First Class (Hilton London Kensington)

Member Name: Cinders

Product:	Hilton London Kensington
Date:	16/03/01 (401 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Close to the West End and City

Disadvantages: Extras cost a lot

The Kensington Hilton is probably one of the most famous Hilton's in London, the first being the Hilton Park Lane for it's grandeur if nothing else. The Kensington Hilton is situated in Holland Park, a charming and exquisite area of London minutes from Notting Hill, Earls Court and Shepherds Bush. Public transport is abundant within this area of London, Holland Park Tube Station is east of the hotel while Shepherds Bush is west of it. Only one bus passes by the hotel and that is number 94, although the number 49 stops just round the corner in Holland Road.

The Kensington Hilton, according to their website has 603 guestrooms, executive floors which include their own check in, and suites which boast a living room as well as an impressive king sized bedroom. This particular Hilton also has three restaurants and a bar, which are open to all visitors as well as guests of the hotel.

I have driven past the Kensington Hilton many times on my way to various destinations in West London and hardly noticed the modern pleasantly lit building anymore. Although I had been meaning to visit the Hikoro Japanese Restaurant within the hotel for a long time. What with me being a celebrity junkie Hikoro is somewhere worthwhile to visit.

As a treat recently my partner and I decided to stay in the hotel for a night, and even though check in is usually 2pm the hotel staff found us a room at 10am. The staff were incredibly helpful, if a little slow, and informed us of the option of becoming a Hilton Member. This service has the advantages of The Hilton keeping members details on file making future reservations and booking easier and quicker. The process of joining is easy and efficient. All you have to do is fill out a form allowing them to put your name, address and requirements in to their computer system. In return they give you a member number, which you quote in future reservations and bookings.

The standard advertised price of a single pe
rson staying is between £75 and £85 a night, with two people sharing the price is slightly higher. Obviously the executive floors are more expensive varying between £109 and £190 a night, and suites start at £200 a night. Do check with the reception desk at the hotel though as usually you will be able to get a better deal. Also don’t forget to check the Hilton website for any special offers. ( www.hilton.co.uk )

Our room was not on the executive floor, but was of a higher quality than a standard room. We paid £90 a night for our room and I considered it to be a bargain. Later in the day we decided to bring our children to the hotel and treat them too. I phoned down to reception and asked if we could have a twin room for our 8 and 13 year old daughters. I was asked if I would like the children near me and of course I said yes no more than two doors away. After waiting for a few minutes for reception to ring back we were told that the hotel had managed to give us the room next door for our daughters. Now I could relax.

I decided to give the rooms the once over and I will give you a brief description…
Our room had a double bed, a large Television encased in it’s own wooden cabinet, writing desk and chair and in the corner of the room by the window was an armchair, behind which was a standard lamp. The décor was simple, beige and cream walls and a red patterned carpet. The bathroom consisted of a bath with a shower a vanity sink a toilet.

On a closer inspection I noticed that there was a large wardrobe and inside was a trouser press. An extra pillow was inside and enough hangers for a short stay. Next to the wardrobe was a fridge and on top of that was a tray with a small electric kettle and sachets of coffee, tea sugar, and little pots of crème.

The bed had white crisp sheets, a blanket and a red bedspread that matched the carpet. Over the bed on each side were wall lamps within easy reach and with a
pleasant night-light. Also, on either side were two bedside tables each with their own phone. The carpet in the room went up the wall and it had no skirting boards.

The bathroom had a heavy-duty floor and even though the showerhead was loose it had a powerful spray which could be set wider or thinner by a small knob on the showerhead itself. The wall above the sink was completely mirrored, and next to the door was a big brown box. On further inspection this turned out to be a hairdryer, it wasn't very powerful but it did the job. On the side were complimentary soap, shower gel and shampoo. However, if you were thinking of staying at the Hilton I would suggest taking your own conditioner as I found the shampoo alone inadequate.

The twin room was exactly the same as the double except it had twin beds. Both rooms had fully adjustable air conditioning, which was easy to use. As my children were staying there I decided to phone down and ask if the adult Television channels could be turned off, and the fridge which was a mini bar locked. Both were done, but it took staff at least half an hour to lock the bar. Thankfully my daughters heeded my warnings about playing with the bar in the meantime.

My husband and I had both taken showers and the room was in a bit of a mess, so I decided to see what happened if I hung a room cleaning sign on our door. We headed out for a while and upon our return the room had been cleaned. Fresh towels, new soap and the room hovered. I had left a magazine on the desk and it was gone. I hadn't read it so I rang housekeeping informing them that my mag had been swiped.

I was told that the housekeeping manager would look into it and bring me a new one of mine could not be found. Less than 15 minutes later the manager was at my door with my magazine telling me that the maid thought it was rubbish. She obviously had because the cover was all wet and soggy, but he didn’t offer me a new one.


The room all seemed very nice so I thought I'd make a phone call to a friend to tell her where I was. Hanging on the phone was a list of charges and I can tell you they weren't cheap. Local calls were charged at 69p a minute while mobile and international calls were charged at a whopping £4.23 a minute. I thought I'd look at the room service and mini bar prices after seeing what the phone cost.

The mini bar was very expensive, considering that we'd already paid a near enough a hundred pounds for the room, A coke cost £1.80 for a small bottle and over £3.00 for a sprit. There was a warning on the price list. "Please note that our mini bar is fitted with sensors. If you remove an item from the bar it will automatically be charged to your account. Therefor it is advised that our guests do not use the bar for their own items."

The room service menu was much the same with a sandwich priced at over £6.00, and meals at around £15. But we were treating ourselves so we ordered the children some ice cream, my husband a pizza and I had a piece of chocolate gateau. I certainly couldn’t complain about the portions and the presentation of the food, but the quality I felt was poor. The children's ice cream was good, although a little rich for them. The pizza looked good but it tasted like a frozen pizza from Sainsburys. My gateau was poor in flavour and soggy, and I felt not worth the £6.00 I'd paid for a thin piece.

We booked a wake up call for 7.30am, which cost us two pounds, and I slept like a log. The hotel was quiet and the bed very comfortable. The temperature of the room we set using the air conditioning and even though I opened the window the room was not cold. To be honest I could have stayed another couple of nights, but our budget wouldn’t allow it.

All in all and enjoyable experience, although I felt that with the prices of the room that the little extras like the mini bar
could have been a little more reasonably priced. I'd say that if I were going to stay at the Hilton in the future I would take in my own snacks. Perhaps we'll try a suite next time.

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