We might be Americans--and we sure hope that doesn't color our review--but we'd expect much more of a $360 a night "luxury boutique" property than this. We usually stay at the Royal Garden or St. Martin's Lane in this price range but they were sold out for the Farnborough Air Show. First, the staff--all of whom are new to the area--seemed very reluctant to part with anything. First, they tried to refuse our credit card on check in, saying Diners Club (since 2006 absorbed into Master Card) was not accepted. When we asked for more soap, we were told, "you know, there's a soap in the bathroom area; why can't you use it in the shower as well (more about that later)?" When we asked for more towels, we were told "you know, we don't display all the towels--have you determined you have all we've put in there?" Finally, we asked for a missing corkscrew. "Well, haven't you looked on top of the minibar? [Yes] "Have you looked everywhere else?" [Yes]. Finally, it was delivered with this admonition: "We had to take this from an unoccupied room. You gave us a wrong room number." "No, I didn't." I replied. "Yes, you did," came the answer. Every transaction went like this. We were made to provide a deposit for a second room key. We asked for a map of the local area. They gave us an Earl's Court tube station map and said they had nothing else. I asked for help choosing between coach and train transportation to Oxford; the staff couldn't help--because, they admitted, they didn't know where Oxford was--nor Park Lane, the coach pickup location. The accommodation was pretty poor for a three star property. The shower door had been broken; rather than being repaired, this was replaced with a cheap curtain that let water run onto the floor. There was a fire door in the room that kept the bed from being accessed from one side. Our room, the only one (we were told) that accommodated three people, was on the lower ground level--basically, the basement. The overall look and appointment tf the rooms was of a mid level business hotel--not remarkable; we could have stayed at the Marriott down the street and gotten Marriott points. There was no desk lamp or clock. There were some plusses. I hope hope he doesn't remain anonymous, but our bellman Gabriel, who works from 3-11PM, was great; not only did he give us clear and concise local directions, he offered to walk us to our destinations. The garden cafe staff was terrific; we hosted a small drinks party one evening and all our guests were directed to us and we got all our messages from the day. I was allowed to use the hotel conference room for a call I needed to make. We know that the dollar's crap, but we aren't. So net/net this is a 185GBP property. As our long European holiday unfolds, we hope this is an aberration and not a harbinger of what we can expect as we move onto the continent. Sorry to report an negative.

I booked this hotel the same day because of a recommendation from Frommers. I'm sorry, but this hotel is just plain not competitive versus other hotels in London. For 160 pounds and the description in the travel guide I was expecting luxury. I was very disappointed. The staff is young and very inexperienced. The rooms are very small, of poor condition, furnished with ikea quality furnishings (felt much like accomodations for a university student). I went through a bit of a hassle but was able to reverse the reservation without penalty (good thing). The Soho hotel was available for 90 pounds additional and met/exceeded my 5 star expectations.

We stayed at The Rockwell for two nights last weekend. The room wasn't ready when we arrived so we went into the patio area for a drink. Staff were smoking outside. They did leave when we turned up but left their coffee cups and ashtrays! We ordered two drinks and they took about 20 minutes to come even though there was nobody else in the bar area or the restaurant! We didn't eat in the hotel because of previous reviews. The room we had was a suit. It was ok. Small, but we knew this from the reviews, but it was getting tired. Scuff marks on the walls, stained curtains etc. The hotel was quiet all weekend. Only saw one other family all weekend! We slept very well. It was quiet at night. We didn't sample breakfast, preffered to go out and find a local cafe. Check out was quick and accurate. Staff were generally friendly. I would not stay here again. It was perfect for our weekend, because we knew we would not be in the room for long. We stayed at The Zetter last year and that was much nicer, but more expensive and the wrong side of town for us this year. The Rockwell is a beautiful building with lots of potential, but i felt no one really cared!

The hotel location was good. The hotel itself was clean and of reasonable decor. However the service was poor. The orders at breakfast were on both days misunderstood. The tables were not fully laid e.g. cutlery missing and coffee brought without milk. Recommend you do not order off the menu. The biggest disappointment came at checkout. We had already paid for the room on booking (via a well known website). Whilst our card had been taken for preauthorisation at checkin - obviously for extras we were surprised to have had the full amount put to one side and then to be handed a bill for the full quota again. Still mistakes happen. However we had to prove we had already paid! The confirmation from the booking site was not sufficient and we had to get the bank on the phone to confirm payment! No apology and no attempt to rectify the situation. This was carried out in the reception in front of other guests!

Booked a night here as a stop over returning from a luxury riad in Marrakech. Found the staff helpful and even fairly enthusiastic and the location ideal, only 2 mins from Earls Court tube. There was a small delay at check in because their system was unable to process a maestro debit card, (but I could use it to pay with no problems) Room service works well, the food was nice if not particularly spectacular, which is the also the description I would use for the room. This place is a member of design hotels. I found the design to be a bit tame, without being naff. All nice and neat and clean, but nothing interesting. All in all my wife and I enjoyed our stay, but for a similar price there are more exciting places in London if you are prepared to be a bit more adventurous. The TV system was my only real gripe, I found this to be a total waste of time, and instead of having a hard drive for the movies, there are a small number of looping channels showing a limited selection of rather dull films. There was a problem with the WiFi (apparently it is only a problem with Macs, something to do with security settings, but I don't like to fiddle around) but the hotel loaned us their laptop which worked fine. All in all I would say that this place is ideal as a base for sightseeing or shopping.