Burns Hotel

«Great Location, Decent Room, Friendly Staff — But Get A Fridge!»
Mostly good things to say about this hotel — great location near the Tube so it’s easy to get around London, beautiful park across the street (that is private so you can’t go into it, but it’s a nice view out the window), desk staff is very friendly and helpful, beautiful lobby, the wi-​fi is a bit slow at first, but then gets better, they have a computer you can use to print out your flight boarding passes, a lot of very nice restaurants in the neighborhood, and mostly the street is quiet. They have a restaurant and nice looking patio, but we didn’t try either. Our room was a tiny bit shabby, but clean, so we didn’t care about how small it was or that it wasn’t 4 star accommodations. All we needed was a safe place to stay and that’s exactly what it was. Our room didn’t have a refrigerator and that turned out to be bad for us since we needed to keep soy milk and leftover restaurant food stored. But the evenings were chilly so we put the milk outside on the window ledge. It kept for a few days. The television was odd in that it had an automatic soundtrack for the blind that you could not turn off. We even had the manager come up and try to fix it, but he could not. This was bad for me because I like to fall asleep by watching tv with a low volume and my companion does not. Since the soundtrack could not be turned off, nor the volume lowered at all, I couldn’t watch tv late at night and fall asleep. The not-​so-​great things that happened were one night about 9:00 p.m. the fire alarm went off for about 10 seconds, I’m sure that woke up everyone who had already gone to bed. Another night a couple of guests started yelling at the top of their lungs «Charmaine! Charmaine!» over and over again right outside our door, which was across from the elevator. When Charmaine was finally located, she had to tell them the whole story of where she was in a loud voice. And on our last night there, a few drunken, loud people outside on the street decided to chant the name of their sports team over and over again. But mostly you can’t hear any street noise, and there were a lot of police car sirens going up and down the nearby busy street. The elevator holds a max of three people, tightly, and is very slow, but hey! It’s an elevator! Sure beats walking up three flights every day! We would totally recommend this hotel if you’re not looking for anything fancy, but if they have a room with a fridge, get it if you need a fridge. I wish we had thought of that, but we didn’t expect we wouldn’t be able to find vegan breakfasts anywhere and so had to buy our cereal, soy milk, bread, and jam at the nearby food market and keep it in our room. English breakfasts are not vegan-​friendly. :)

I’ve needed a place to stay in London for two weeks that wouldn’t break the bank. And this place was just what I needed. It’s quiet, clean, quite close to Earl’s Court tube stop, close to grocery stores, banks, laundry, and several wonderful pubs and places to eat. The staff is very courteous. The rooms aren’t spacious, but then this is London and if you want a big room, be prepared to pay for it. It isn’t exactly in the center of action but that’s ok, as Earl’s Court made access to the entire tube system fast and easy. I didn’t try the bar because everytime I went down there, no one was on duty. But with a great pub a minute away, who cares? BTW, for me WIFI was great. The beds warm and comfy. Next time I come to London I’ll book here again.

Da ich mich dort immer nur kurz zum Schlafen aufhalte, wähle ich die Hotels bei meinen regelmäßigen London-​Aufenthalten strikt über den Preis aus. Dank Qype, Unilocal,TripAdvisor und HolidayCheck ist es mir dabei eigentlich immer gelungen, die schlimmsten Absteigen zu vermeiden. Ich buche oft lange Zeit im Voraus und schaue kurz vorm Abflug noch mal bei HRS &. Co,. nach, ob es noch etwas günstigere Angebote gibt.
Auf diese Art und Weise landete ich am vergangenen Wochenende im Best Western Burns Hotel, das mich spottbillige 60 Euro für ein Einzelzimmer kostete und einen Katzensprung von der U-​Bahn-​Station Earl’s Court entfernt ist.
Insgesamt ist die Herberge etwas in die Jahre gekommen (vor allem der altersschwache Aufzug), das Zimmer war aber für Londoner Verhältnisse geräumig und gut ausgestattet. Das Bad hatte eine Badewanne (bei dem Zimmerpreis nicht selbstverständlich), aber leider nur einen fest eingebauten Duschkopf. Mein Zimmer lag an der Straße, war aber ruhig und bot einen schönen Blick auf einen Park (siehe Foto).
Das WLAN war kostenlos, bei HRS suche ich stets gezielt danach (man kann das als Filter angeben).
Das Hotel hat eine kleine Bar, aus der einem der Nachtportier auch spät nachts noch Getränke mitgibt.
Meine Vier-​Sterne-​Bewertung bezieht sich auf das Preis-​Leistungs-​Verhältnis, das mir geboten wurde.
Restaurant-​Tipps in de Gegend: Lotus Garden (chinesisch) und Lutong Pinoy (philippinisch).

I stayed one night at the Best Western Burns Hotel. I found out I had to go to London fairly late so did not have a lot of options but this seemed ok. The location is fairly convenient, it is very near Earl’s court station (exit towards Earl’s Court Road and then just a few minutes walk). The area may not be the most fun part of London but easy access to both Heathrow and the central parts of London.
From the outside the hotel looks like he other hotels lining many of the streets in this area. Upon entering there is a fairly small lobby, when I arrived there were several people there and it easily gets crowded and chaotic. Check-​in was very slow, the staff were friendly but it took ages for them to help people so was a too long wait to be ok.
The hotel does not have a very modern feel to it, taking the elevator to my room on the third floor it felt as if it could stop at any time. Entering the room was a disappointment, even though I did not have high expectations. The room was small which is to be expected and it was bigger than a few other Best Western hotels in the same area I previously stayed at. The furniture did however appear to be older than I and it just looked horrible (see pictures).
The bed was small and too soft. Desk was ugly but functional. The room did have a water kettle, free coffee/​tea, fairly new flat screen TV and free wifi. Use of the safe would however cost £2 per day, not really a nice surprise. The room further lack a/​c, now it was just on the verge of being too hot but could probably be awful on really hot summer days.
The bathroom have a cheap plastic feel to, low water pressure in both shower and sink. The bathroom as well as the rest of the room was however clean but it did have the really cheap budget feel so while decently functional (except for the water pressure) it is not very nice.
Did not have breakfast or eat anything in the restaurant so cannot comment on the food at the hotel. Looking at the price I paid for the room it was however not good value (granted it was a late booking during what at appeared to be a busy period in London). There are better options for much lower prices (or excellent places for the same money)

Three words. Worst. Bed. Ever.
Seriously, I got up and slept on the floor wrapped in the tiny twin bed sized blanket on the second night b/​c it was so horrible. Otherwise the hotel is nice, staff is friendly and location is good. Wireless is poor.

Just About All I Could’ve Asked For
Earlier this month, I was able to spend six carefree days in London, during which time I stayed at the Burns Hotel on Barkston Gardens in South Kensington.
Though it’s owned by the Best Western hotel chain, the Burns is a traditional, unpretentious English hotel for those Yanks like me who, while anywhere in Great Britain, would rather avoid the American-​style caravansaries one sees in the States. The Burns looks as it might have been recently renovated as it doesn’t have the slightly tatty look of some traditional English hotels.
Barkston Gardens is both a short street and a tree-​filled, park-​like square (open only, unfortunately, to private householders living around the green). It’s an island of relative peace and quiet off the busy Earl’s Court Road, yet only a three-​minute walk from the Earl’s Court tube station on the District and Piccadilly lines. On the latter, it’s a forty minute ride to Heathrow.
My room, #120, was furnished with a very comfortable double bed, two bedside tables, small writing desk with chair, a second armchair, pants press, tea/​coffee service, hair dryer, and a small-​sized armoire. The hotel had just installed a flat-​screen television on the wall hooked to a system that broadcast dozens and dozens of channels. (Though I didn’t watch it much, how very different it is from the old days in the UK when one could only view four or five stations!) Most importantly, the room had free wi-​fi for an Internet connection to my PC. The only thing lacking that I could have used during my stay was a mini-​refrigerator.
The en suite bathroom had the requisite sink, toilet and a roomy tub/​shower combination. Here, as in every British hotel I’ve ever stayed, no washcloth is provided with the towels and bathmat. It’s a cultural thing.
On the street level (ground floor) is an in-​house bar that serves pub food in the evening and breakfast in the morning. For no good reason that I can think of, I didn’t choose to take advantage of this amenity; I should have.
Around the corner on Earl’s Court Road are a post office, two banks (NatWest and Barclays), a gym, and an array of both fast-​food and sit-​down eateries. A very good choice in the latter group is the Orjowan restaurant featuring Lebanese cuisine. (See my Unilocal review.) If you want to eat in the room after a tiring day, a half-​block away is a Marks & Spencer «Simply Food» store, which has an impressive selection of both fresh uncooked and cooked pre-​packaged foods for one or two people, and including fresh veg, fresh fruits, dairy products, snacks, desserts and alcoholic/​non-​alcoholic beverages. I love the sandwiches! The place is amazing; I wish we had the outlet in the United States.
In summary, Room 120 would perhaps be on the verge of cramped for more than one person, and those dilettantes expecting luxury should stay elsewhere. However, for me, traveling solo, it was everything I could’ve hoped for except for the absence of a refrigerator. It was nothing even remotely fancy, mind you, but the room was scrupulously clean, quiet, and conveniently located to a tube station and food outlets. All this for a price (at the time) of about $ 135/​per night, which is extremely reasonable for central London. I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again. Indeed, I look forward to doing so.