The President Hotel Russell Square London (Ibis London City)

Member Name: laukez

Product:	Ibis London City
Date:	21/08/09 (9 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Location

Disadvantages: Awful accomodation

This hotel is way below the standard of any I have ever stayed in. Having arrived in Russell Square by tube we found the hotel without too many problems, although it feels a little as though it is up a back street. First impressions were not good - the whole place looked as though it were in a time warp.
We went to reception to check in and were given a room key and sent up to the room, only to get there and find it was still being prepared then rudely told to go back downstairs. We went to sit in the reception area where our impression of the hotel only got worse. The common areas were awful, very tatty with dirty sofas which may have been new once in the 1960s. By this point I actually wasn't looking forward to getting into the room. Eventually after waiting around half an hour for someone to inform us our room was ready (which never happened) we took our chances and found it was.
The room itself was not terrible - it was clean and the bathroom was reasonable, although very basic.
In the evening we had a meal booked at the hotel's Saracen carvery. This was a major dissappointment, and felt a lot like dining at Fawlty Towers due to the strange behaviour of the staff who were fussy and invasive. There was a choice of meats or salmon, none of which looked particularly appetising and some vegetables. I chose beef with potatoes and vegetables (frozen) and it was barely edible. The soup for starter was acceptable and the only bit of the meal I ate. I cut my losses and didn't have desert.
We had booked this hotel as a Superbreak through Thomas Cook, and although we weren't expecting luxury we had hoped for something better than the standard of this hotel. We checked out after one night although we had paid for two as the accomodation was awful.
The only positive thing I can find to say about this hotel is the location was good, Russell Square itself has plenty to do and is near the West End. Also, the reception staff were pleasant enough. However, overall this is the worst hotel experience I have ever had - from start to finish the place was depressing, out-of-date and just not good enough.

Summary: Don't go there!