Hilton London Olympia
The Hilton London Olympia is located near the convention centre at the London Olympia underground station. If could be reached from LHR easily, but one has to change undergrounds. I would like to point out, that London Olympia is not served during the weekend in the same frequency than during the week. This means one must take the bus to Kensington Forum, which takes 10 to 15 minutes. Walking to Kensington High Street
and Kensington Forum is possible and takes 20 to 30 minutes.
The hotel is a low rise building in L shape. One enters the door through a revolving door. The lobby is somehow small; there are basically only the three check-in desks, not lounge chairs or tables. This is definitively no area to spend any minutes longer than necessary.
There are three elevators to reach the floors and in addition an escalator to the first floor where conference rooms and the restaurant are located.
The restaurant with adjacent bar area seems to be renovated not long ago. The style is modern, however I personally thing the table are very narrow and very close together. Not much privacy. The breakfast is served as buffet with the usual ingredients like scrambled eggs, cereals, rolls and bread and pastries, sausages, cheese, jam and marmalade, etc. Coffee and tea is served by staff.
The gym is of smaller seizing but the equipment okay. Towels and water are provided. But I think it could become full quite fast if the occupancy of the hotel is higher than during my stay.
Stays 09 November 2006
Arrival Date: 10 November 2006
Departure Date: 11 November 2006
Room type booked: Hilton Guest Room (Single)
Rate Plan: Net direct Rate
Room Number: 318
Room Rate: 79.20 GBP (excl. taxes)
Status of Guest Program: Gold
I arrived in the late afternoon at this hotel. Check in was fast, everything was prepared in advance and I had only to sign. I was explained the opening hour of the restaurant for breakfast and got the voucher for a continental breakfast in the restaurant on the first floor. The opening hours and location of gym and business center were explained and I was told I was upgraded to a double room instead of the booked single room due to
my HHonors Gold status.
My room was facing the street and the railway track. The room had not the classical style, as one was standing right in the room after entering. On the left side was the closet and the entrance to the bathroom was in the room.
The bathroom was small, but seize was okay. It was old fashioned style of the late 70ies. Behind the sink was a heated mirror, which was an unexpected nice touch. The tap at the sink was leaking and also the tap at the bath. The showerhead was also leaking, but it was possible to nearly stop it by putting the showerhead in a certain position. I spent only one night, so this was okay, but I had asked for a replacement if I stayed there for more than a night. Bathroom amenities were by Crabtree & Evelyne. Towels
were provided for two persons, but bathrobes and slippers were missing or not available in this room category. The hairdryer was a bit hidden, it was placed in the drawer at the desk.
The room had a place for luggage storage right at the door. The TV was placed on a small sideboard which included also the minibar (automatic charging). Tea and coffee facilities were also available. The desk was beside the sideboard with a lamp, a phone with LAN connection. A bit of the smaller side, but okay to work on a laptop, however the place to store other belongings was a bit of the smaller side.
A lounge chair with a small table was placed in front of the window.
The bed was on the other side of this L shaped room along with two bedside tables with reading lamps and another phone. The bed was of the soft side, I would have preferred a harder mattress.
The interior was not very modern and showed its age and had some scratches and the carpet some stains. On the other side, the room rate was okay for London and the location is not that bad at all. The downside was the really run down bathroom, but the leaking taps and the leaking shower head could be replaced easily. So I thing this property will see me again if I am in London and the rates are not that high.
