The Trafalgar

Having made a booking for the Hempel hotel in London and then cancelled it based on the reviews here I was looking for a new botique style hotel for my girlfriend and I to stay in for a weekend in London.

The Trafalgar Hilton hotel came back from both googling and a search on this site. Having read reviews we went ahead and booked. And I am glad I did. It was one of the better hotel experiences I have had in a while.

Now, I will say that this hotel may not suit everybody. But as a 30yr old man taking his girlfriend away for a great weekend it was top notch.

Upon arrival we came into the bar downstairs, lively with suits on a Friday evening but there was a nice buzz about the place. We went over to check in and were upgraded immediately to a deluxe room (which was nice).

At all times over the weekend the staff (from the desk to room service) were top notch. I cannot fault their friendliness or attention to detail and sense of duty to looking after you as a guest in the hotel.

The room was lovely (if a bit minimal for my taste) with plenty of movies etc and well stocked, bathroom was great. Room service was spot on, only slow the one time when I ordered a steak sandwich but I had been called by the kitchen already to let me know that it would be 15min or so before it arrived.

BEST BLOODY MARYS you can get as well !! I mean it they have to be tasted to be believed.

Breakfast buffet was lovely, again staff downstairs were great.

Would stay here again next time I am back in London.

I was very curious about this hotel after reading several very divergent reviews. Here's the real scoop as I see it. The hotel is perfectly located, central to most everything. The hotel is not your typical Hilton (I'm a Gold member), much more like a boutique type hotel. I found it quite refreshing. The lobby really isn't a typical lobby as many have said. It's a large lounge with nice jazz and a cool vibe most of the time except perhaps early. If you come in one door, you will walk directly into the check-in desk, not a counter but a desk. Some seem bothered by this but it didn't seem odd to me at all. If you come in the other door, you will meet the concierge you will direct you to the other side where the check in desk is located. As I said, not typical but perfectly fine.

The rooms are very nice, minimalistic, cool, and ours had a beautiul tile and marble bathroomn that was wonderful. No complaints whatsover. Skip the minimbar though as you will go broke with $8 cokes.

We found the staff very courteous and nice. The bartenders were great, the manager a true pleasure. Check out the rooftop bar as it is a great place to have a drink.

Finally, let me say that Michael Phelps was staying at the hotel at the same time we were, having just arrived from Beijing for the Olympic handover to London. If that isn't the best endoresement for this particular hotel, I don't know what is. Enjoy!

On holiday with my family we stayed 3 nights at the Trafalgar Hilton. The Hotel would be better served if it changed its name to a "W" hotel. It is a minimalist boutique hotel with sparse if any decor in the rooms with little semblance to a Hilton hotel; cold and sterile is the best description. I had reserved 2 rooms, the twin beds in one room would be better described as “cots” as they were extremely small.

As a HHonors Diamond member I should have been given complimentary room upgrades with free continental breakfast. The later was not offered and I had to negotiate the breakfast option at the forfeit of the room upgrade. The hotel finally obliged to offer us both amenities of room upgrades and breakfast. In all my years as a Diamond member this situation was ridiculous. Another gimmick I found interesting was that the hotel added gratuity to the beverage and restaurant bills after the fact without informing you of such action. Not sure of the appropriate tipping standard in the UK, I added a tip to my bills. Upon check out I realized servers received a double tip. Candidly, the hotel is ideally situated but that is about it. As a point of reference our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe Paris Hilton………..that was an outstanding hotel and the manager of the Trafalgar Hilton should pay them a visit.