It's always the little things that knock down a rating.
Nice hotel, typical of suburban London. This would not be an upscale Hilton and against the Hiltons in the US, I'd put in the Hilton Garden Inn class. Creaky wooden floors, no A/C, and a wall heater. They are upgrading the rooms a bit with nice HD flat screens. I had a king room, so the bed was more than adequate. The restaurant is a little high end, but you can order off the pub menu in the restaurant. Typical English breakfast buffet, although they will cook eggs to order.
Staff is very nice and accommodating. Wanted to watch the Bears and Packers championship game and they made certain that Sky Sports 2 was available on the pub flat screens.
Hotel is about a mile from the city centre. Walkable or a 5 pound taxi fare. Convenient to the M3. No local transportation by the hotel, but they will order up a taxi and the concierge is quite helpful in general.
The little bits still seem to be difficult. Since I have had a variety of experiences with English hotels, I'm never quite sure what to expect in the room. My room lacked a bedside phone, an alarm clock, a hair dryer and an iron. Apparently all of those items should be standard issue, although of the three people in my party with rooms, each had a different issue of those items. I asked for an alarm clock. The standard Hilton alarm was delivered next day, but on my return, I found that whoever brought it in, failed to verify that it had the right time. A call to the front desk was met with a response that they had no engineer on staff at night and no screwdrivers (I know how to set the alarms, but it takes a small Phillips screwdriver). I suspect that the hotel has a problem with guest pilferage and the housekeeping staff has given up on taking inventory. Still, rather annoying.
The room is clean enough, the towels are plentiful, large and thick. Housekeeping must ration bars of soap, however. Plumbing is maddeningly English, with a toilet that requires several flushes and the usual confusing arrangement for the tub and shower controls. The tub is high-sided and narrow, as usual. Water pressure is quite good.
Overall, I found the hotel fairly quiet, although you will hear your upstairs neighbor's footsteps and the person passing your room in the hall. The walls seem reasonably soundproof.
Wi-fi is spotty, but free. I have a wired connection in the room that seems to be missing the connecting to the wall plug part. (again small things)
There is a small workout room, which is fairly well-maintained and equipped, according to others in my party. read more