There is only one thing going for this hotel and that is the perfect location for a break in London. Everything else is mediocre and sometimes bordering on unprofessional. I kept asking myself..."is there an operations manager thats passionate about standards in this place?". Some examples -1. the fourth floor had three buckets placed along the corridoor to capture water from a leaking roof. 2. A spare matress was folded up and stored right in front of the lift as you exited the fourth floor. i'd understand if it was a one off during cleaning etc but it was there for 3 days! The main lift did not function for 3days - how hard could it have been to fix the lift? Meanwhile, guests had to use a back up lift (that could barely fit a suitcase) for the entire period. I would also advise all single travelllers to read previous reviews carefully and believe them. The single room is a joke and i can imagine that a maximum security cell is bigger than this box room. see the picture postings by another review where the headboard and foot of the bed are both touching walls. I'm over 6 ft tall so had to sleep in a foetal position throughout my stay. i found it unbelieveable that with all the discomfort, this "4 star" hotel also put a tiny bottle of water in the room with the sign that it would cost me 2 pounds 50 pence (almost $5.00) when i could simply cross the street and buy the same water from a grocery store at 50 pence ($1.00). In the restuarant, I cringed as i overhead an elderly lady try to order a hot breakfast and the waitress was struggling with communicating in English, she finally said there was no hot breakfast available and felt no remorse when a steaming English breakfast was served by her colleague to the couple on the next table. In a nutshell - dont bother with the Rydges if you want a relaxing and comfortable break. however, if you're either desperate or dont particularly have high standards and want a great location - go to the Rydges.

Got sent here by otel as my original choice of hotel was over booked. I had read Trip Advisor before going and if I had being staying loner than one night I would have sought another hotel, as the reviews are pretty accurate. This hotel badly needs updated. Decor is worn and old fashioned. The bathroom was clean but again very dated and several floor tiles where broken and loose. Staff where friendly and the hotels location is good being only 150m from Gloucester Rd tube station, but the place felt all too shabby for my liking. I would not stay in this hotel again.

We have just returned from a week at this hotel and were disappointed. We thought that the hotel was poorly maintained and shabby. I guess it depends how much you pay, but we paid a lot and were surprised, given that it is part of the Rydges Group. A light bulb over the handbasin was blown and was not replaced (difficult for shaving) and there were cockroaches in the bathroom. A lot of the staff seem to be young Europeans for whom English is a second language and we had difficulty ordering scrambled eggs for breakfast! Our room was below street level and was very musty and smelly. Water from the shower and handbasin took a long time to drain away and the toilet was very difficult to flush. The hotel is centrally located and near an Underground, which is good, but there was a lot of street noise at night. We wouldn't stay there again.

We stayed on a romantic weekend break but were a bit dispointed, the room was a bit 'worn' and the wallpaper was peeling. Whilst it was clean I wouldnt say was spotless. Our room was quiet but when trying to check out there was a very irate man complaining about noise, I understand he was next to all the fan's / air-vents! As part of our stay we booked the 'ten tables' restaurant, which is part of the building for 8pm but on arrival it was fully booked and they didnt fit us in till nearly 9pm and didnt comp any of our drinks we had whilst waiting in the pokey sports bar. Meal was nice in parts, some dishes being much better than others. Location is good for tube station and natural history museum