Avoid !

As with all the hotels in this chain - you get less than you pay for.

On the night we stayed, the double room we'd booked never materialised. We were given a twin and told to 'push the beds together'. When I did eventually climb into mine, it was full of what I can only imagine was sugar grains or salt. I rang reception (no apology - in fact, it sounded as if it happened every day) and about 20 mins later a porter arrived, refused to come into the room and simply passed me some fresh bedding with which to make up my own bed !

The rooms have no character whatsoever, the bathroom was small and poky and the breakfast area made you feel like you were in an airport terminal - and the food is tasteless.

To add insult to injury, they also attempted to charge me twice !

London's a big place and full of far better hotels. Try Montague on the Gardens, great location and friendly staff.

Easter in Boombury

Eight of us stayed at the Thistle Bloomsbury Park in Easter 2005 for three nights. Everyone had a different comment to make. For instance our shower downstairs was very powerful indeed, but our friend on the four floor said it was trickling. However the rooms were normal size and for the price we paid and considering that we were in London were very good and above all they were clean. Breakfast was buffet style and if you are there between 8.00 and 8.30 AM there is no problem in getting seats, you can eat as much as you like and the standards are very good. When I first booked the hotel and a latter stage found the reviews on this pages I was going to cancel, but I am please that my wife dissuaded me from doing so. The staffs in general were very friendly and helpful. If you are very demanding more likely you will find Thistle Bloomsbury Park no to you standards because it is true that some bathrooms needs a little bit of tender care and attention, but for the rest I can't complain. Will I go back there again? The answer is yes.

Room in Bloomsbury

So nondescript it's hard to remember much about this hotel, good or bad. Nothing has lodged in my mind as a serious problem with the room. As is now the custom in the UK, which has come to depend on cheap immigrant labor as much as the US, the desk is manned or womaned by kids from the nether regions of the globe, affable but clueless. No concierge -- bring your guidebook. Decent breakfast included in the price, though the Mexican-bullfight music in the refectory was somewhat jarring.

But you get a good location, with quite a few restaurants on Southampton Row, including a very agreeable French bistro. British Museum and Karl Marx's old watering hole, the Museum Tavern, a short stroll away.

If the price is right, you could do a lot worse. Assuming this is typical for Thistle hotels, you can't say they're a class act, but they give better value for money than the dreaded Grange chain.

Loved it there!

I stayed 2 nights while visiting London, and was so impressed with the hotel, staff and location. Bloomsbury was charming, the staff was eager to please and so friendly, and the room was absolutely lovely. I overlooked Southampton Row and spent an hour each night having a drink and watching people go by on the street. Although it was a bit of a hike to get downtown to the sights, I wouldn't have stayed anywhere else. Though if forced, I would consider other Thistle properties - it seemed amazing. The room and bathroom were lovely, and at the cost, I couldn't have been more impressed.

STAY SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We stayed the weekend of April 23-25th, 2004.Location and staff are great, but it ends there. Rooms very small and noisy, bathroom unclean and toilet hard to flush. This place needs a make over!!!! Very moldy!!!!!!!!

Disappointing

The Bloomsbury Park scores well for location and value, but the plus points basically end there. The whole place looks badly in need of a lick of paint. My double room, even with single occupancy, was cramped and fraying. The TV was barely functional, the shower room extractor was unfeasibly noisy, and the whole room was festooned with the stains of previous occupants. Avoid.

Poor service

I have 'tolerated' this hotel once again because of its location - and the fact that I couldn't get a booking at a better *** hotel nearby.

London IS expensive and once certainly doesn't get much for one's money - even compared with cities like Paris or Barcelona. But having recently stayed in *** hotels in these cities, I was dismayed and (as a British person) embarrassed by the service at the Bloomsbury Park. The hotel reception was abrupt and unfriendly in the extreme - I felt like asking the receptionist what her problem was! She was even more abrupt to a Japanese woman who was attempting to locate a friend she thought was staying at the hotel. With breakfast not included in the room rate, the total cost made this neither a particular good value hotel nor a congenial one.

Nice

Staff were very kind with our early arrival and stored our bags for us so we were able to go and explore. Room was very clean, tidy and looked very modern! the bathroom was clean and tidy with substantial towels. The Shower was a little bit to powerful, and tended to splurt everywhere. Apart from that the staff was friendly, was set in nice location. the breakfast was amazing, full english with the continental buffet we could help ourselves to. even when we departed, they were more than happy to keep our bags stored whilst we were shopping. and came to collect them later, all in all got a great bargain and would stay there again.

What a disgrace

This hotel is one of the worst I have ever stayed at. The room I was allocated was small, unclean and unfunctional. The bathroom was basically a cupboard with just a small shower. The windows did not have locks on and anyone could easily have broken in. The room had no mini bar, a faltering TV, no chairs, uncomfortable bed, no iron or ironing board. I really could go on all day. The hotel is not even cheap - and there £10 breakfast is pretty poor. You get one sausage, one piece of bacon, poor scrambled eggs, one hash brown... This place is certainly not recommended.

Go to a 4-star if you can

This hotel was basically nice, but had a few problems. On the plus side, it had a good location (close to the British Museum, restaurants, etc.). The rooms were relatively clean but a little run down looking (e.g., the bedspreads were threadbare in spots). A little mildew in the showers and toilets that didn't flush too well. It had a good breakfast service. The staff was very friendly, but not very knowledgeable. They had no idea which restaurants in the area were good. Their "computerized" morning wakeup call system called us 1 1/2 hours later than we had requested and we missed a bus tour that cost us $500! The management "compensated" us by giving us $20 worth of free phone calls. These were calls we had to make to arrange for another tour. We probably could have stayed at a 4-star hotel for the amount of money this screw up cost us. Next time, we probably will pay the extra and avoid these kinds of headaches.