We stayed three nights at the John Howard in a 2 bedroom unit. The staff were all friendly and the unit was well equipped. HOWEVER, the hotel is very tired. Our rooms looked like they had been furnished 40 years ago and were in desperate need of an update. I have stayed in many London hotels, but none with such poor sound insulation between creaking floors. All in not a place I would return to. While I don't like to be critical, until this hotel receives a needed reno I would search elsewhere for a place to stay. JK, Canada

Stayed at the hotel in April for three nights. We were able to check in very early luckily without paying for an extra night (arrived at 5am from Australia). We had a one bedroom apartment, a little worse for wear and with some rather squeaky floorboards (sorry to whoever might have been below us!), but otherwise the apartment had plenty of space for the three of us (2 adults + toddler) to move about in. Location was great, except for the work on the tube over the weekend we were there. Our room was at the back of the hotel, and took a few doorways to get through - a little tricky with a stroller, but not too bad.

Stayed here for a Saturday night with my partner. The location is very good directly opposite Hyde Park and at the top end of Kensington High Street but really this is the only good thing to say about the hotel. When we arrived at the reception to book in the attitude of the receptionist was very unfriendly however she advised us that we had been upgraded to a bigger room. When we got to the room on the 4th floor, via possibly the smallest lift ever made, we saw from the notice on the door that we had an Apartment (?) When we got inside the place looked and smelt like it had not been used for weeks. Both the bathroom and the main bedroom were ok with fresh sheets, but the rest of the apartment was very dirty and the kitchenette was falling apart. Thewhole place looked like it was lived during the week possibly by staff and let out to guests at weekends. When we got back form our evening out we asked the guy on reception if room service was still available. It was 11.15pm and he said there was 24hr service. When we got to our room i rang and ordered some coffee and something to eat. I was told it would be with us within 20mins. After 40mins we were told that the order had only just been given to the kitchen and that there would be another 40min wait. By this time we were not too concerned about room service and so i told them politly not too worry. At hearing this the guy on the end of the of the phone started ranting and raving. I could not believe what he was saying and asked him to calm down. This just set him off even more. We decided to go and get something to eat ourselves in the High Street. When we got down to the reception my girlfriend mentioned what happened to the night reception. He was not concerned at all. I can see from other comments on here about this hotel that there have bee problems with the staff in the bar so perhaps we should not be too surprised. But a hotel in this part of London needs to be a lot better at customer service and room cleanliness. Be careful, stay in a normal room and whatever you do don't ask for Room Service...........

Lovely older hotel, upgraded to junior suite. Great location close to Kensington park and only less than a 10 minute walk to Gloucester road tube station. Highly recommended at ?107 per night. I think a good price for London.

You cant get much closer to the Royal Albert than this which is a very good reason for using this nice little hotel. We were upgraded upon arrival to a nice room with large bathroom, a bit dated but then this is not your average " battery hen" style hotel thankfully. A downside would have to be what passes for a lounge bar situated to the semi basement, as it happened it was closed when we returned to the hotel at 2220 but having seen it we were glad, very cramped with space for around 10 guests at a push, and so gloomy. The restaurant was also closed so we decamped to the Gore across the road which was heaving with diners/drinkers from the RAH, we could only assume our hotel is not interested in catering for thier guests. All in all and for the price this was a good choice of hotel and the staff were very helpful, we would have no hesitation in staying again.