Norfolk Plaza Hotel - London, United Kingdom     

I was apprehensive from other reviews, but was pleasantly surprised! The room was small, but had a mini-bar, hair dryer, and tea pot. The room was clean and well cared for with a very firm bed. The staff was wonderful and very helpful. Breakfast in the breakfast room was reasonable by London standards. The location was excellent, just a short walk from Paddington Station, a transportation hub. There is a beautiful little park across the street from the hotel, and shopping and restaurants are abundant. The Norfolk Plaza is not a Holiday Inn Express, but Americans should not expect that in London for the rate I received, which was half of the regular room rate advertised by the hotel. I was quite happy with the Norfolk Plaza and its helpful, pleasant staff. I stay there again in a New York minute, at the price I paid!

Stayed at the hotel in June 2008. As others have noted, the location is great; about 500 meters to Paddington tube stop (Bakerloo, Circle and District lines) and a little further of a walk underground to get to the main train station where the Heathrow Express comes in. It's a busy area with lots of shops and restaurants but the hotel is on a side block with a nice park in the middle. In my opinion the hotel is 2 star not 3 star. I booked a single and was given a twin so had a bit more room than I expected. The room (502) was on the 5th (top floor) and faced the back of the building so relatively quiet at night even with the window open (I found the room to be very hot). But if you plan to sleep past 8 AM bring ear plugs because the maids literally start slamming the doors to wake people up (I found this every morning, including the weekends). The room was dirty and badly in need of updating. There were some nasty stains on the blanket and bedspread. The sheets were clean though. The bathrooms was old but cleaned well on a daily basis. The door to the room was not secure at all and would be very easy to open with a hard shoulder to the door. I was very concerned with leaving anything of value in the room but luckily I didn't have any problems. There is no safe in the room. There was also no chain or deadbolt on the inside of the door to be able to secure the door when you are in the room. I booked the room using Hotwire and paid about $100 per night. I think for that price in central London, I got what I paid for. If I had paid much more than that, it would not have been worth it.