I stayed here a couple of years ago and although the location is great for theatre and shopping the hotel badly needed a refurbishment. I note now from their website that this is currently happening and the hotel has been renamed The Kingsley. It would appear that the refurb is due to be completed in June 2009.

The building itself would have been lovely in its day, it is Edwardian and I do hope that they manage to keep the character and features from that time whilst updating the rooms to a high standard.

The hotel was clean and comfortable, but the ensuites were quite small and had cracked and missing wall tiles. The rooms were not huge but of a reasonable size for central London. We were not disturbed by any outside noise, again a plus for the location. It was competetively priced for the location, but the shabbiness did let it down.

Breakfast was the usual buffet and we had no complaints there. The staff were very friendly and the concierge in particular was exceptionally helpful. They stored luggage for us as we had arrived pre check in time and were not leaving until later in the day on the departure day, so no faults there. We did eat one night in the bar and again no complaints with that.

I have given this hotel 4 stars as other than the need of a refurb there was no other faults with the hotel, and as this is currently being addressed I would say it should soon be an excellent hotel to stay in - as long as they dont massively increase their rates.