Alexander House Hotel

This place is THE reality check for budget travelers in London. The Dollar to Pound exchange rate is abysmal, so if you are too proud to bunk down in a hostel, be prepared to budget more or you will end up in some place just like this.

The room was cramped, like a closet with a bed shoved in, with worn carpeting and an unrelenting musty smell. The private bath is squeezed into what must have been the coat closet, so compact that while sitting on the toilet I could rest one elbow in the sink and the other against the shower wall. We slept fine the first night, being jetlagged from our first day after a transcontinental flight, but the second night was a doozy due to the constant noise from Victoria Station trains running right below our window. On the plus side, this place is an easy walk from Victoria Station....

Do not confuse this hotel with the Alexander House Hotel in Sussex, a 4-star luxury hotel and spa. At the time of my review, the tripadvisor site links to THEIR photo page instead, which is infinitely more glamorous.

This hotel ia horid. When we first walked in the door it was horrible the loby was nasty that smelled like waste. The desk people stole my credit card and put charges on it. The room had no room exept for the bed and the bathroom had a showerhead exept it was in the wall and a drain. The toliet didn't work so if we had to go to the bathroom we had to go by the nearby resturant. The curtains had stains on them. We found a rat behind the bed and the heater didn't work. We found a leech in our bead along with a cockrach.

Booked on-line. I wanted a cheap overnight stopover with full breakfast. As many others have found, the room I booked was not in the building I was shown to (the owner owns 5 or 6 buildings adjoining one another). If they made clear that this was the case and that alternative accomodation i.e. not a specific room in a specific hotel, the feeling of unease might not occur. The single room became a three bed (single and a bunk) room with bathroom. I fortunately wasn't spending much time in the room as it was TINY, dark and very cramped. It also backed onto a railway line that was fairly busy and the rooms are not exactly soundproofed. A basic clour TV, kettle and tea/coffee are available in rooms. The bed linen was clean as was the room although spartan. The full breakfast consisted of fruit cordial, instant coffee, cereal and toast with a selection of jams. Hardly a full breakfast but adequate - why not just say continental as that is closer to the truth? All in all not a disaster, but not accurate in terms of the advertising blurb.