Bickenhall Hotel - London

1.2

Dear Sir /Madam, It is with regret that I have to contact you with regard to our stay at The Bickenhall Hotel . Thankfully we only had to endure one nights stay here. Our experience is as follows: We arrived at the hotel at 11.30 a.m. on Tuesday 16/10/07. We were immediately informed we could not have our room until 2.00 p.m. My wife specifically changed the check in time to 11:00a.m. on the Venere web site. We were told we could leave our luggage and come back. I declined due to the importance of the contents. So, we had two hours or so to kill in the rain with a 3 month old and a five year old. There is no mention of the presence of animals at the hotel. So, I was surprised to see the local tom cat on the couch in reception. Great if you suffer with allergies Well, we eventually get our room, number 12, first floor, no lift, or assistance with luggage and pushchair. By now, after being informed by reception that they have supplied a baby cot but its broken, I am really getting uptight. Into the room, trip up small step and hit the door within a door. Basically, you open one and immediately there is another one. My 5 year old asks for the tv to go on. Great picture! No reception. only sound and a vague picture. I went to reception to notify them and was greeted by a young lady who couldn't understand me, or couldn't be bothered to, that" tv 10 channel". What this meant, is beyond me. There was no cable or dish, only terrestrial channels. Which to my knowledge are 1-5. While I was there, I asked for a 7.00 a.m. wake up call. Should have known better, as it never transpired. The shower was nice and hot. Except it took 5 minutes to turn, sorry, push off ! Obviously faulty as it is a round dial which has to be pushed, not turned, at random until it decides to comply. The sink basin would not drain. Although, it was empty in the morning. So, I decide on the morning to speak with someone at reception. I explained the problems to the, AGAIN, hardly English s

7.7

We stayed in a triple room. For the price it was good. Nothing to complain about. Well, maybe one thing that seems to be common in english hotels, the floors that squeeck (squick?) when you or anybody in the room next dooor or above is/are walking on them. That is our only complaint.

2.9

I was first time in London and was awfully inspired of hotels price/quality dissonance.

8.0

Very decent hotel in a nice location. Bus stop is right there when you walk out the front door. Baker St. Station is 2 minutes walking distance (and I have short legs). However, Oxford street is not as close as it appears to be. I didn't actually walk it but it's probably going to take me 15 minutes or more. Room is very clean. We booked the triple room but got the family room instead (for the same price!) It was large, compared to other rooms in a generic London hotel. Shower is a little tight, but in general, everything worked well for us and we were very happy with what we got. Breakfast was decent as well. Everything was made to order so you can be sure that you get your English breakfast hot! For people who are deathly allergic to cats, they do own two cats but they only stay in the commons. Our room did not have a lick of cat hair anywhere. I am allergic myself, but I was fine the whole time I stayed there. Another thing is sometimes there are people smoking in the lobby (the owner, I think). Other than that, we had a great time and we would definitely stay there again!

7.9

E' un buon hotel, frequentato soprattutto da inglesi e famiglie. La camera che ci hanno dato era spaziosa e comoda, dotata di tv e il bollitore dell'acqua per il the o il caffè. Il bagno era molto piccolo pero' ben pulito, ci hanno cambiato le lenzuola e gli asciugamani tutti i giorni e riassettato la stanza. La colazione era ricca, si puo' scegliere tra colazione all'inglese e quella all'americana, l'inglese (English brekfast)comprende: uova, salsiccia, bacon, succo di frutta e pane tostato + the o caffè. La colazione e' talmente abbondante che non si ha piu' fame fino alle 6, per cui se dovete girare per la citta' ve la consiglio. Le indicazioni sulla mappa invece lasciano a desiderare, e' vero che e' vicina a oxford street, pero' la traversa indicata inizia con un altro nome e la via e' lunga, per cui non scendete a Marble Arch con la metro ma a Baker Street, da li' e' vicinissimo. Solo una cosa, il ragazzo della recepcion era fulminato, per cui non solo ha sbagliato mandandoci i prezzi nell' l'e-mail di conferma ma anche nel segnare i giorni! A parte lui, il resto del personale e' gentile, compreso la padrona che parla anche italiano. Ciao!

6.4

Bickenhall Hotel is a basically fair but not outstanding hotel to stay in. Firstly, the carpets and reception furniture are in need of repair, and arriving with luggage and being placed on the top floor without any hotel elevator was quite a struggle. The staff is friendly and helpful though, and the English Breakfast is a real treat. However at the price given, one could stay at a 3-star hotel with airconditioning (Bickenhall doesnt have any...). The only reason we decided to risk this was its proximity to Baker and Oxford Streets.

5.0

This is a small hotel in a partly renovated 200 years old house. The location is excellent, just off Baker St and with 9 bus lines stopping right in front of the hotel. It is a much better location than the popular Paddington or St.Pancras, not to mention the isolated Kensington.The whole street-Gloucester place is full of such hotels and probably any of them offers the same class of services. Bickenhall is a very basic hotel with elemental comforts, torn carpets, peeling paint and squeaking wood floors. You can always hear your neighbors' TV and conversations, but we were probably lucky and everyone was very comprehensive to turn the volumes off after midnight.They maintain the rooms clean though and we did not have any complaints from the service. It took the maids some time to get that 4 people need 4 sets of towels, but the receptionists were always helpful. Breakfast is abundant, with a choice between "full english" and cereals. They cook the "english" on oprder and this takes some time, so allow at least 1/2 hour for breakfast every morning. The clientele is diverse with lots of Middle-eastern men and some European tourists, but the hotel feels generally safe. The prices are not much cheaper that slightly higher end hotels, so if we could choose again, we would probably upgrade a little bit to a 3-star chain hotel in the same area. If you are using venere.com for your reservations, just be advised that the English are little slow to respond to e-mails and sometimes there are miscommunications: booked hotels show days on end as available on the web-site, names and addresses get mixed etc. my advice is to check directly with the hotel, even when you get your confirmation thru venere.