Norfolk Plaza Hotel

I stayed here for a week with a friend, on my first ever trip to London.
Here are my thoughts:
Cons:
It’s run down. It’s over priced for what Americans probably expect to get.
Yes, the hotel room conditions are kind of bleck, and the bathroom is comically tiny (shower talks up half the space, toilet another quarter, and then the space to stand over the bathroom and mirror is the last tiny quarter). I sat on the potty, and my shoulders were touching both the wall and the glass shower stall. It was more hilarious than anything else. We had a tiny 12 inch CRT tube TV and only a few channels.
You know what? We fell asleep exhausted into our tiny little beds and we liked it. If you came to London for the hotel stay, you should probably stay home and Photoshop yourself into some of London’s landmarks.
There’s a lack of fans or AC so staying the summer would probably be uncomfortable.
There was an annoying rule that you had to drop your key off at the front desk before leaving, in case you lost it, because they «only had one.» Then how did house keeping get in? I imagine that they’ve had too many tourists lose their keys, and the cost to replace them is getting tedious… On that note, they also never asked to confirm identity before giving a room key to us (staff that had never seen us before, not the folks we’d chatted to a while before with). FFS …
Pros:
It’s close to the subway and Big Tour Bus pickup and lots of restaurants and souvenir shops and a Tesco and Little Arabia. The staff really make this place.
Every staff person I encountered was friendly and helpful, even if the language didn’t always match up. Our rate included a breakfast that was really actually yummy — rolls, croissants that have ruined me for local ones here in Boston, salami, ham, cheese, yoghurt, some kind of granola, citrus fruit, milk and juices, as well as fresh french pressed coffee or tea. You could order up the English breakfast, if you like that sort of thing.
The desk stays open 24/​7, and there’s wifi available on the first floor (I realize this may be a deal breaker for the whinier of you).
I wouldn’t stay here for a romantic getaway, but it’s a great spot to choose for a mid-​September stay with a not-​fussy buddy.

Everyone is being just a little too negative about this little hotel. I was in town for a friend’s wedding, a few weeks ago, and this place was close enough to the wedding venue and relatively cheap. And yes, it’s a wee bit on the shabby — not chic — side. But: the staff — and I mean every single person there — was so nice and so helpful, and I simply have to give it 3 stars. I think attitude goes a long way. People being nice to you, and trying to help you in whichever way they can, makes up for creaky floors and weathered furniture. It’s an old house, on an old street, in the old city of London. It’s not the damn Ritz. So what?

Headline: Seriously Bad Hotel — run away — fast
I am in London for two weeks, and this hotel is reminding why one should not believe Expedia reviews and never prepay for the hotel. If you do find yourself thinking about this hotel because of the location, at least don’t prepay for it. It’s shabby; the rooms smell; it’s generally all round bad.
With my star rankings for hotels, this gets one star. Run down:
Bed — feels like they brought a bunch of used mattresses then cut them in half. Lumpy, uncomfortable, and the bedding is all dead. Not nice at all
Shower — weak, as in water stream. Also, you have to turn sideways to get wet all the way. Shower amenities consist of a combined shower gel/​shampoo that smells rank.
Fortunately, there is a Tesco supermarket round the corner for stocking up.
Desk — uncomfortable. Free wifi, but it’s worthless — drops continually and you can’t do much with it. It’s better to go down the road to a Costa Coffee or Starbucks — yes, it’s that bad.
Breakfast — can be included in the room rate, but I’m not sure why you would bother. The fully cooked breakfast is less than 6 pounds, and was reasonable. Garfunkels (around the corner) does a better breakfast for about the same cost. Here’s your half a star.
Staff and general impression. The concierge was nice enough and they helped to fix a problem with the booking. I guess that is worth another half a star.
There are few hotels I would actively forget in my travels. This is one of them. Avoid like the plague. And be aware of the AA star rating — not worth the rating at all.

We stayed at this hotel during the London Olympics for one night, and that was too much. All we requested (and wanted) was a quite room for the night and we could have put up with everything else but no, my wife was woken up at 2am and then 3am by someone having a shower that sounded like it was in our room and then going out. Apart from all this, nothing had been spent on the place for at least 20 years, so you can just imagine what it was like… need I say more. Well yes actually, when I complained about being woken up twice in the middle of the night, they were pretty unhelpful and could not be bothered listening, just take your money and run… never again. we felt so unlucky.

This is probably about as bad as it can get before I decide we have to switch hotels. Shabby, not chic. Small, not cozy. Pretty tiling on the outside, crappo on the inside. No complaints that could actually be addressed, unless they are willing to reupholster the chairs, and replace the bedding and carpeting, all of which was tatty. Underwhelmed. Would pay 25£ to stay here.

Not far from oxford street (great for shopping!) this hotel is not bad. You’re greeted by a cheery receptionist and the reception area is all marble-​covered floors and soft lighting. Prices start from £120 for a double room which is ok but not the best rate in town. I actually hated the room we stayed in because i like the modern rooms in say the holiday Inn. The Norfolks style was so hick-​likechecked and plaid bedspread etc which i really didnt like and wouldnt expect from a hotel these days. The staff were good though and brought me all the extras i asked for (like more hangars!)
You can get around on the circle and district lines so its not too bad but shopping is close by so walk!

The Norfolk Plaza Hotel is situated quite close to Paddington station, which makes it ideal if you are travelling by train. I stayed here for three nights last summer and found the walk from Paddington station was quite short and relatively flat. There always seems to be someone on the reception and there is cortège service. Towards the back of the reception there is bar, although I did not visit this. The breakfast was served underground, below reception. I found it to be of a high standard and was very satisfied. There was a buffet of cold food but if you had ordered cooked breakfast that would be brought out to you. I enjoyed my stay at the Norfolk Plaza and since then other members of my family have visited and had positive experiences.