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Thistle City Barbican – reviews, photos

3.5 of 5
120 Central Street | Clerkenwell, London EC1V 8DS, England
Hotel amenities
Thistle City Barbican
Ranked #655 of 1,069 hotels in London
3.0 of 5 stars 967 Reviews
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967 reviews from our community

What travellers say about this hotel
  • Main building(25)
  • Old street(24)
  • Tube station(20)
  • Reception staff(18)
  • Very good(17)
  • Twin room(13)
  • Star hotel(10)
  • Single bed(9)
  • Air conditioning(8)
  • Friendly and efficient(5)
Traveller rating
    73
    215
    239
    203
    237
Only show reviews for Family (57) | Couples (224) | Business (328)
Date Rating
Brighton UK
Reviewer
3 reviews 3 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
5 helpful votes 5 helpful votes
“Pleasantly surprised”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 14 February 2012

After reading the reviews on here, I was understandably nervous about my upcoming stay - however for £50 on a Sunday night in (almost) central London I wasn't expecting The Savoy.

Check in was polite and swift. My room (in the main part of the hotel, this seems to make a difference) was great. Typical Thistle decor (i.e. trapped in the 90s), but large, clean, and not too shabby. Large plasma TV, fridge, sofa, clean although slightly tatty bathroom. I had only booked a standard double, but assume I must have been put in a higher grade of room. The room was baking hot when I checked in, but opening the window and adjusting the aircon soon sorted this.

Sandwich from room service was fine, and arrived in 10 minutes.

All in all, pleasantly surprised.

  • Stayed February 2012, travelled on business
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 2 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
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Ask mattdwatson about Thistle City Barbican
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Wales
Senior Reviewer
6 reviews 6 reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
12 helpful votes 12 helpful votes
“clean and spacious room , good breakfast”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed 13 February 2012

Can't complain about this hotel, it was everything we wanted.
A 10 min walk to the tube it meant everything was accesable and we had none of the hiked up prices.
The bed was extremely comfortable, tea &coffee in rooms aswell as a safe.
The romm was a brilliant size as we only had a double and the tv was a large size.
Breakfast had all options ; cooked/continenal/fruit etc...

Really nothing bad to say abou it

  • Stayed January 2012, travelled with friends
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Birmingham, United Kingdom
1 review
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“Shabby and Noisy”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed 12 February 2012
1
person found this review helpful

Bad value for money. The rooms are clean but shabby and need a refresh. The cold water tap only produced hot water so I could not get a drink of water during the night, which was made worse by the unbearable temperature of the rooms. The shower temperature was fine the first morning, but the second morning the water was s hot I could not take a shower. The walls are very thin, and I could hear all the phone conversations of the woman staying next door.
The staff were friendly and helpful, but the rooms really let this hotel down.

  • Stayed February 2012, travelled on business
    • 2 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
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“In desperate need of a refresh!”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 11 February 2012

I stayed here on 3 seperate occasions, in different rooms each time, first time one night, 2nd and 3rd for 4 nights each.
The 1st and 3rd where on the 1st floor - and I had asked to be in the main building because I wanted to use the pool and didn't want to be going out in the cold on the way back (there are 2 seperate blocks) The downstairs and pool area are very nice with lots of marble and polish - but they didn't tell me the gym closed at 8:45 - far too early for a work out after work!
the 1st floor rooms were ok, in need of a refresh but quiet at least.
The 6th Floor room on my second trip was awful! chip board wardroabes where the door fell off when I touched it - terrible lighting, very noisy with the extractor fan and traffic, had better quality room as a student. This is not the room they advertise!!!

At least I got my room 1/2 price in the Jan sale, other wise I would have been extremely disapointed and would never pay full price.

  • Stayed January 2012, travelled on business
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 3 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 2 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Kelly M about Thistle City Barbican
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Lowestoft, United Kingdom
1 review
“Not as good as usual”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed 11 February 2012

My husband and me have stayed in this hotel a few times and have had no problems whatsoever, unfortunately we this time round we didn't have a enjoyable stay.

Firstly when we got into our room and started to unpack we found that the safe was not working, I called reception and seemed to get cut off by the male receptionist it took 2 attempts for someone to come and fix it at the same time our TV was not working but that got sorted out at the same time when the safe was finally sorted out. Then at 4am on the Saturday morning we were woken by a fellow guest trying to get into our room (ok he might have got confused by what room he was in but that is not the case). We mentioned this to the staff on reception when we went down for breakfast but got the impression by them that this was not important.

The only good thing about this hotel this time was the Health club ideal to relax after travelling. We are disappointed with this hotel after staying in there a few times before due to this we properly won't stay there the next time we come down to London for a break which is a shame.

  • Stayed February 2012, travelled as a couple
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 2 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 2 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 2 of 5 stars Service
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Additional Information about Thistle City Barbican

  • Thistle City Barbican London
  • Thistle City Barbican Hotel London
Address: 120 Central Street | Clerkenwell, London EC1V 8DS, England
Price range (per night):* INR8,471 - 43,581

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Thistle City Barbican
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