Citadines Apart’hotel South Kensington London London, South Kensington

Reviews

1. Uland Wong ★★★★☆

   A ton of space and usability, surprisingly quiet, and competitively priced, if you are willing to give up daily cleaning and modern rooms. Would definitely stay here again. -Room: We stayed in a 1br here and it was spacious, comparable to a small American 1br apartment in size. As London is known for its tiny rooms with everything trending towards the CitizenM experience (without the CitizenM discount), Citadines was a breath of fresh air. The room had a full foyer, plenty of closet space, kitchen stocked with wares and appliances, and a separate sleeping and living area. The room is split into two levels, with the bedroom and bathroom upstairs. The benefit is that people can have privacy if they need to do things separately, but since the second floor is sort of a loft, it doesn't fully seal off the noise. The drawback is that the stairs can be creaky and the climate control is inconsistent across the levels. We were given a room on the 2nd floor facing Gloucester Rd and the windows were surprisingly effective at blocking noise from the street. However, we did hear some low sounds from the pipes and our neighbors. The building is pretty dated and you will see some scuff marks on the walls or chipped panels, but nothing egregious. There are multiple desks and chairs in the room, which is appreciated. The sofa turns into a sofa bed which can sleep 2 more people, in theory, but its not very comfortable. -Cleanliness: The room was clean, no bugs or anything. You get one hotel-style room cleaning per week that you stay here, which is how they save on cost. There aren't any limits on towels or toiletries, its free, you just have to grab more yourself if you run out. As travelers who aren't slobs, this trade off was perfect for us, since we don't like to be bothered too much anyways. There's a laundry room in the basement where you can reserve machines with a silly phone app. Its a little pricey, but extremely convenient. -Location: South Kensington, and this hotel in particular, are a hidden oasis in London. The area is posh and busy, but not actually CROWDED. Lots of food, stores, quaint London rows, and the big museums, all walking distance. Its 3 blocks from Gloucester Rd station, where you have direct access to 3 tube lines without the cluster-fk of busier stations. The street is basically quiet by 8pm. -Price: Very competitive pricing compared to a standard 4-star hotel room, especially the fully refundable rate. Less than the big American chain hotels and a little bit more than the small local ones. -Service: Staff were good for the most part. Special thanks to Chip, the maintenance guy, who stayed after his shift to help us debug a hot water issue (it was user error). There was one lady who, when I called to confirm my reservation, tried to get me hang up and just use the Ascott website instead of typing my name into the computer right in front of her... I pointed out that the website gives the number to the local hotel for confirmation inquiries and she reluctantly looked it up for me. This is a really basic courtesy in an age when websites lose or overbook reservations all the time. -Other: One night, the fire alarm was triggered by the first floor restaurant, requiring us to evacuate for 10 minutes. Annoying!

   almost 7 months ago
2. Annie Stahel ★★★★★

   Great stay in South Kensington in close proximity to the V&A Museum which was the main purpose of our short stay in London. Kind staff; nice towels and two separate rooms with a small living room + a kitchenette

   almost 8 months ago
3. Manuli Gunawardana ★☆☆☆☆

   We booked this hotel to attend my brother’s graduation, mainly because it was within walking distance of the ceremony hall. We arrived on time for check-in, only to be told that an email had been sent 10 minutes earlier saying our booking was moved to another hotel due to a maintenance issue. After arriving, we were told by the staff that they wouldn’t be able to accommodate us and suggested moving us to another hotel about an hour’s walk from the ceremony hall. We had our pet with us, and when we reached the new hotel, we were informed that pets were not allowed. This led to a long and stressful situation - we spent over 3 hours speaking to various staff members, trying to find alternative accommodation. As a result, we missed an important family event. Eventually, Citadines offered us a room, upgraded our stay, and refunded ONLY the parking fee, which we appreciated. However, the main issue was how poorly the situation was handled. The team had not checked whether the alternative hotel accepted pets, and there was a complete lack of communication between staff - we had to keep calling and coordinating everything ourselves. We understand that maintenance issues can happen, but the way this was managed was unacceptable. Unfortunately, we would not recommend this hotel, as the team appeared unable to handle unexpected situations professionally.

   almost 8 months ago

1. A ★☆☆☆☆

   The worst hotel experience of my life We booked 5 nights at Citadines South Kensington London and it was an absolute disaster. We were forced to change rooms 4 times in less than 3 days. The first room was on a floor with a broken elevator, so we had to climb filthy, foul-smelling stairs. The second room was literally under repair, with workers and tools inside. The third had no air conditioning – they just dumped two noisy portable units until it was finally fixed the next day. The fourth had no kitchen sockets to plug in the toaster or kettle. One of the room changes was due to so-called “security reasons” that staff refused to explain. The service was appalling: zero respect for guests, zero organization, zero professionalism. My mother ended up exhausted, stressed, and upset from constantly packing and unpacking. This hotel should not even be operating in such conditions. Unfortunately, the building itself is beautiful and the location is great, but they completely ruined our stay and only refunded one night out of five. Absolutely unacceptable. The worst hotel experience of my life We booked 5 nights at Citadines South Kensington London and it was an absolute disaster. We were forced to change rooms 4 times in less than 3 days. The first room was on a floor with a broken elevator, so we had to climb filthy, foul-smelling stairs. The second room was literally under repair, with workers and tools inside. The third had no air conditioning – they just dumped two noisy portable units until it was finally fixed the next day. The fourth had no kitchen sockets to plug in the toaster or kettle. One of the room changes was due to so-called “security reasons” that staff refused to explain. The service was appalling: zero respect for guests, zero organization, zero professionalism. My mother ended up exhausted, stressed, and upset from constantly packing and unpacking. This hotel should not even be operating in such conditions. Unfortunately, the building itself is beautiful and the location is great, but they completely ruined our stay and only refunded one night out of five. Absolutely unacceptable.

   almost 10 months ago
2. Megan Multanen ★★★★☆

   This was a last minute booking for me and overall it was a great stay. It's very close to transportation, grocery, restaurants and in a lovely neighborhood. Checkin was easy and they were able to store our bags for us. Staff was friendly and helpful and I would absolutely consider staying here again. Rooms and hallways have seen some heavy use, nothing out of the ordinary.

   almost 11 months ago
3. Ian Robertson ★★★★☆

   Nice clean, well appointed room with kitchenette. Very good price if booked well in advance.

   almost 3 years ago

1. Tommy Fletcher ★★★☆☆

   The location of this hotel was great but not very well cared for. Paint was missing in our room and the bathtub tiles were coming apart, the over all room is also very small. If they just updated a bit it would be a great place to stay. As for the staff they were very helpful and accommodating which was a reason for the 3 stars and not 2.

   almost 3 years ago
2. Nick ★☆☆☆☆

   My wife and daughter checked into this hotel today at 3.00pm an hour after the 2.00pm checkin stated on all documents emailed to us by the hotel when we booked, after a 24hr flight we were told our room wasn’t ready and to come back in an hour, not good enough failure 1, we were then assigned a room with only 2 single beds for 2 adults and 2 children, we pointed out this was not the room we booked, we booked and paid for a double bed and fold out sofa failure 2, then it was discovered that the room did not have any hot water and they would try and fix it but we have been told that it can’t be fixed therefore we have no hot water epic failure 3. The staff really don’t care, we have had better service from a cheap and nasty hotels like on faulty towers, we will monitor the situation over the next 3 nights and report back so everyone can hear how the rest of our time went at this hotel.

   almost 3 years ago

FAQs