5 Nights at the Royal National Hotel

We have just returned from a fantastic 3-night stay at Royal national hotel in Bloomsbury London. From start to finish it was a comfortable and memorable experience. We were in the heart of Central London. All staff were friendly, professional, and eager to help. It’s clear that the management pays great attention to guest satisfaction. We also enjoyed the London Pub the stylish restaurant and cocktail bar. And delicious breakfast at city sleepers.

Really enjoyed my stay there. I started with 2 kids, and each of us got a single bed. I'm quite tall (1.9m) and fit in the bed well. The major downside is no AC, but you can get a fan to your room which helps a bit. Another downside is the windows that don't isolate street nose very well, although the location is quite quiet with the occasional ambulance/police siren, so it's bearable (I sleep with ear plugs anyway so I'm not bothered). Also the rooms are quite Spartan, with really just the very bare necessities, especially the renovated ones (I think they're called superior). Overall though, it's worth the price and you get what you pay for. I didn't pay much and didn't expect too much, but the stay was good. The location is quite good as well, with lots of places around and the Russell square station which is served directly from LHR. The staff were really nice and accommodating. I would especially like to thank the lovely assistant manager Jay who helped us with an issue with my booking (which was my fault). When I come back to London I'll definitely consider it again.

The location is amazing, I enjoyed walking around the area in the morning. The staff there are really friendly and helpful. I ordered a package to the hotel before my arrival and it was there waiting for me. The downsides would be the room would get really hot and the windows only opened so far, there was no real ventilation. The rooms could do with AC. Also there were no plugs beside the bed so if you needed to charge anything you would have to leave it at the desk. I did enjoy my stay overall and I would book there again. I liked how it wasn’t so central and I was away from the noise but it was also really easy to go to and from places as Russel Square is only a 6 minute walk and the bus stops are a 2 minutes walk away.

Great place to stay in London, it’s near from everything, and has taxi’s service all the day long. Also there’s so many bus stops really near the hotel. The room was cleaned everyday. We would have liked to be on a room with the beds attached but well, at least they got wheels to move it. So it was barely great. The breakfast was very varied and it had from sweet to savoury. The unique thing I would point out of everything was the bathroom, really narrow, and the bathtub was too high and it’s really challenging to get in and out. If we would have been older… I would have asked about another room.

We chose this hotel only because it was included in our British Airways package. We assumed that the airline wouldn’t offer such a terrible place, but unfortunately, we were wrong. The hotel is huge, always crowded, and it feels much more like a student dormitory than an actual hotel. Air conditioning/ventilation – We knew beforehand that the hotel didn’t have AC, but we expected at least some proper ventilation – normal windows or an air system. The windows only open about 5 cm “for safety reasons,” which is absolutely insufficient. Luckily, it was only around 20°C during our stay, so it was just bearable. But if you come here in summer during a heatwave, your room will turn into a sauna. I went to the reception to complain and asked if they could unlock the windows, but instead they offered us a fan. Unfortunately, it was so dusty that it was impossible to use. Noise isolation – Absolutely awful. It felt like the windows were wide open, even when they weren’t. We could hear everything from outside and had to sleep with earplugs. Shower – The water pressure was weak and disappointing. Breakfast – Without a doubt, the worst I’ve ever had in any hotel worldwide. While there was a full English breakfast selection available, everything was poorly cooked and low quality: the scrambled eggs were completely dried out, the beans tasted awful, the sausage was undercooked and rubbery, and the bacon was soft and unappetizing. I didn’t eat a single warm item, even though I usually enjoy English breakfast. If you want a proper one, go to The Marquis Cornwallis pub nearby – for £11 you’ll get a much better breakfast than paying extra here. The rest of the breakfast was just as disappointing: one type of ham, one type of cheese, yogurt, butter, some pastries, but no vegetables at all. The coffee was undrinkable – definitely don’t expect an espresso. Overall, this hotel was a huge disappointment and not at all what we expected from a British Airways package. I would strongly recommend avoiding it, especially in summer.