Royal National Hotel

We stayed hear last night and what an exaperiance. We booked double bed room wirh a single bed also for our child. When qe arrived 3 single beds very anoying as this left literaly no room to swing a cat. Checking in was so slow. We rang up to exsplain the situation. Aparently nothing they could do. Carryed on went around london the thw evening hit. 12 oclock at night teenagers playing knock door run down the corridors. We had a 9 year old child with us. Next door muat of been throwing a party so loude qe couldnt get the kid to sleep. Bareing in mind these teenagers were also walking up and down the corrdiors with just boxers on. Rang up and complained to reception. They took there time and at nearly 2 oclock in the morning we were moved room. Know they know we had a child with us as it was on the booking so why they put us on the floor they did i dont know. As the floor we moved to was full of familys with children. This compleatly rewined our trip as we spent the next day doing our sight seeing of literaly no sleep. They did offer us a free breckfast and a late check out. However at 165 pounds foe the night literapy no sleep a refund or monney back should of been offered im my opinion. The rooms were small. The staff were okay juat majorly slow at sorting the problem however were very sorry for the trouble. Worst part was if they would of moved us when we first asked our trip wouldnt of been rewind. Honestly pick any hottel other then this one. Premier in would of been better

I came here with a friend for his 49th birthday. It was a very low-key visit: just the two of us, a quiet coffee, and a tiny, unwrapped gift. Nothing that announced itself as a celebration.||So we were genuinely surprised when our coffees arrived and the gentleman serving them said, quite simply, “This is for the birthday boy.” I asked how he knew, and he explained that the waitress had overheard me mention it in passing.||What followed was an act of thoughtfulness that is so rare. The coffee came decorated with a birthday motif, and shortly afterwards we were brought a complimentary cake. It was beautifully done, with “Happy Birthday” written in elegant cursive, finished with a small heart.||The waitress was Christina, and the gentleman was Madhu. Their attention, discretion, and kindness turned an ordinary visit into something special and memorable. This is hospitality at its most refined: attentive without being intrusive, generous without making a fuss. You hardly ever see this level of care anymore, and they deserve every bit of credit for it.

Location is good, very close to Russell square station, rooms are big enough and clean, id say it was good value. Hotel overall was clean throughout and breakfast had a good selection… can i just point out the hot milk and hot chocolate powder… What a great idea!! Service was okay, it was very busy as you can imagine, so some staff were rushing which can be rude especially when they keep coming to the table to take away plates/bowls/cups etc… but the majority of staff were pleasant. Windows must be thin as we could hear all traffic and people going past even on the third floor but after a tiring day still managed to get some sleep!

The hotel service is good overall. But during checking in, the staff could only gave me one access card but actually y I need three cards as I booked triple room for 3 persons. The single bed is comfortable. For the coffee corner inside the room, only 3 cups provided but no glasses for water. If some bottles of distilled water provided inside the room would be great. For luggage storage, there were long queue for waiting. I checked out at around 10:45am and there were so many people waiting at the basement. If late checkout permitted would help ease this issue i believe.

Very old and very basic room. The only good thing is the location. Very basic amenities. Bathroom is the worst I’ve been compared to other hotels in the lower rank, shower head cannot be moved and fixed to the wall. The worst part is you have to manually mix and match the water temp like the old days… Dark vibe in the hallway as there’re many rooms and group tours. The hotel is very busy and staffs are drained, though they were nice enough. Would come back if only I have no other options.

Our stay started in the best possible way thanks to Mir at the reception. The check-in process was smooth, fast, and extremely pleasant. Mir welcomed us so warmly and spoke to us with such kindness and professionalism that we immediately felt at home. Her friendliness and positive energy truly set the tone for our entire stay. If everyone in hospitality were like Mir, every hotel experience would be perfect. Thank you, Mir, for such a wonderful first impression!

Booked to stay in a triple room for 1 night at a brilliant price! Arrived at 11am and the room was ready. The room was large and immaculate, the beds were very comfortable and we were even able to open the windows. Made use of the free luggage storage and whilst all of the staff were great, Facundo was exceptional. Will definitely be back!

I had an extremely unpleasant experience here and wouldn’t recommend to anyone. We arrive and straight away they had an unfriendly attitude when we were trying to collect our luggage. We then went to our rooms and the rooms were clean and the beds were comfortable. We were then walking in the hallway not causing disturbances to anyone. When we then went back to our rooms there was a loud and obnoxious knock on the door. They were fully aware that there was three teenage girls in that room with no adult. One of us answered and outside there was three managers or staff and two older ladies. The manager then proceeded to raise his voice and take a rude tone with me. I simply stated that what he was saying simply wasn’t true. He didn’t let me talk and continued to talk over me and stated ‘we will put you outside’. As 17 year old girls this is threatening and rude behaviour. Later on after this they stood outside of our rooms and continued to knock on our door until we answered. One of them also refused to let us leave the room which is completely unfair and absurd.

Super friendly and helpful staff. Rooms are clean. Was taken back in the numerous bad yelp reviews but seems the hotel since updated. Doesn't seem like all rooms are fully updated yet. One of our rooms has wood floor, the other still has carpet. But overall pretty decent. Walking distance to everywhere.

I hate to give the place two stars but I gotta give the place 2 stars. I'm came from the USA and this hotel was not the best spot to be. It was hot as the Sahara since i went in the summer and there was no A/C (so I was sweating up an absolute hurricane). The outlet was far from the bed which isn't that bad but not convenient either. The breakfast tasted like an English breakfast... interpret that how you will. Location was good tho cuz it was right next to a nice park which was filled with a combo of relaxing people and loud arguments. The rooms were small too. I'm not much of a complainer but gosh darn I will not be coming back oh golly gee.

The touring company I used booked my room here, and I didn't know where we were staying until shortly before my trip. If I did, I would've never picked this hotel. It's old, outdated, dirty, and uncomfortable. I didn't sleep at all, really pulled all nighters because the beds were so uncomfortable. Not to mention, there was no air conditioning. I noticed a blood stain on my sheet, and I messed up the bed to see if the staff would change out the sheets. Later that day, I saw the bed was neatly made, but the blood stain was still there. They don't give you clean sheets and won't change them out. Please don't go here. If you're on a budget, you'll fine some place else. But spare yourself!

Five nights later... The hallways have never been vacuumed. The same pieces of paper and dirt can be seen on the same spot. And no doubt our room's carpet was dirty too. We did not feel comfortable having housekeeping come in our room after seeing the hallway. They're not gonna clean our room anyway if the hallway is a reflection of their work. So we kept the DO NOT DISTURB signage out during our stay.

Bad place. TV didn't work. Receptionists couldn't help me with any requests. No tissues. Towels were really thin. Room was tiny. Lots of outside noise.

Idiots work at the front desk. Other people are nice but the rudeness, dismissiveness, and nonfunctional logistics of this hotel make it impossible to get anything done well. In particular, the 25-35 year old red head has major rudeness issues. Here's an example: I stand around at check out for many moments while the three people at the reception desk play on their personal cell phones and chat. They don't look at me even though they see me and are obviously ignoring me. With a final glance, the Indian woman looks at me and then goes to the back so she doesn't have to do work. The porter finally comes up to me and helpfully asks, "Anything I can help with?" I say I'm here to speak to reception check out. Obviously. In a one person line two feet from the reception desk facing them while they waste time on their phones. The porter then points at reception. Well, duh. He then says the redhead reception girl's name. She doesn't respond or look up from texting on her phone. He says it again louder. This time she looks up. She says, "Yeah?" I tell her I want to check out. It's check out time. She says, "You want to check in?" I say no. Check out. Since it's check out time. She says, "Room number?" I tell her. She says, "wait hm you stayed in City Sleeper? That's a room number in City Sleeper" (the adjacent hotel). I say no. She asks me to repeat the room number. I spell it out clearly digit by digit. She says no it's not a room number in Royal National Hotel. I insist politely that it is. She keys it in to her keyboard. Lo and behold, it is. She doesn't apologize. The rest of the interaction goes this way. Clueless and recalcitrant. She doesn't say thank you when done. I tell her can I store my luggage. She tells me to walk a long hallway in the building. I do but that luggage guy says when I arrive that he's full but he doesn't say it, he just waves me away and says "Full!" even though he is checking in two other people's luggage. I ask where to go and finally he says the other building. I go back down the long corridor, exit the building, go across the courtyard walkway, and enter the other building. A group of tourists is gathered around the luggage room entrance. They're dropping off luggage. But these idiot girls, when they get their luggage tags after dropping off their luggage, stand back in line in front of me so they can stand next to their friends but then proceed to jump on their cell phones and scroll through social media. Sheeple. Idiots and insecure girls who can't be one second away from standing next to their friends. If you get a tag and are done, move out of the way so the process can be efficient. One of them actually bumps my luggage and it falls down with a crash. Royal National Hotel severely needs training in courteous interactions, needs to kick out lazy staff, and is completely lacking in any semblance of operations. Early on, my TV remote control batteries weren't working. I called three times to have it fixed. After five hours, I call again. They act like they didn't hear it the first time even though it's the same woman who answers. Then again. Then again. Finally I ask for the supervisor. Surprise. A maintenance guy is sent up within five minutes. This hotel needs to get its act together in terms of front desk reception personnel who need to be way less lazy, inattentive, and argumentative with their customers.

Just returned from several nights here. Definitely would not stay again. A few comments... 1) No Air Conditioning in the rooms. This was a deal breaker. Fortunately the weather was pretty cool and breezy but still, at night, it got too warm for me. 2) It seems part of the hotel is still being renovated. That said, the entire place, from the lobby to the rooms seemed to be a big grungy. Dirty, old carpets, dirty lobby, etc. My room was spotlessly clean - and I'm a clean freak - so that was definitely a positive. I also had a very recently renovated bathroom that was nice but the tub wall was so high, we needed to help each other get in and out without slipping. If you are disabled, you will NOT be able to use this tub! It needed steps to get in and out of. 3) The school groups were ridiculous. The last two nights a school group moved in on our floor. The first night it was clear they were getting settled and I am am understanding that groups like this will be a bit noisy. After a while, they calmed down and all was well. The second night, fortunately my last, they were so obnoxious. Sitting in the hallways talking, laughing, etc. Once we got to around 11:30/Midnight, I opened the door to tell them to shut the hell up which fortunately was all I had to do and they scattered and calmed down. This doesn't seem to be isolated as there were probably a dozen large school groups there when I was there. It was OK. Overall I found it disappointing for the money and would absolutely not stay there again.

First impressions always last very long and I have to say I will never forget how we were treated at the hotel during check in. Be in mind we got here around 3:00 PM. At first the man that was helping me was very nice and I noticed on his employee tag that he spoke many languages. After we were checking in with our passports a very rude lady came in and started literally yelling at us. For no apparent reason. It was a weird feeling overall and I couldn't even believe it. I was a little bit thrown off guard for sure. While she was yelling about how many people we had let me start off by saying our group was only 8 people, which isn't large and all our passports were given to the man employee. The only thing I could think of was seriously because we were Asian and nothing else. The booking was already paid!! So the only thing they had to do was give us the keys and check us in. Overall after that first check in I will never step foot into this place. We came here for a few days and I'm glad it wasn't anything longer. The lady did not apologize or say anything afterwards, and just left... if that is how management is, I would say you don't need to see this hotel. They might be understaffed and overworked but still we didn't even say one word to you let alone anything to make this situation arise. Also the next day after we checked in a maid that didn't even knock on the door decided to come inside our room while we were in it! They do not have do not disturbs signs for you to put on your door. But we were in the hotel room, but that lady didn't even knock!!!! Overall my hotel experience of this hotel is sad. I wouldn't recommend this place even though it is so close to many things. The last day that I did stay here, there was also a fire alarm going off and everyone had to come out of the hotel room in the morning. But what I did notice is that a man in a wheelchair was unable to leave because the elevators were closed and there was only a staircase. We stayed with him for over 30 minutes and no one came up to help at all! It was one of the most saddest and upsetting times I've had. Also my first time ever seeing a complete fire drill happening and I would consider that it needs more improvements for the disabled! No one came to our floor.

I almost never leave a bad review but this hotel differently deserves one. I arrived at me check in time and had to wait over 30 minutes to be helped. After waiting in line I was told my room was not ready and I would need to wait a hour, after waiting a hour I was told again that my room was not ready and that they didn't know when it would be ready. I asked if they could call me when it was ready and they told me no. The customer service at this hotel is horrible, the staff does not care about its guests. This is evident by the long lines at check in and being told to wait for hours to get a clean room. While waiting I witnessed several others being told their rooms were not ready. I was so excited to be in London and my experience at the Royal National Hotel put a real damper on my vacation. I will never stay here again and will tell everyone that their are other hotels in London where they actually care about their guests.

BED BUGS!!!!!! Horrible beds, very dirty and dishevelled rooms, cleaning staff walked in on me twice! Once while in the bathtub! even though the do not disturb sign was up! and to top it off, my boyfriend and I both got bit by beg bugs!! When I requested my money back the manager refused and insisted that they would investigate, but I still needed to write a letter describing my injuries and what happened with the cleaning lady walking in on me! I highly doubt that the investigation will actually happen, and therefore I paid near £200 to not only have my privacy severely violated, but to also sustain unnecessary injuries.

I don't think there's much good to write about this hotel, other than the fact than the location - it's close to Russell square station, which helps if you're trying to stay close to a tube station for transportation. The hotel did go through a renovation, which is seen through the the upgraded textiles in the bathrooms, and furniture in the rooms, so I'll give them a star for that. Now to the cons: - There is no AC in the rooms. I don't understand what hotel building these days don't have AC....even the dingy old and disgusting Motel 6 hotels back in the U.S. have AC units, and motel 6 is not even a good hotel brand. It gets HOT in the room. Not just from the temperature from outside, and stale air on the inside of the room. But also the bathroom steam after a hot shower moves into the hotel room itself because guess what...THERES NO BATHROOM VENT EITHER. So good luck with the hot steam from the shower moving into the room. AND if your poop tends to stink, good luck because that smell also moves into the hotel room due to the lack of a bathroom vent...(good thing my poop smells like cotton candy and jasmine flowers......) The smell WILL LINGER in the hotel room for quite a while. - Reaching the front desk or house keeping via the room phone gets hard at times. The hotel staff working at the front desk do not use their common sense. In the night hours, it is IMPOSSIBLE to call the front desk to request toiletries or services. The front desk line will ring and ring and ring for 10 - 20 mins continuously, and no one will pick up. So just like any sensible human being, you go down to the lobby yourself to make it known to them in-person that you need toiletries. Then the staff say to you "you know you don't need to leave your room to ask for these, right? You can just call us from your room phone." Well, i would've stayed in my hotel room...if y'all had picked up the operator line like it's intended purpose...like....i can't even... The location and price of this hotel are what attract most vacationers. Also, the new renovations are nice. But you need AC units...not many people on vacation like to go back to a hotel with stale and hot air, or hotel lines that don't pick up.

Super outdated and small. Could use a face lift, but the rooms and bed were clean and super cheap so that's all that really mattered for me on this trip. It's right across from Russel Park and the underground train station was around the corner. If you plan to spend a lot of time in the hotel, I don't recommend it, but if it's just for a night or just to sleep, book it!

The hotel was very beautiful from the outside and the lobby as well. Breakfast was pretty good better than your usual continental. What drove me mad was the fact that there is absolutely no A.C. it gets so hot in the room that it's almost impossible to sleep. It feels better outside than it does indoors and for those reasons I dont think I will ever be coming back here. It was a painful 3 nights of extreme heat at night. The place is however very clean. I would suggest coming in the winter because at least there are heaters in the room.

Big, bright and clean. Reception is fast and courteous. If you get there before check-in time, there is a room where you can leave your luggage and get a ticket, much like a coat check. Elevators are small, but there are a few of them. Close to the London Underground, shops and pubs. Walking distance to anything you might need. Beds were comfy. Bathroom was awesome. Nice big shower! Windows do open, if you need fresh air. Decent space for a room with 2 single beds.

Let me start with a nice note, the worst hotel ever. The room was disgusting, dead bugs on a ceiling. The hallway and the room smell. The breakfast was terrible. Impossible to eat the bread. This hotel need big time renovation. No shampoo no soap was available. Anyway don't waste your time and money in this hotel.

If it's staying here and you're 18-35, most likely you're on a Contiki tour. If not, you'll bump into a lot people on a Contiki tour. Contiki partners with this hotel and throw all their tour people here. If you are a germaphobe, turn away now. I'm not, but this is the dirtiest hotel I've even been in. Even the questionable sex motel I stayed in Cholon in Vietnam is cleaner than this (no I didn't have sex there, it was cheap). The towel reeks of 5-day-of-sex mixed with cat urine. Amenities? A bar of soap. In addition to being unhygienic, it is also falling apart. I haven't seen a day where there are no elevators out of order. I've also had the opportunity of being trapped in the bathroom after the doorknob fell off. I can rough it, but it's certainly uncomfortable. Don't stay here if you don't have to. A little more money is worth it.

The location of the Royal National is probably the best part about it. It is right near the Russell Square Tube Station and the British Museum. There is the Brunswick Centre just down the street with a Boots, Waitrose, Starbucks, Patisserie Valerie, other restaurants (GBK, Giraffe, etc.), and some clothing stores (Joy, Oasis, River Island, Gap, etc.). So it is very convenient. The Royal National is a group hotel... Contiki is based in the basement, and the reason I have had the "pleasure" of staying here so many times is that we bring about 140 university aged students twice a year. Based on my dealings with them... customer service is not their specialty and check-in always seems to be a challenge with some "new" policy they have decided to enforce on us. They also do not do anything when you call to complain about the noise in the hallway from young children in a school group running up and down, screaming. The rooms are not entirely awful... the fact that you can hear everything that is going on in the hotel is the problem that I have. If you are a light sleeper (or even a heavy one), you may want to pack ear plugs. Some of the rooms are undergoing renovation, but I haven't seen one of those rooms yet. However, while the beds are not the most comfortable and the pillows are a bit thin, the linens and towels are always clean. I noticed a lot of people saying that the rooms are basic, but I would say that compared to the places that I have stayed... they are pretty standard. There is a t.v. in the room with a number of channels available and there are coffee and tea making facilities, which I highly appreciate. The coffee/tea may not be the best, but that can easily be remedied by popping into one of the stores near the hotel to grab your own brand of coffee/tea. The hotel does not provide shampoo, lotion, or tissues, just bars of soap. Although admittedly I never use those anyway unless it is an emergency. My bathroom is always nice and big with a very large tub, which I appreciate soaking in after a long day of walking and exploring London. Trying to get the elevator in the morning if you are on one of the top floors is very frustrating though... especially if you are trying to check out and you have luggage. I also don't go to breakfast anymore... it isn't really worth it. I tried to give it another go, but you can end up waiting in line just to go into the dining room, but sometimes (in our case) they will send you away to another dining room where you have to stand in line again. The continental breakfast isn't the greatest and from the sounds of it the full English breakfast isn't really much better. However, I find it hard to believe that when you are in London staying at a place like this that you are in your room all day... The hotel is a good base for those that are going to be out and about all day and just need a place to leave their things and maybe catch a couple of z's at night. If I were booking for myself though, I would look at one of their other hotels rather than the Royal National to try and get some piece and quiet.

Finally landed in London, now what?! I was meeting up with a Contiki tour group here @ the RNH as was excited upon walking into the courtyard. *Just because I'm giving it 2 stars doesn't mean I think it's crap... it just that yes "I've experienced better." The grounds itself are large (big open courtyard in the center of two towers where you will see tourists, buses, taxis and everything else in between). Check in seemed to take a while, but I assume thats a given taken it's a cheaper hotel and right in the heart of everything. Super convenient if you're just looking for a place to crash. Note that once you get inside, finding your room may be near to impossible! (So many hallways, doors, corridors, oi!) They have a little pub downstairs which was pretty cool - went and grabbed a beer with my new roomate and new found friends. Yeah, I might stay here again assuming I want to stay somewhere cheap, who knows though! It did it's job in providing me a bed (not comfy) and a shower & toliet. Think of this place more as a hostel. Also there is a holding place for luggage which is super convenient if you need to checkout early & still want to roam around London!

Definitely a dated hotel that if your on a budget does the job to sleep and shower. Theirs two buildings north and south. My GF and I stayed in the south tower on the first floor. We came during a heat wave and their was no AC which was killer. The location of the hotel has a few pubs around but you definitely have to drive to get to monuments Concierge was either helpful or a j*rk. The room we stayed in was dated and had two beds. No working TV. Two complimentary towels. A decent restroom. For sure two stars

The hottest time in London, we stayed in this hotel. No air condition and no fans. We were registered for three nights, but left after one. Noisy and hot.

My lovely bedfast is shown In the picture... this hotel literally only had orange and grapefruit slices and bread rolls. This is a joke check in last night took over an hour I would not recommend this place to my worst enemy plus there are tons of children here two thumbs down!

I've stayed here a couple of times, but usually only for a night or so. The rooms serve their purpose -- not fancy or comfortable, but a place to rest your head. The single is extremely small! :/ There's an internet cafe inside, small markets around the area, and transportation is readily accessible. All in all, if you're not looking for a "nice" hotel, this is an okay place for a budgeting traveller.

Someone stole my son's laptop from his locked room. We went to report it and found three more people whose laptops were stolen from their locked rooms. Not only did the hotel fail to help, the security stonewalled on letting me talk to a superior and outright lied (based on what the customer liaison they didn't want me to talk to eventually told me) about whether they had CCTV footage and whether they could give us information about their investigation (as if they'd do one). In all cases these were groups being preyed on and the hotel wanted nothing more than to get rid of us. Sounds like an inside job to me. I would never stay there again (the black mold in the bathroom it turned out was the least of our problems) and would hope that anyone in charge of group bookings would not subject their clients to the dangers to health and personal property.

I would not have stayed here if it wasn't for the trip that I booked. Both of my stays at this "hotel" have been for the sake of simplicity via a Contiki tour. I looked around for other hotels in similar price range for what we were offered. My first stay was 6 years ago and it seems as though they haven't cleaned it since then. There is no WiFi in the rooms, the lobby is chaos, and the concierge desk is rude. If all you need is a place to sleep, I would still recommend not here. The television barely worked and everything was sticky. There was a mystery stain on the box spring. We dropped something under the bed and had to move the bed to get to it... I want to forget how disgusting it was. The only good thing about this hotel is how close it is to Russell Square which is a great location if you like walks and want to get to places like Big Ben or Buckingham Palace. They aren't close, but not un-walkable. Russell is a tube station just a 4 minute walk from the National which made it very easy to get to from Heathrow.

Looks very deceiving, nice lobby and next to lots of stuff but the room me and my husband stayed in was very old and outdated, strong smell of cigarettes, i am not a smoker so this make a very unpleasant experience

The RNH will either happily align with lowered expectations, or piss you off enormously and ruin your trip. The good: The front desk staff seem quick and efficient, considering the constant busloads of check ins that seem to arrive each day. Our room was very basic but clean and renovated with some kickass bathroom fixtures like a big bathtub and a seven foot high shower head with firehose pressure. Our beds were very firm but comfortable. It's close to stuff: tube station, currency exchange, HSBC, post office, the British Museum, cafés, and a great little mall. Breakfast is included with your stay, and is a nice option if you're short on time or cash. The bad: One of the concierges was really rude. The only 'amenity' provided was a tiny bar of generic soap and the towels were the texture of concrete. There is NO wi-fi in the rooms. You have to shlep downstairs to the chaotic, noisy main lobby and get an access code that changes every few hours. Their breakfasts are dreary, formica topped cafeterias populated solely by unhappy staff and sullen, high strung tourists. For a truly institutional experience, pay £5 for the 'Full English Breakfast" which looks like it was prepared by Lunch Lady Doris. Cost of a smile: your soul! Ultimately, if you're budget-minded, not internet dependent, and need a basic crash pad for just a few nights, the RNH will probably suit you fine. If you want more, you'll be happier somewhere else.

Okay... well to start this hotel was absolutely appalling. The hotel facilities need to be updated and the food is actually not edible. I tried to take a bite of the bread and it was beyond stall. Along with this the rooms were actually in the shoddiest condition I've ever seen. The rooms feel dirty and so does the hotel. The staff are not there to support you or help you; they were actually mean. I definitely would not recommend this place to anyone with a soul. I will always be grateful that I don't have to stay here forever.

Worst hotel I've ever stayed at This was a mandatory stay for me due to going on Contiki. Terrible hotel and overpriced. The walls are thin, be prepared to hear everything in the room next to you. The staff is extremely rude. Upon arrival I was immediately treated terribly at the front desk and that set the precedent for the entire stay here. Wifi is spotty and rarely works. You will have to go to a cafe down the street. Worst of all, I am confident that my Oakley sunglasses were stolen by the staff at this hotel. I was unsure about this at first and thought I had just misplaced them but others in my Contiki group confirmed that they also had this issue. Be very careful to lock up your valuables in this hotel! DO NOT STAY HERE!

By English standards this is a 4 star hotel. Very comfortable beds, shower and toilet inside the room. Free English breakfast in the morning. The staff is friendly and have a luggage check for excess luggage. There is free Internet in the lobby including a bar. This is usually my first choice when staying in London until I find something cheaper/better. It is located next to the Russel Square station which is less than a 5 minute walk from the hotel and there are a few convenience stores and restaurants around the area. There is also a spa in the area which has an amazing steam room. So all in all good location, good hotel. Very satisfied.

This isn't a 5-star hotel at all, but it was perfect in the sense, that is very close to the Russell Square tube station, next to Russell Garden & a couple of blocks from the British Museum.......all for a very low price!!!!! Of course, there is something, u will have to give up..... the rooms are very small & basic, oh the decor hasn't been updated in a very long while, but I honestly thing that it is worth it. I really only used the room to sleep a few hours & shower!! When I have the money to splurge on The Lanesborough Hotel, I will, but if I want to travel, why should I spend a lot of money in a place I won't spend a lot a time in... So at the end the hotel is clean & cheap........ for me it was perfect!!!!!

For me, this hotel was awful. The double room we had was tiny and quite dirty. The bed was hard, the linen was uncomfortable and over starched. Everything about it screamed 1960's...quite possibly never been updated since then? It was a nightmare of a maze to get to our room too. There are 2 parts to this hotel and I never did manage to go down the same elevator I went up in, you totally lose your bearings. The "full English" consisted of a tea urn full of manky tea and a bit of toast. You had to pay an extra fiver on top of what we'd already paid to get breakfast, a total joke. We were also given a dinner voucher for the nearby Presidential which fared no better. Avoid at all costs!!! This is a hotel the travel reps will try and push on you for one of these "Superbreak" deals...SuperS**t more like.

Royal National Hotel is located within a few minute walk from British Museum and it is close to The Underground subway system. The exterior reminds me of a really old hospital. When I first entered my room, I was lucky to see that the carpets looked new and clean, the beds and pillows were not too firm and not too soft. The white sheets for the pillows and beddings were nice and clean. There was even a flat screen TV in my room. It looked like there were renovations done inside my room. The bathroom was small. Allthough there was a full size bathtub, the bathtub itself takes about half of the space of the entire bathroom. It was disappointing that there were only two large bath towels inside the bathroom. There were no kleenex tissues, shampoo, or conditioner too; just two tiny soap bars. I was really fed up with the two faucet system for the sinks. One faucet for hot water and one for cold water. It's truly strange that they wouldn't update it to something more modern and more North American. The hot water is almost boiling water hot, so you have to be careful if you decide to wash your face. There was free continental breakfast and it was quite a joke. The sliced white bread tasted like cardboard and I advise people to not eat it. I felt like puking after taking a bite, it was that gross. There was also free cereal, but sadly, the milk that they served was warm, and not cold. I ended up having a tummy ache after eating the cereal. There were also chopped up fruits like oranges and grapefruit and it tasted like soft mush. If you're planning to go out for an entire day, don't eat the free continental breakfast. You'll end up being SICK!!! Pros: rooms were clean, beddings and beds were clean and comfy. Powerful shower heads!!! Cons: Seperate hot and cold faucets, bathroom was very small, only two towels, and no shampoo or conditioner. Two tiny soap bars. Flat screen TV with no HD = poor picture quality. Continental breakfast.

I have stayed here multiple times because it is the starting and end point of a tour group for 18-35 year olds that I have traveled with. Be aware that there seems to be many tour groups staying at the Royal National Hotel. Pros: it's near the Russel Square Underground station. The doors lock. There's a bar. There's wifi in the lobby. That's pretty much it. Cons: it's old and the rooms were not clean by any stretch of the imagination. I slept in a sleeping bag on top of my bed with all of my clothes on. The maid came ridiculously early and we told her to return later. When we came back that night, we assumed that she never did because nothing looked different- but alas!...she had. How do we know? There were some new soaps thrown on top of the sink. "Worlds laziest maid," quipped my traveling companion. Indeed. The beds are uncomfortable. The pillows suck. The only reason I am giving this two stars is because of its location to the Russel Square tube, that's pretty much where the plaudits for RNH end. Russel Square is a rather tame area with nothing much to do other than leave. There must be better hotels in London in the price range. Find them.

Stayed Dec 27 - Dec 29. 2012. I stayed in this hotel on a weekend trip to London, booked through Thomas Cook, the deal included Rail and Hotel. The hotel is situated close to Russell Square, a hot spot for tourists. Russell Square tube station is a nightmare to navigate on a morning. It is packed with tourists who don't know where/what they are doing. Although the location of the hotel is only a 10 minute walk from Kings Cross, that is not a good enough reason to stay here. The staff were friendly and helpful, there just wasn't enough of them. Our room was on the 7th floor. The lifts are busy at all hours, especially on a morning. Having breakfast in this Hotel is hard work. The hotel accommodates a large number of visitors, however the restaurant only seats a TINY proportion of that. Your best bet is to go down early, anything after 9am and you'll be lucky to find a seat. Even if you do find a seat, you'll have to clear up other guests left overs before you attempt to go up for food. The staff work non stop at breakfast but it's impossible to keep up with the flow of guests. There was no thermostat in our room, we slept with both windows open and left them open through out the day. Even this didn't cool the room down. The room was spacious but the decor was majorly out dated. The bathroom was also spacious but not up to a good standard. The shower curtain was stained with i don't know what and the water pressure of the shower left a lot to be desired. The shower head was also pointed into the wall and wouldn't rotate. You can leave you're bags at the hotel once you've checked out for 50p an item. I don't care what a hotel offers as long as it is Clean and Comfortable. Our stay was OK at best, although the RNH is probably cleaned to a high standard, it just feels dirty, possibly because everything is so old. BOTTOM LINE: Good price / good location. PROBLEM: It seems every single tourist thinks the same, which creates chaos inside and outside of the hotel. It needs refurbished and more staff on hand daily to deal with the high turnover of customers.

Hot breakfast is good to stock up on before a day on the town! Rooms were not 100% clean. Definitely had a black hair on my side table right beside a very dusty remote right when I arrived. Mold forming on the ceiling above the shower

Staying on the Bedford Street side of the Royal National Hotel, it's Saturday night in London and the weather has been nice and there is a massive gathering of drunks outside in the street at 2am. This Hotel is basic and while the staff has been nice and the room are clean there are 1600 rooms here and the tour bus come in with people ready to party. Just FYI...there may be quieter hotels in London, since I actually rent a hotel room to sleep in...I have to give this place a 2 stars. Plus the free breakfast is cereal, cold toast, crappy coffee and some nice fruit sections.

There is much to like about this hotel, but I have to give it one star for two main reasons that made it just pure misery to stay there. First, what's good. The location near the Russell Square tube stop is great, and the room was fine. The bathroom was spacious and the place was pretty clean, though for sure it was no-frills (bring your own shampoo and such). Our WiFi didn't work (in general, I wouldn't count on it in all areas of the hotel), but the IT team responded and got us hooked up with a new box directly in our room, which was so nice. All good. Here are the dealbreakers, though: YOU CANNOT STAY HERE IN THE SUMMER. Seriously, you must not. I know it's rare for cheap London hotels to have A/C, but the problem here is that they do not have A/C, the rooms heat up like OVENS (it's a set of high-rise apartments jammed together), and they BOLT the windows CLOSED so you can only open them 2 inches (not an exaggeration-- 2 INCHES). Even when temps fell to 65F at night, our room was well over 80 degrees, and in the daytime, it was unbearable. If you do crack your window the 2 inches (you will), you need to be prepared for the other dealbreaker: the noise level. I had on Bose noise-cancelling headphones, we CLOSED the windows, and still I was up all night with the shouting and singing from the courtyard below, until about 3am each night/morning. In the Fall or Winter, I think you would be fine: no heat issues, noise would be less and windows could stay closed-- it would be worth a shot. But we felt like we almost didn't survive this. (Hot tips: there are fans available to a lucky few for a deposit, so go early in the morning to housekeeping to beg; we got one on our second day and it helped a tiny bit; there are only two outlets in the room, so with 3 people, that was a challenge-- be warned). I can't recommend this to anyone who plans to stay from May-September. NOPE.

This hotel is huge, really huge, and not royal at all - its kinda run down. With that said, it's well situated in Russell Square near the University of London, Kings Cross/St Pancreas, and the London Tube with direct service to Heathrow on the Piccadilly Line. The rooms are basic and somewhat outdated with weak free wifi service (it really only worked in the main lobby) but REALLY good showers. The water pressure was so strong and refreshing that I didn't need to shower for a week after staying here (I did, but that's not the point). They also give you free dinner on your first night (it's cafeteria food, but London is expensive, so eat it and pretend it's good). Overall, a good place to pass out after a night of pints with your mates and to clean yourself up the next day - cheers.

We've stayed here thanks to BA package discounts the three times we've been to London. In terms of location, functionality, in-house pub, and quirkiness this place is hard to beat. Mind you we haven't stayed there since 2008 so this review will likely be a little out of date. Location & functionality: It's a no-frills hotel in Bloomsbury with affordable beds, quick access to the Tube, and low foot-mileage to various wonderful parts of the wonderful city. In-house pub: We preferred the old one before they opened the door between the pub and the lobby, but either way it's handy--especially so when we learned about the archaic closing laws during out first stay back in 2003. (Our second time there some Icelandic teenager started macking on my wife while I was in the bathroom. He looked so scared and was so apologetic when I came back--it was cute and completely ridiculous!) Quirkiness: Again I haven't been in years but memories include: vending machines selling beer and "Hooch" as well as crisps, paperbacks, and maybe umbrellas; astroturf lined elevator with posters advertising milkshakes (exciting!); breakfast area without hard dividing lines between inclusive continental and non-inclusive full English breakfast buffets resulting in near frantic staff checking out your ticket any time you get near the dividing line, which happened a lot because one of the main tea stations was there. Looking forward to coming back some time in the early part of this decade!

Just had a great stay at the Royal National Hotel, was on a 4 night stay with city sleeper, the room we had was 6109 and was lovely and clean, beds were very comfortable, bathroom was really clean, breakfast was either continental or a full English with a great choice, and the staff couldn't of been any better will definitely stay there again.

It's like sauna in the middle of summer. 24 degrees outside but more like 40 degrees in the room. No fans, no aircon and windows barley open.

We arrived at the hotel one week ago with my two children and when we reached our destination, we entered the room there was a strong pungent smell of rotten cheese that has been in the Chihuahun desert that has been there for six centuries. We were horrified, it was honking... When we opened the door we were in utter shock when we saw that someone had peed on the sink and left a poo in the toilettoilet. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTANG. The smell lasted the whole week. When my seven year old son went for a shower, then when he left we realised that non if the water actually touched him and all went on the floor.Disgraceful! When my five year old daughter pulled back the covers we were utterly mortified to find my daughter ask me what these unusual stains were I feel like I dont have to go any further with that statement... I do not think that this is not acceptable! When I took my children to your "continual" breakfast there was only British food and cooked meals were extra, we had to live off of toast and cereal for for seven days. The showers were either skin boiling hot or bone shattering cold no in between. The windows could only open a maximum of one inch and I know that this was done to prevent suicides but it could have been at least two four inches so then we could actually breathe and not die from heat exhaustion. I am a fashion designer and the colour scheme was ABSOLUTELY disgraceful like beige and white that's it. After we came back from this so called breakfast the door seemed to not open and we had to get assistance to open our door this was just upsetting. This hotel is honestly disturbing and not a good place for children please check.

Yeah, its shit. But who the fuck cares? Its cheap, the rooms are clean, and the location is killer. Just go in knowing that you'll have to hear hordes of drunken Russian kids bellowing all night in the courtyard. Wouldn't want my grandmother staying here but...well, I don't travel with my grandmother. And you shouldn't either, ya weirdo.

Our first "superior" hotel room accommodation courtesy of Contiki. If you've ever wanted to know what its like to stay in an orphanage, this hotel is for you! The beds are tiny and the hotel itself is quite musty. I did enjoy that the toilet is separate from the shower and sink area. On the other hand, when I took a shower- our bathroom was flooded. The location is really close to Piccadilly- we ended up walking home from there and it took about 15 minutes. Lastly, free wifi with check-in but it is slow (of course) and only works on the first floor area. You must get the code from the front desk.

The hotel is huge and not in the nice way. In contrast, the area where we ate our breakfast is considerably smaller than the one a hotel of that size should have. We had to wait in line everyday to finally be able to get in the room to eat our breakfast. Also speaking of breakfast, the only one you will get is bread with jam unless you are willing to pay 5£ every day for an English breakfast. Also the WiFi in the rooms if not in general was slow and especially at around 9-11 PM when there was a lot of traffic. On the bright side, the hotel is close to many bus and underground station and very close to the city centre. Finally the hotel appeared to be moderate clean.

On the bright side, the lobby was appealing, the bathrooms were nice, and the whole place generally seemed somewhat clean. However, the sheets had holes in them, the towels were lower quality than one could find at a bargain shop, and one of the beds in our room had a spring poking through.

I was here on a weekend trip, and for that the hotel was fine. The staff was fine, but could easily have been better. One guy was just an ass, to be honest. The breakfast was okay, with "warm breakfast" as a buy option, but the standard should be fine. The best thing was the location so close to a metro station. 3/5 stars, would stay here again for a weekend, but would like something better.

Just stayed here about 2 weeks ago. I definitely do not recommend this hotel. The only good thing about this hotel is its location. It is close to an underground train station and that's the only good thing. The hotel is large and is constantly busy around the clock. It's also close to a pub which adds to the noise level. I traveled with 2 other people and got 3 small twin "beds". I say "bed" because they felt more like roll away beds. The beds barely fit in the room. The maids came to clean, but all they did was take out the trash and make up the beds. They never changed the linens once the entire week we stayed there. And they never cleaned our bathroom. They did give us new towels, and that was it. The shower curtain stunk up the bathroom so bad. I don't think they have washed it since they purchased it. It smelled of humidity and piss. There was no AC in the room either, which didn't help. We were suppose to stay here for 9 nights but I couldn't take it anymore, after a week I made reservations elsewhere. I booked the hotel thru AAA, and paid close to $250 a night which is total bullshit. This hotel isn't worth a single dime. Even the inside of the building is disgustingly dirty. Save your money, and stay elsewhere. I booked the Holiday Inn for the rest of my stay in London, paid $197 a night and it was 100 times better.

I ended up spending a week in this flea bag hotel as my cousins,who I met in London, booked it. It was during a heat wave and it was extremely uncomfortable as there was no AC, not even a lousy ice machine. It was most definitely the worst place I have ever stayed. The beds were uncomfortable and old. The pillows were awful. The rooms were extremely dated. I would not put a dog there!