hot food if you were having the full English, nice Continental too. Remember, get there before 9am to avoid the queues.

Kings Cross station, only 10 or 15 minutes walk, provided a fast link to the city centre on the Piccadilly line, although was very busy, but our trips into Covent Garden and Chinatown required no change of tube line. Had previously stayed at the Guoman Tower of London, which found us hopping on and off tubes trains to get to different lines. Chinatown was fantastic, with a visit to Young Chengs on Lisle Street off Leicester Square is recommended. Remember folks, the key to a good Chinese restaurant is to look in the window and see just how many Chinese people or eating there, because the Chinese do not eat rubbish. The staff were great, the food was excellent, the beef just melted in the mouth! ... lovely! Finish it off with a pint in the Garrick Arms round the corner on Charring Cross Road.

This was one of the worst HI we've stayed in for a long time.! Parking was difficult and a hassle with car eventually left 10 mins walk away in a multi-storey. Reception staff were cold and unhelpful and that went for the concierge as well! And then there were the rooms which looked as if thousands of people had lived in them before us! The room was dark, old fashioned and small for a 'double-double' with a bathroom that looked 'tatty'.Judging by the number of people that were in the lobby,this was a hotel frequented by families that needed accomodation with a 'double-double' room and were not frequent hotel stayers so were unable to compare the standard of accomodation and service. For tourists and out of towners it does not leave a good impression on the UK hotel industry in general. To say that the standard was poor becuase this was a hotel in london is no longer acceptable and even a good premier/travelodge would now have a better standard than this. The fact that it is a 4 star just makes a mockery of the 'starring' system. We were glad to check out and thats not good for people who love to stay in hotels!