The hotel looks nice enough inside, but seems a little smaller than most crowne plazas. This is the same for the rooms (club) aswell, but thats London for you. It had everything we needed though and the staff were happy to help with anything.

This hotel is in a great location, right by a host of restaurants, the tube station and the Natural History Museum. Main shopping locations, the main theatres and earsl Court are all a short journey away. On location alone this was perfect and I would stay here again, whether buisness or pleasure.

The Crowne Plaza Kensington has something of an identity crisis. It seems to be unsure whether it is a luxury or budget hotel. Certainly the rack rate implies luxury but a number of other things suggest otherwise.

Upon arriving at the hotel, I was given a form to complete with details of my address, nationality – the usual sort of thing. For some reason, the form had been partly completed but instead of the details I provided upon booking, it included somebody else’s personal information! The name was the same but everything else, including the nationality, email address and passport number was completely different. The man behind reception encouraged me to ignore this but it left me feeling distinctly uneasy. It seemed unlikely that there would be another person with my name staying at the same hotel on exactly the same dates, so whose details were these?

I was then asked to provide my actual address. When I began to relay it in the usual way – starting with the street and house number – he barked at me that he needed my postcode first! Well if that was the case, why didn’t he ask for that? He also seemed to struggle with my request for a “double room”. Apparently that means something different at this hotel and so I ended up having to state that I wanted “one big bed” in order to make it clear. This unpleasant, uneasy start to my visit was the first thing to make me question the luxury status of the Crowne Plaza Kensington.

We were eventually allocated a room on the fourth floor overlooking Cromwell Road. We hadn’t been in the room very long when we heard a rather loud conversation in German. At first we presumed it to be someone outside our door but then we realised it was coming from the adjoining room. The rooms had (locked) interconnecting doors which must have been paper-thin as we could hear every word of their conversation (and presumably they could hear ours too). We didn’t like the idea of this so, before we had settled in, we went back to reception to ask for another room. We were immediately told it would not be possible to change rooms as the hotel was completely full. This seemed unlikely at the end of January in a hotel with 6 floors of rooms so we pushed harder.

We were told that a large party would be checking in later that evening and that if we tried again later (presumably when this member of staff had gone off duty) they would have a better idea of what rooms were available. This suggested that they weren’t completely full and that there were actually rooms available and so we pushed harder still! We were then told that the only other room available was the one next to ours (on the opposite side) which still had interconnecting doors. It was clear that the man behind reception had only told us of this room in the hope that we wouldn’t be bothered to move. We were even accused of having a problem with foreign people! To his clear disappointment, but on the off-chance that the neighbours would be quieter, we asked to move rooms. Again, this unfriendly, begrudging treatment is not what I expect from a luxury hotel.

To our delight, the room we were actually given wasn’t next door but on the other side of the hotel! So it seemed that there were plenty of rooms available after all. Overlooking the (much quieter) garden at the back and with no interconnecting door, the room was a vast improvement. Many aspects of the room felt luxurious – the heated bathroom floor, the large comfortable bed and the aromatherapy oils designed to help you get a good night’s sleep. However, other aspects of the room felt decidedly budget – the minibar that charged you if you so much as lifted an item from its weighted shelves and the cheap, nasty toilet paper reminiscent of a public toilet. Once again, the Crowne Plaza Kensington seems to be unsure whether it is a luxury or budget hotel.

Of course, the most important requirement of staying at a hotel is getting a good night’s sleep and I’m disappointed to say that the Crowne Plaza Kensington failed us on this too. Though our immediate neighbours were silent, the entire hotel echoed to the sound of slamming doors throughout the night. This was topped off by the sound of empty bottles being tipped into the bins at 9am on a Sunday morning. So much for a lie-in! In addition to the noise from the hotel, our room door was rather loose in its frame causing it to let in light and rattle every time somebody went past. We ended up jamming our suitcase against it in order to get a bit of respite. Staying at the Crowne Plaza Kensington was not a relaxing experience – no wonder they supply you with aromatherapy products to try and help you sleep!

The Crowne Plaza Kensington is in a great location – opposite Gloucester Road tube station and near plenty of shops and restaurants. It has some very luxurious features – extremely comfortable rooms and plenty of finishing touches. However, it also has numerous unpleasant aspects – noisy rooms and rude, unhelpful staff. Whether you see it as an expensive budget hotel or a luxury hotel that is severely lacking, it is clear that the Crowne Plaza Kensington has something of an identity crisis.

We like this hotel for it's location and a bit larger rooms. Larger than the Holiday inn just 1-1/2 block away though the Crown Plaza may be a bit more pricy.

Got this hotel at an incredible rate, yet were still upgraded on check-out. The staff were absolutely fantastic throughout our entire stay. Such a credit to the hotel! The location was great, and very convenient to the Royal Albert Hall. We enjoyed breakfast on two different mornings and were very impressed both times. It almost didn't make sense that the rate was so low. Will definitely be back!