Costello Palace Hotel - London, United Kingdom 

A pleasant stay
Posted: Thu, Jul 24 2008
I stayed at the hotel at the beginning of July I found the room to be very comfortable. I booked an en suite room, i was told they were newly refurbished rooms and this was evident in the decor as everything in the room was new. The rooms were spacious, clean and well decorated. There was even a plasma screen with extra channels in the room. I enjoyed a full english breakfast which was well cooked and all the staff were friendly. The guaranteed parking was also a plus and made my travels during the day easier.

Not a lot i can say
Posted: Mon, Apr 21 2008
When arrived at hotel, there was building work going on. this we were not told. Booked in, no lift so had to carry heavy bag up the stairs. place was being refurbished, so was a bit difficult trying to get up to the floor with sheets blowing out of door ways. Got to room there was a 2 inch gap under the door. Opened door and was horrified at how small the room was, we had booked a double room, but even one person was going to have a problem moving around in this room it was tiny. When you think of the old comment, not enough room to swing a cat, i believe the cat had already legged it, but its tail got left behind when the door shut. No room for cases other than on the bed, one chair to sit on. The so called bathroom, was in fact a pre built unit which was about the size of a double wardrobe. Which had been built in to the corner of the room. if you sat on the loo, you could touch the far end of the shower and on the other side the sink and still not have straight arms (get how small it was, even a toddler would have had problems in that shower to move). it took one step from the bathroom to the bed (trying not to hit yourself with the bathroom door when closing it)and my feet were black, from the carpet. on first look the room looked clean ish, however when you sat down or looked a little closer it wasn’t as clean as it looked. the skirting boards under the radiator was 1cm taller than it should have been due to a build up of dust and fluff, spider nests (yes more than one or two) above the window. the walls look as if they have not been washed in a very long time, this was clear from all the black marks on them, including blood spots. the wardrobe was well lets say smaller that a normal single wardrobe and not even big enough to hang anything in it and also be able to close the door. The bed was ok, coverings a bit old fashioned. but didn’t understand why there was only one blanket and the bed throw on it for the night. However this became very clear when i closed the window, to shut out the noise of the traffic from the main road, even the sheet was to much to try and sleep with. Breakfast was 7pm >9pm so much for a lay in. Breakfast room as clean, waiting on staff were nice and served well. however they only offered toast with marmalade and a fried breakfast (tin tomatoes, beans, egg and bacon) since i do not eat bacon i asked if i could have something else, but that is all that was on offer. it was well cooked, but the kitchen seamed to be the meeting place for everyone else, including the workman. i have recently obtained the new level 4 certificate in hygiene, so yes i maybe a little fussy, but i do expect the cook in this case to have her hair tied back, and the kitchen kept free from anything that may contain a hygiene problem, so i guess they did not think that having builders in the kitchen in full working gear, while they were working a hygiene problem. i did not stay more than one night, i found other accommodation that was rather cleaner and with a real bathroom over near Kings Cross for less money.

Small, Dirty but nice staff.
Posted: Thu, Apr 03 2008
OK, good bits first....the staff, were nice and it's quite a good location, nice breakfast, oh and the 24hr checkin. Bad bits: Small, dirty room, bit too expensive, cigarette, dirt and rubbish under bed, tiny plastic caravan style bathroom, bad signal on TV, hearing everyone else slamming doors, next to noisy main road, big bright light shining into bedroom window all night (and broken curtain), breakfast finishes at 9am on weekdays (bit too early) and holes in bedsheets.