Disappointing

We stayed at the London Marriott, Maida Vale in March 2004. Overall we were disappointed and found that the service and quailty is not what we would normally expect from a Marriott. Among the problems we encountered were a bed that was so soft that it sunk in the middle and neither my husband or myself could get a good night sleep. We complained about the bed several times but nothing was done by the staff. They offered us another room but the bed in the second room was the same. The airconditioning system was not working and the hallway as well as our room was uncomfortably warm most of the time. One evening we returned to the hotel around midnight and the lifts were not working so we had to climb six flights of stairs to get to our room. As for the neighborhood, it was not the most desireable. For the most part we did not feel comfortable using the closest tube station, Kilburn Park (since it did not seem the safest place to be at night) so we tended to to take the tube to Edgware Road and then reach the hotel by bus. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone I know who is traveling to London.

Good value for money

I think the Maida Vale is fab value for money. The tube station is just around the corner, and from there it only takes a matter of about 10 minutes before you are in central London. The area is not particular scenic but we felt safe at all times. The room was clean and fairly spacious. The staff were helpful. The pool/fitness centre was great - something which is not often found in a London hotel. The evening meal at the hotel restaurant was delicious (if a little pricey). The breakfast was included in our "package" and excellent (although would have been expensive if we had to pay for it). All in all I would recommend this hotel to anyone and I would certainly consider staying there again.

Disappointing experience at maida vale

i stayed at the maida vale last year, primarily because it was advertised as a 4 star hotel. there is no way in the world this is a 4 star hotel. it is a fine 2 star and maybe a 3 star. the closet was about 2 feet wide. really appalling. food from room service was left out in the hotel corridors for days at a time, despite my calls to front desk. location is quite marginal. woking class neighborhood.

marriott should never have put their name on this. in fact marriott should be ashamed to be calling this a 4 star. ive been in the 4 star jw marriott in mexico city, and that hotel is well deserving of its 4 star ranking.

Marriott Maida Vale: awful check out, bring with you confirmation of rates

Be sure to bring your confirmation including rates. At check out we found the hotel wanted to charge a higher rate than offered. Check also your statement as early as possible. There was a dinner that the hotel wanted to charge We requested to show us the bill but at check out they insisted that it was in accounting. and the hotel kept our guarantee to charge us for the dinner if the signature matched. But they do not have our signature printed anywhere!!!!

Good hotel for the price-area ok too

I can recommend this hotel merely on the fact that the beds are fabulous, and both myself and my friend slept great during our stay. Be warned though, British toilet paper isn't Charmin! hahha! Even in a 4 star hotel.

Having nothing else in London to compare this to, I would still give it a solid "B". It was half the price we found elsewhere, especially if you are looking for 2 beds. We did walk down to McDonalds and some other breakfast places, as the hotel breakfast is very pricey...so if you want a continental breakfast included, consider that when looking for a hotel. We found out that everything in London costs double what it does in the US.

Regarding the neighborhood, I thought this was a "safe" area. We went to some nearby pubs--I recommend the "Old Bell"-two blocks away- (have the fish and chips-with a Fosters for 6 GBP)--Its not Kensington, but you aren't paying double the price either!

Personally if I had the cash, I would stay in a more eclectic area, but if you are in London on a budget, and want a "nice" hotel this is it. Also the Kilburn tube stop is just 4 blocks away-get a visitor weekly tube-bus pass-just 23 GBP.

cheerio!

Good

We stayed here for 3 nights in the beginning of Sept. 2003. We got the hotel off of priceline. It was outside of the main part of the city but could easily be accessed by the subway (only a few mins). The rooms were clean.

Not too convenient

The hotel itself is functional, but it is located in an area that does not seem either convenient or safe. Little Venice is about 4 bus stops away, the tube stop is quite close, but walking around in the evening after 6 p.m. did not feel secure to me.

Terrific Hotel in London!

My husband and I stayed at the Marriott Maida Vale hotel in London, June 10-20, 2003. We got the hotel through priceline.com for $80.00/night. We were very pleased with this hotel! The room was large (standard American-sized hotel room), with a king sized bed, small table, small sitting chair, writing desk with chair, TV, refrigerator, in-room safe, iron/ironing board, Air Conditioning, and decent sized bathroom with tub/shower combo. We also had a free newspaper waiting on us each morning (Mon-Fri) outside our door. Housekeeping did a fabulous job keeping the room clean and the staff in general were helpful yet unobtrusive.We stayed on the 7th floor, which is where the executive lounge is located. We had access to this lounge, through our room key. This was great! They served breakfast here from 6 a.m.-9 a.m., Monday-Friday and also kept some soft drinks, bottled waters, alcoholic drinks, coffee, and tea in the lounge througout the day. There was also internet hookup in this room, so we often took our lap-top here to check e-mail for free. I don't know how we got so lucky to get this access (since we payed through priceline, I would never have expected that!).The hotel is in travel zone 2 and the nearest tube stop is Kilburn Park (about a 5 minute walk from hotel). Next closet tube stop is Maida Vale--15 minutes or so from hotel. We preferred Kilburn Park stop. Neither tube stop was actually right on Maida Vale Road--you had to go off of this main road about 2 or 3 blocks for each, but they are easily marked. Both of these tube stops are on the Bakerloo line (brown on the tube map) and you could easily change lines at Paddington, Baker Street, Oxford Circus, etc.)There was also a bus stop right across street from hotel--Kilburn Park (for north-running routes), which was so handy. The south running bus stop was just about a block from the hotel. Buses 16 and 98 were the 2 routes best for getting to and from this hotel.The Maida Vale road actually starts out as Edgeware Road and turns into Maida Vale as it runs north. There was a Safeway grocery store on Edgeware Road that we took the bus to a few times, but about 4 to 5 blocks north of the hotel (on Maida Vale), there were some smaller grocery stores (Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury Local). We also noticed a much larger Marks and Spencer on Edgeware Road on the day before we left! (We really loved Marks and Spencer food halls--great bakery items, among other things. We usually went to the large store on Oxford Street b/c the smaller stores either don't have a bakery or are very small and they run out quickly.)About 2 blocks north of hotel, there was a laundrette where you could wash and dry clothes yourself or drop off clothes (we washed our own--2 pounds, 40 to wash one load; 20 pence to dry--but one go round was not enough). Be sure to take lots of change with you. We bought laundry detergent at the Safeway.The people and businesses around the hotel were mostly Middle Eastern. We saw lots of stores and restaurants/cafes with the words "Persian" "Lebonese" or "Kuwati" in them. On some other posts I read earlier on this hotel location, there were sometimes somewhat negative remarks regarding the neighborhood/area. I wonder if these were written by people who have never been around other ethnicities and are just ignorant? We felt safe walking in the area, walking to and from tube and bus stops, and riding on the tube and bus. I would not be concerned about staying in this area, other than to always take the usual precautions one takes when on vacation.One thing I will comment on about London in general is that the buses, tubes, and roads are VERY congested, at all times of day. There were times when we waited quite some time to catch our bus to get back to the hotel and the buses were almost always full--even between 8:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The tube is, of course, faster than buses but it can be very stuffy and warm once the weather warms up (buses were stuffy also) since there is no AC on tubes, buses, etc. I prefer to ride buses in London so that I can get a little "mini-tour" as we ride along, but sometimes, we went with the tube just to get around faster. Being in travel zone 2 was not an issue for us. We frequently went to Baker Street Tube stop and this area for restaurants and for getting to Regent's Park.Speaking of zone 2, however, I should mention that this does increase your travel time getting to and from the airport. We flew in and out of Gatwick and it took us at least 1 1/2 hours to get to/from the Marriott Maida Vale to/from Gatwick. London itself is HUGE and it takes quite some time just to get in and out of London. We did use a car service to pick us up at the airport and hotel, and we allowed ourselves quite a bit of extra time to get to the airport on the day we returned to the states (I recommend at least 2 hours for travel, just in case you get caught in traffic jams). Overall, this is a great hotel and I would be happy to stay here again.

Hidden gem!

We stayed at this property for 4 nights this pastweek.As many people do, we had jet lag and the hotelhad our king bedded room,already prepared by 12noon.The front desk staff were from all over Europe and were very pleasant. Our beds and towels were changed every day. Room sizes were spacious by British standards . Our rate was approximately80pounds for 2 for 2 nites and 99pounds for 2 nites.As stated we were approximately 5 minutes from the Kilburn park tube.The neigborhood was a mixed bag: some street people, near the Islamic Center of England, news stands across the way, a good curry place and a couple of pubs. Fine during the day, a bit dodgey at night.In conclusion the staff and management are really top knotch and friendly.Save the pounds , stay there.Oh yes, don't miss the full breakfast....cheers!

Very nice stay...

we were able to check in early and take a nap...hotel is very convenient to Maida Vale tube stop. Concierge suggested a wonderful neighborhood spot for dinner -- we like it so much we ate there three times! Neighborhood is diverse, but perfectly safe. Beds were comfy. Even though it is several stops out of the main circle, it was quick to get around on the tube.

Service and accommodations were what you'd expect of an American Marriott.