Strathmore Hotel - Gem Hotels 41 Queen's Gate Gardens, London SW7 5NB

"The noisiest heating I've ever come across. The shower did not have a temperature lock and turned itself to scalding when in use. The breakfast was good but the breakfast room could be brighter"

"Excellent hotel for service and geographical position for London attractions. Central to everything. Breakfast was excellent. The room we had was quite small. Just enough room to walk around bed and the mattress was hard. The bathroom was only as wide as the toilet ! No room to put your personal toiletries. Quite disappointing. Also, no biscuits with the in-room tea/coffee service. Overall, a stay is what you make it, and we had a happy time."

"We had a really poor experience at the Strathmore. Firstly, the location is excellent and is just a few minutes walk from Gloucester Road tube station and 10 minutes to Hyde Park. Unfortunately, the hotel itself is tired in places and the rooms aren't particularly nice or comfortable. The family room we'd booked had a tiny bathroom which was far too small for a sharing room, and the temperature in the hotel was a real problem - even in the middle of February with the windows open all night the room was almost unbearably hot. I saw other reviews that referenced this and the hard beds, and now wish we hadn't ignored it. On our first of two nights we returned to find that the lights in our room didn't work. Having called reception a porter came up and tested all of the switches and fuses on the floor, but couldn't fix them. Reception subsequently called to say that they couldn't resolve it, and asked whether having no lighting in the room was a 'deal breaker'.....With no other family rooms to move to we had to split up and move to two doubles. At 11pm with small children this was pretty stressful and the awful night that followed completely ruined the next day. The hotel offered no recompense for this at all, instead telling us that it was a quirk of the lighting in an old building and that the night staff should have known that the lights were in fact 'fine'. In speaking to the Manager we found that they had no authority to resolve the problem or offer any solution, and were fobbed off with an 'email someone else'. Overall it was a really disappointing stay and took the edge off what should have been an enjoyable couple of days. With so much choice in this part of London, my best advice is to avoid the Strathmore."

"Location is great. I like the close access to the underground and the neighborhood has some nice restaurants. Service was good. The staff are helpful and polite. I had no issues with them at all. The room was ok. Bed was very firm. Probably the most firm mattress I've ever slept on. And my room was next to the elevator so it was woken up regularly by the noise of the doors opening and closing, along with the guest that used the elevator used a fire door to get to it... so thud from the firewood, then noisy elevator door opening, then closing. Combine that with the firm mattress, I did not sleep well at all. The shower is a little small too. I'm not a big person, 5'7" 160lbs, if I was any bigger I'd feel it was too tight to really move around. Bare in mind I did get a room with a double bed and not one of there bigger rooms, so those may be different. Would I stay there again... probably... after mentioning the elevator noise and firm mattress to the receptionist at checkout, she said when booking to make a note to not be put in a room by the elevator and to ask for a mattress topper.... if that happened, I'd probably stay there again. Breakfast was simple and ok. The staff serving did well, the food cook well, but it was pretty basic compared to other hotels I've staying in in London... on a side note the sausage and bacon were tasty and not bland."

"Key take-away: do not book a one person room! Service was excellent. However, the room was totally not acceptable. Tiny bath and room, old and sniffy floor with gaps where you can see concrete underneath, noise whole day from the elevator next to the room, broken cabinet and nightstands. Very disappointing for a four star hotel. No solution for early checkouts and a miserable Wi-Fi coverage. Also connectivity problems when paying with credit cards. When reading other reviews, I see similar observations from other people staying alone in the hotel. Hence, I recommend not to stay there if you travel alone!!"