Charing Cross - a Guoman Hotel - London 51.50799, -0.12368

This was a 1 1/2 star hotel at best. Our room was filthy and old. The carpet, window treatments and upholstery was sticky and dirty. Fixtures were falling off the ceiling and there were holes in the bathroom tiles. The garbage can lid in the bathroom was broken and every time you step on the can, it falls off. I left the lid off for the cleaning staff and every morning, they would put the broken lid right back. The ONLY elevator in that part of the hotel was not working for 2 of the 3 days that we were there. Everyone had to use the stairs but it smelled like urine.

The hotel is in an excellent location, walking distance from many sights. The room we stayed in was very spacious and very clean. Would use this hotel again.

The hotel's location near Trafalger Square was very convenient for dining, visits to Covent Garden and Buckingham Palace. Concierge service was both helpful and friendly.

I have stayed at this hotel a few years ago and I went back d/t location and service; but this time I found that we had to call about getting facecloths every day plus there were no directions on how to use television, which had unusual steps to take to get to work and no directions on how to use telephone message service. The desk and housekeeping were very responsive but a hotel of this caliber (under different ownership this time) should not have simple procedures to iron out! I had to really complain (politely) about the linen service. Very frustrating but otherwise pleasant stay. Can't beat location if you want to be in London.

I'd booked this hotel for its location and facilities and until we arrived, I hadn't realised just what a perfect location it was-next door to Trafalgar Square and above Charing Cross Station. The only problem was they forgot to give us a wake up call that we'd booked for 5am. Fortunately we'd backed up with our mobiles but it would have been disastrous! The hotel was really clean, the rooms of a high standard and very spacious.

The hotel itself is beautiful. However, only part of the hotel has been renovated so if you think you're getting a great deal it's probably because you'll be in the older part of the hotel. With this in mind though, even the older part of the hotel is extremely well maintained and clean. The service is great and the location can't be beat. It's close to everything! Would definitely stay there again.

Great location. The people at the front desk were very accomdating

Excellent staff, hotel and location!!!

Hotel was perfectly located right above Charing Cross Station, a stone's throw from Trafalgar Square. It was full of class and character, but with all mod cons as it had been relatively recently refurbished. My room was very well soundproofed, and with easy-to-use air-conditioning, proper black-out curtains and a beautifully comfortable bed, I got some very good nights' sleep. The staff were extremely friendly, professional and helpful. The bar was small and cosy with a pleasant atmosphere, if a little pricey. We didn't try the breakfast (again, rather pricey at £16+). I would certainly stay here again if I got another good deal on the room price.

Hotel is around the corner from Tralfalgar Square. It is above the Charing Cross station. Nice hotel at a great location. Wish that internet access was included in the room price.

Reasonably priced for central London and in a fantastic location to see the sights. Rooms aren't massive but are big enough and have controllable air con. Would stay here again.

We have tended to stay in Bloomsbury before when we have been on theatre trips but we booked a bit late this time and couldn't get in so we stayed here. I was concerned that it would be very noisy. Although it was noisy outside with the window open, air-conditioning in the room mean't that it wasn't an issue and inside the hotel it was really quiet. We were in the Buckingham wing in a superior king. It was a lovely big room and it was ready when we arrived at 1pm. Perfect spot not just for the west end but also for the south bank. Would definately go back - didn't eat so cannot coment on food

I read the reviews before booking and specifically asked for a room in the older section upon checking in; I had to upgrade to a jr. suite but ultimately it was well worth. The top-floor room was spacious, had sweeping views of the Strand and modern amenities. My lone complaint is that internet is not provided and you had to buy these pricey cards to access it -- four star hotels should provide this gratis in this day & age. Aside from that, few complaints; good price, attentive staff, good value and fantastic location on the Strand a few blocks from Trafalgar Square and easy walking distance to many sites....and directly above the Tube for those that aren't.

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The hotel was in a great location in the middle of all the action and near a lot of the major sites. There are also a lot of nearby restaurants, pubs, and cafes to enjoy. The hotel overall is very nice, modern and great service. Our room that we got was in the older part of the hotel and was a bit of a walk from the main (and only entrance). Although the room was a bit older it was very clean, comfortable, and had a few bonuses, like a bidet, waterfall shower, and a clothes press. I would definitely receommend this hotel it is a great value and convenient to the Tube, the train, and walking to lots of fun things to do.

This hotel is located right next to a Tube station and a railway station. It is within walking distance to many theatres, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery. The Concierge is extremely helpful.

This hotel was close to everything! Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Eye, Picadily Circus... Everything- Room was great- bathroom was wonderful- Perfect location for a great trip!

Hotel facilities were good and the staff very helpful. The room was very tired and had basic faults such as wallpaper coming away from the walls and repairs that did not match the original features. A very good location but the room decor was very disappointing.

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There was a large amount of construction in front of the hotel making it difficult to get in and out of the hotel by car. We had to park several blocks away and walk with our luggage.

The location is fantastic, you can walk to so many places, great restaurants and pubs are everywhere. The hotel is lovely with good amenities. Our room was spacious, and nicely kept. We stayed in the main section of the hotel and understand the rooms are not as nice in the additional tower.

This is not a four star hotel. The superior room was really small considering European standards. But what really killed me was that I got hit with an £80 bill for using a £5 calling card to call home, even though we used the call free number...so be aware that this four star hotel charges to make free calls...

We were beyond happy with this hotel, I really can't say enough good things about it. The location is really ideal for everything. The place was just lovely beyond our expectations, staff was very helpful, and the bar lounge was very cozy.

The location so near to charing cross station [ the hotel is over the station but we had no noise problem] and to covent garden trafalga sq,the embankment/houses of parliment/law courts a sight-seers dream! our room was "executive" and spacious - free upgrade.the hotel is conference based and has so many conference rooms it took a while to find our way about! also a deposit of £100 was taken on my card which they promised would be refunded within 6 days - which i didn't much appreciate but otherwise i would recommend it

Excellent location. Comfortable room, but be careful of the water temperature in the shower. We were blasted with extremely hot water then freezing water during each shower.

I recommend this hotel if you can get it at a reasonable price. Not knowing anything about this hotel prior to going to London, my major concern was that the rooms would be noisy because of the location on a busy street, next to the underground station. This was not a problem at all. I got a room in the Buckingham section and, as far as I could tell, none of the rooms faced the major street outside. The location is ideal, if you like a high energy area filled with tourists, pubs and theaters. The added bonus to having the underground station next door is that there is a taxi waiting area. I wouldn’t elaborate on the other good qualities because they have been thoroughly covered in other reviews. The negatives were minor. My room was on the smaller size, but standard for European hotels. At check-in I was offered to upgrade to a larger room at a higher rate per night, but I declined – it turned out that I was very happy with the room I got. The front reception staff was not particularly friendly, especially after I turned down the offer to upgrade my room. As mentioned before, I stayed in the Buckingham section of the hotel, which is the next building over – access is through the main hotel but requires taking two separate elevators and a moderate walk, which may be a negative for some. A taxi ride from Heathrow is expensive (note that the cab driver may know this hotel as The Thistle Charing Cross Hotel, not as Charing Cross - a Guoman Hotel as listed in hotel.com's website).

We arrived at 9:30am on a Monday morning and they allowed us to check in because the room was available...this was a nice bonus after a long trip to London. The location of this hotel can't be beat. The Underground and the national rail stations are just beneath the hotel...don't worry it's not loud...you don't even know its there. Lots of eateries, coffee shops, and convenience stores within a block. Trafalgar square, Embankment station, and National Gallery are less than 5 minutes away. Leicster Square, Chinatown, Picadilly Circus, Covent Gardens, the Theatre district and Buckingham Palace are all within a 10-12 minute walk. You must go to Leicster Square to buy half price musical tickets (day of show). Only complaint is the fan in the bathroom stayed on constantly and we had to shut the bathroom door to keep from hearing it. Don't know what the standard rooms are like because we upgraded to the Jr. Suite upon arrival but now the upgrade doesn't come with a free breakfast.

Fair value. Rooms sound proofing are terrible. I can hear what the next rooms are talking and their walking around. Pretty terrible if you need a good night's sleep.

Quiet and confortable resulted to great night sleep. Centrally located and easy to get to all parts of London easily via the tube. Highly recommend

Its a great hotel. Built in 1860(ish) it has maintained the grandure and dimension of the victorian age, but the facilities are modern. Staff is gracious and helpfully supportive. They place clean and spruce. We decided to upgrade on arrival and were allocated to a 6th floor room. Breakfast was included ~ well worth doing this as it costs £18 / day if you don't! Tea making kit was in the room as stated. Our 6 x 6ft bed was very comfortable and 'spacious', equally so the room and bathoom. Loads of wardrobe and drawer storage. Charing Cross Northern Line (tube station) is directly under the hotel, and the train station is in the 'backyard'. We didn't hear train noise at any time when in the hotel. Taxi rank is outside the front door, and of course bus stops at the pavement. The reason for not giving a 5 for all categories is due to a backroom computer mix-up which failed to notify the hotel that breakfast was included in our reservation. The hotel handled this exception well, and swiftly overcame the issue. The hotel has wireless internet at a cost of £6 / hr. We didn't have lunch or dinner at the hotel, nor used the gym ~ London sight-seeing is a better form of exercise. Enjoy!!

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The location of this hotel can not be beat. Within walking distance to many sites, restaurants, pubs, and shops. The tube is literally right next door. The hotel was clean, updated and quiet.

Hotel location was excellent. Our room was small and the decor a little tired. Shower head fixings were detached from the wall. There was only one set of towels in the bathroom and no bath robes. The mini bar was virtually empty and we found the tea & coffee on check out hidden in a bottom draw.

This hotel is lovely, fantastic architecture, real british style and class. I guess the rooms are nice too. but we didn't get to see them. We ended up in the building next door, which looks like they bought the office block across the street, built a bridge across the road, and started renting the rooms for the same price to the last minute & low cost guests. They call this the Buckingham wing.. Room had: -Wobbly taps -Leaking shower fittings -Badly insulated windows -Very noisy aircon/heating system -Huge cold air vent directly over the head of the bed which pumps out cold air if the heating is turned off (dilemma, do we freeze or sleep?) -Doors which only close when slammed. -Shower which yo-yo's from burning hot to freezing cold water depending on what other guests are doing. -The list goes on. However, the location is fantastic, really close to the river, shopping, sights, bars and nightlife. Next time, I would stay in a good room of a 3* instead of a bad room in a 4* Would I come back? Charing cross yes, "The" charing cross, NO.

This is our second time to stay here. The big plus is the central location, with theatreland on your doorstep, Covent Garden, Trafakgar Square, London Eye etc within 5 minutes, lots of restaurants and all amenities. Room decent but poor storage space, weak shower, temperamental air-con, and ridiculously soft pillows (You get one; there are spares, packed away, but 3 are hardly enough). Took the breakfast option this time, and shouldn't have. Staff couldn't cope - plates were cold (never ever found this in any hotel before) and long wait for tea or coffee (man at next table waited 30 mins!). Far better to go to any local coffee shop or Garfunkels and get what you want at half price, hot and fresh, and no supercilious service. Special praise for London Cabbies: Took Black Cabs several times; always efficient, confident, helpful and friendly (without being over-talkative). Best in World, and not tipped enough!

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Great location, walking distance to Convent Garden, Leicester Square, restaurants, bars and clubs.... Would go back again!

Excellent staff and service, all very friendly and professional.

Good location, very close to metro (right underneath the building). room is clean, not roomy but good enough. free minibar. there is no free breakfast though as said on the website. McDonold is nearby, so you can get breakfast overthere.

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We booked this hotel on the recommendation of a friend. It has a great location. The hotel is 15 min walk from Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. It is 3min walk from Trafalgar Square and 10 min walk from Covent Garden. If you are not into walking the hotel is right next to an underground station. The Concierge was awesome. We told them what we wanted to do and he handled everything. He booked our tour and airport transport and sent us to a ticket office to save money on theatre tickets.

Location can't be beat, literally right above a Tube stop and a railway station, right off of Trafalgar square. (One thing to note if you plan to take the Tube from Heathrow as we did, is that this particular stop has nothing but a lot of stairs to get up to the hotel. No elevators, no escalators. You will be lugging your luggage to use the Tube.) Room was very small. There was a small table and 1 chair jammed in between the bed and wall desk and they completely blocked access to one side of the room.

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We stayed in this hotel from 8-12 thru to 8-17. Upon check-in, we were immediately offered an upgrade on our room to a "junior suite". Everyone was very nice, but most of the staff did not have English as the 1st language, so it was hard to understand what they were saying. Having said this, I felt pressured to upgrade to the "junior suite" because they could not explain to me what type of regular room I had already booked, only that the "junior suite" was bigger and had a better view. They also stressed that the "junior suite" came with a complimentary breakfast. We did enjoy the breakfast every day. The room we got with the upgrade was smaller than American hotel rooms, ie: Quality Inn, Ramada, Days Inn, Sleep Inn; however the room was very modern. The lighting in the room was very good, along with the lighting in the bathroom. The bathroom had both a separate shower and bath-tub. The shower area was very small, there was not much room to turn around or bend over to wash your feet. The bed in the room was describe as a "King", it was two twin beds pushed together and covered with a king-size sheet. One of the beds was slightly higher than the other, so when sleeping, we had to really sleep side-by-side, stretching out across the bed was very uncomfortable. Being from America, we brought several adapters to the UK for all of my electronic equipment, the hotel room offered both 110V and 220V electrical outlets. It was very nice that they had 110V outlets, but it would have been nice if this had been listed on their website, we could have saved some weight in our luggage and had more room to take home more souviners. The room also offered : closets, an iron & ironing board, a small refrigerator ( which in other rooms has an elecronic device on it that tells the front desk when you have opened it and taken anything out; they charge you for taking out anything they provide; but in the "junior suite" this device was turned off, and we could use the refr

First, thanks to all the other reviewers for helping me decided to stay at Charing Cross. I was apprehensive about choosing a hotel because we've been to London before and, regardless of the number of stars, you never know what you're going to get! For a 4-star in London, the price we paid was really reasonable compared to other places, yet we didn't feel there was any loss in quality of service because of it. I only wish Wi-Fi was free, but that's not a big deal for us. The staff we worked with always recognized us and always greeted us or asked if we needed anything. The staff was very friendly, not stuffy, and service felt nice and personal. For us the location was ideal because it was close to both my sister's workplace and her boyfriend's office down the street. With both the Charing Cross train station and Underground just out the door, you can get anywhere easily. But we didn't even have to use it much because much of central London was easy to get to by foot. We often walked to meet my sister for lunch in Soho and it's a quick yet nice walk down to Embankment Gardens and then the pier for a ride down the Thames. Right next to the pier is a footbridge to the Royal Festival Hall where there are lots of nice places to eat. Who needs a taxi? It's a lovely walk on a summer night. Charing Cross used to belong to Thistle but now belongs to the Guoman group of hotels and has been greatly updated. Even my sister's boyfriend, a London native, commented on how nice it is now. Our room was on the top floor so we had no problem with any noise from the street. Not sure about lower floors. The room is a little bit cramped for space but not that bad at all. It was nicely decorated with modern everything. Even the maid service/do not disturb sign is electronic! Most plugs are standard UK ones, but they do have one plug that is US style. So unless you need more plugs, you won't need an adaptor if you're from the US. The bathroom was big and the shower had decent water pres

the hotel room was pretty small and awkward and the room was kinda expensive... BUT what outweighs those things is the fact that it's in a very centralized location if you're trying to see lots of different parts of london, and the staff is extremely friendly and helpful.

I was offered an upgrade for a fee upon check in. I did not accept it. My room had no view but the biggest problem was that it was very small and I had trouble finding a place to put all my luggage. The breakfast which was included was very nice. The concierge was very helpful. Three hours after checking out I realized that I had forgotten some shirts in the room but they were unable to find them despite my calling three times. Overall I was happy with the hotel except for the room size and losing my shirts!

There are two hotels that are connected by a bridge. Our first room was in the old Charing cross Hotel and was renovated and beautiful. We had upgraded from the regular room booked on Hotles.com and the room was one of the best I have had for evan much more cost. It was spacious, clean, modern and comfortable. We came back and booked on our return by phone and had a room in the other part of the hotel, it was not as nice and cost much more. The hotel was in a great location near to most of the cites. The concierge was not as well informed about restaurants but that was not as important compared to the other good parts of the hotel. Overall this was a great hotel. And this is the first review i have ever written so that says something.

The hotel is an old building with a cumbersome layout. The rooms have been redone but are not big unless you pay to upgrade. The front desk staff are friendly but seem to have been trained in the third world, and there is no sense of welcome when you check in. The concierge is not very knowledgeable. The restaurant is passable but the quality of the food is akin to the average private club, not good, unimaginative and poorly served. Overall I think that there are much better placed for the price

This hotel was exceptional for a variety of reasons. The location is unbeatable - across the street from Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery and within walking distance to everything else. The staff was friendly and very helpful. The room was large and the bathroom was huge. We are definitely going to stay there again.