The Buckingham

Smooth check in, very helpful and pleasant staff. Excellent location near central London.

Our London visit was benefited by the stay in the Buckingham - prime location for sightseeing and the West End!

Had a great time. Hotel is conveniently located and well appointed. Would definitely recommend it to those looking for a decent, low key stay in London

The room we got was very small and very hot

This was the only hotel on a 22-day trip to England and Wales that lacked wi-fi - and they didn't think it was important. I am sure that when I booked it, the rate included breakfast, but it didn't, and breakfast is VERY expensive. Almost no one eats in the hotel. It is quiet, though, and the bed was very comfortable. Large bathroom with counter space. The eastern European staff had very strong accents and frequently had to repeat things for us to understand them. They do not have rooms ready before the official check-in time but will hold your bags. Late checkout is possible at L15 per hour!

Not a typical hotel. Feels more like a B&B. At check in I was given keys to a room that had someone's luggage in there, .. twice. Finally, at the third try I got an unoccupied room. Worked out well, though, since I was upgraded each time. The room was great. Huge. It was cool, so I didn't need A/C, but I'm not sure if it has any. Staff were friendly, but very disorganized, untrained, and quite clueless at times.

The hotel was central but still quiet and peaceful. The rooms were MUCH larger than we expected. The staff very polite. We would definitely visit this hotel again.

I just returned from a 7 night stay at the Clarendon. We had booked the Buckingham Hotel, which is just next door to the Clarendon. Upon arrival, we were told that we were to stay at the Clarendon instead and had to wheel our luggage slightly down the block (this is after flying overnight and having little sleep). We had booked 2 rooms and had requested that they be next to each other. The rooms we were given were on the lower ground floor. The hallway of the lower ground floor was dank, musty and exceedingly warm and smelled when you descended the stairs. The first of our rooms faced the street. There are no dressers to put your clothes away; just these really small end tables with doors on them. Most of our clothes were just laid out on top of them. When I asked the front desk if I could have a luggage stand to get my suitcase up off the floor, he said that they don't have them. The in room safe was locked and we couldn't open it (had to have someone come and do that for us). There are no clocks in the room. This room faced the street. We were able to open the window and get a nice breeze during the day, but at night the window had to be closed due to the noise. The second room we were given had a king size bed and a smaller bed, but the bed was back in an alcove right next to a door which led to the outside courtyard. I am sure that the door can't be opened from the outside, but it was stilly a bit unsettling to have the door in the room. This room is near the kitchen and the kitchen staff would come out and talk, making for a less than restful sleep. Reception and the dining room are directly above these rooms and people walking around is heard all night. The second room's dead bolt lock did not work and despite asking for it to be fixed, it never was. On the fifth night, there was a flood in the lower ground floor and we were moved to rooms on the first floor. These rooms were MUCH nicer than the rooms we were initially given (no musty basement smell), although these rooms too had their problems. We had a sleeper sofa in our room that completely became unhinged when opened. The carpets are somewhat stained. The whole place just seems a bit shabby once you look beneath the surface. We didn't spend a lot of time in our room as were were touring about for most days. Breakfast costs 17 pounds for continental and 25 pounds for full english. The thought of spending 100 pounds on breakfast being absurd, we opted to go to Covent Garden for breakfast (one tube stop away from Holborn) or bought pastries, fruit and juice from the Tesco express one block over. The location is lovely, close to the British museum and 3 tube stops (Russel Sq, Holborn and Tottenham Court Road). However, I would not recommend a stay there. It was ok, but you get what you paid for.

Beautiful hotel with a real feel for London! Our room was spacious- very spacious for a European city hotel- with a queen sized bed, kitchenette tucked away behind doors, large closet, large (tub/shower and shower) bathroom, safe, and a full length mirror (one of my criteria for a good hotel). The location was a short walk to your choice of three tube stations, and just around the corner from the residential street were several pubs/restaurants and a small market that was open late every night and on Sunday. It's also just a short inexpensive taxi ride from St. Pancras station and the Eurostar. The staff was very accomodating. The internet access for travelers without a laptop is at a sister hotel across the street (there are four hotels together on the street), which was really no problem, and although we didn't eat breakfast, I think it's at another hotel too. The four share a concierge, but whenever we had a question someone got back to us right away with our answer. My only- and it is realy the ONLY warning- is that the web site for Grange Hotels, of which the Buckingham is a part, clearly says it is air conditioned, and it isn't at all. (the Orbitz overview makes no such claim). Although we were there at the end of July, we were lucky and the temperature never got above 20C at the hottest time so it wasn't an issue. There was also a good fan in the room if we wanted it. The big windows were easy to open for a refreshing breeze. I consider the Buckingham to be among the most comfortable stays we have ever had- a very pleasant surprise.

Very quiet and the staff is very kind and with excellent hospitality. The room decoration is very good also. Next time, I’ll bring my family to stay there and visit London.