Heather L.
Yelp
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.