Thistle Marble Arch - London, United Kingdom 

"Fabulous Location"
Posted: Mon, Nov 23 2009
Excellent hotel, really big room. Huge bed and good bathroom with very powerful shower. Excellent central location, especially for shopping. Hotel staff were very friendly and helpful, especially the bar staff. I will definitely consider this hotel next time I visit London.

Great location if you love to shop
Posted: Thu, Jul 24 2008
I had a room overlooking one of the main shopping streets so I really knew I was staying in London. Unfortunately I was on a business trip so was being tantalised for no good reason. This hotel has a spacious lobby. Check in was okay, I notice someone commented about the poor English on the desk, always the case in London hotels these days in my experience. They speak better English in foreign hotels abroad. I liked this hotel for its location. The room was a bit small and because I paid over ?160 for one night, this was too expensive and I would look for a deal or another location if it was a leisure trip. I wasn't impressed that all the discounted rates had gone even though I was attending a conference and found the staff really unhelpful and rude in respect of this. It was a good hotel though and the location was in the heart of the shopping district close to everything you could want with a tube nearby if you needed it. I'd stay here again if I got a good deal. It felt like a quality hotel, quite plush in some of the public areas. Breakfast was pretty good, but not the best buffet I've ever had.

Good location, Comfortable Stay
Posted: Mon, Jul 21 2008
The hotel has a perfect location on Oxford Street. It is close to Selfridges, Hyde Park and the tube station. The rooms are comfortable, no problems during reception and breakfast has many varieties. It is possible to book last minute tickets to the musicals and shows. This is one of the oldest hotels in London which provides a standard quality to its customers.

Better than it used to be, but far from perfect!
Posted: Wed, Jul 16 2008
We checked in late at night. Although I did send an e-mail to reservations informing them about our late check-in, the person at reception insisted that since we were checking in so late, he could only give us an inside room on 2nd floor. When we stated that this was unacceptable and asked to speak to the manager, oh what a miracle, a corner room on 7th appeared from nowhere! The room was spacious (it was on executive floor), smoking and with great views of Hyde Park and Marble Arch. The bathroom was big and the shower quite good for London standards! Breakfast was great (Thistle hotels have very good breakfast), but the breakfast room was not working efficiently. IMO, this happened because everyone was doing everything. Meaning, one person could go from serving coffee to allocating guests to clean plates and that created a chaos. Housekeeping and porters were very kind and helpful. We had to ask for shampoo once and toilet paper twice, but I think those things can happen. The hotel’s computer was a blast from the past and internet was very expensive! A couple of days prior to our departure, we requested a late check-out (which we also had requested when booking the room 3 months ago) but the person attending guest relations told us that after 1pm it costs 20 quid per hour. We said that we’ve checked out late from this hotel many times and nobody asked for money, but she replied that this is the hotel’s policy. At that time, the person who checked us in came and he said that they do exceptions for some guests but they weren’t willing to do one for us. They were both very rude and ironic. I hate rude people, so does my mother who very kindly asked for their names and to speak to their supervisor. At first, the guy who checked us in said that he was the supervisor of guest relations and we asked to see his supervisor. His supervisor was at a meeting, then out of the hotel, then unavailable and then out again. The next day, he took 15 days leave. I don’t know if they were “hiding” him but we were determined to speak to someone and we asked for the hotel’s Manager. At first he was unavailable too, but we managed to meet his assistant. She was very kind, she offered free late check out till 4pm (which we didn’t accept) and a free buffet dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. She also promised a written apology which if I don’t get I plan to ask again for. The reason why we didn’t accept the late check in after all this fuss, was that every time we tried to speak to the supervisor or the manager we were told “but you can’t check out late for free, you know”. That way, we made it clear that late check out was not the problem, but bad attitude was! Dinner was great, much better than “hotel food” and I’m glad I had the chance to try it cause it’s been years since I ate at a Thistle restaurant and I’ve read very bad reviews. This incident didn’t ruin my holiday, or my stay, but it made me think again that in some hotels the staff think that as long as they have an asset (view, location) that keeps the guests coming, they don’t need to do anything else! Overall, it was OK. Location-wise it is a great hotel, with service above medium, but senior staff need to “polish” their manners. Not many people have the courage, the patience or the knowledge to ask (or chase) a supervisor or a manager in order to get treated as entitled to! Since I read a review about staff not speaking good English, I need to add this: It is true that there is probably not even one Brit working at this hotel, BUT everyone could communicate in average English. This was a nice surprise after staying at two hotels where I had to use sign language in order to speak to the staff, even at reception. Unfortunately, this is something that we must get used to.