Star Hotel - B&B - London, United Kingdom 

Not Bad at All
Posted: Fri, Apr 18 2008
I couldn't find very many reviews of this hotel online so was a bit worried as I was booked for 12 nights. The staff were very friendly and helpful over the phone when I booked. I was put on the third floor, room 35. This is a long climb upstairs after a long day of tromping around London, and I have a bad knee so it was rather unpleasant. The owner of the hotel was very apologetic and said he would try to get me in a room on a lower floor sometime during my stay but he wasn't able to do it. My room was clean, warm, and comfortable. You don't get luxury at these prices [I paid ?45 a night] but there was a blowdryer provided [albeit one that had an on switch that had to be held down the whole time you are using it so that was annoying] and a kettle with tea [which I did not use]. The bed was just the right firmness for me, and I used all the pillows in the room [3, as there were two beds with a pillow each and a spare in the wardrobe], two under my head and I like one between my knees. There was an extra blanket in the wardrobe which i needed. The coverlets on the beds are washed once a week, which is great. I know this because mine changed half way through my stay. Even though the hotel is on a busy street, I found that the double glazed windows blocked out about 75% of the noise and I had no trouble sleeping. You are close to both a fire hall and a police station here and there were sirens as I was falling asleep every night. It didn't bother me. The traffic falls of to nothing after about 1 am till about 6 am. The room had a radiator that I left on all day so that I came back to a cozy room [as it was freezing cold in London when I was there]. Then I would turn it off for the night so that I could breathe. It worked perfectly for me. The bathroom is uber tiny but it was adequate. My only complaint was with the water in the shower. There is a pump on the line that brings the hot water up from the basement [apparently before this pump was installed, there was no hot water making it up to the third floor shower] but it did not heat the water, as most residential showers work in the UK. Consequently the water would go hot and cold constantly throughout trying to shower as others used water throughout the building. It made for a VERY unpleasant experience. I dreaded having to shower. I only had breakfast once even though a full English Breakfast is included in the price. You get a fried egg, one slice of bacon [British bacon is much different that North American bacon so it is a fairly substantial slice] one sausage, beans, and two slices of toast. Orange juice and tea is also included. I forgot to ask for my egg over hard so it was runny. The bacon and sausage was underdone for my tastes, and the beans were cold. On the last night, after feeling quite pleased with myself for finding such a great little place for a very good price by London standards, I was somewhat let down. When I climbed into bed I saw there was a big beetle on the ceiling. I hadn't seen anything like it before in my life. It had a back that looked like an armadillo's, with scaly layers. I killed it and then sat up for an hour to see if there would be any more. There weren't. Then sometime in the wee hours of the morning, the pipes in the walls started to bang on and off for about an hour. That had not happened any other night so I am not sure what that was all about. Oh, and the tv was up high on the wall with no remote. :-( The light fixture was a bare bulb but that didn't bother me, but it would have been nice to have a lamp by the bed so that I wasn't finding my way back from the wall switch to bed in the dark. All things considered, I would give this place a 7 out of a 10. Note: There is a GREAT little cafe called Greens right across the street that I made use of almost every morning for a hot chocolate and a croissant. It's a gem of a place and I miss it.