Imperial Hotel

ziemlich abgewohntes, hässliches Hotel in zentraler Lage (U-​Bahn Station Russell Square quasi ums Eck)… jedoch sauber und das zählt. In London wähle ich kein teures Hotel, da ich nur zum Schlafen da bin. Die Gänge erinnern an amerikanische Horrorfilme, kleine Zimmer… Frühstück gibt’s am Buffet, wobei mir der Fischgeruch von angebotenen Heringen nicht wirklich behagte. Frühstück nicht überragend, aber ok

My first night in the UK was spent at the Imperial Hotel in Russell Square. The hotel is easily accessible by the Underground. It took an hour from the airport to arrive via subway and cost about £5.70 for a one way ticket.
The hotel is older but has a lot of charm. My Contiki roommate Stephanie had checked in 5 minutes before me so I met her immediately after arriving. We had a 5^th floor room with an amazing view of Russell Square park. The hotel is down the street from the Contiki office at the Royal National Hotel.
The bathroom is divided in this room with the toilet being separate and across the small hallway from the sink and tub. This was an awkward set up. The counter also was perpendicular to the shower and would get wet. Don’t put your clothes there if you want to keep them dry.
The walls are thin and you can hear people coming and going if you are near the elevators. The street noise of traffic cannot be avoided as you are in London.
Check in was a breeze and you have to return your keys to the front desk upon checking out. They have updated to a key card system and no longer have those key rods. We left too early to have breakfast here but was able to grab some food from the 24hr grocer down the street. 3.5 stars

Imperial in name only.
I’m sitting in bed at 1.00 AM wring this review but can’t sleep with the noise outside and pungent smell of cheap air freshener covering an old odour of some kind.
Rude reception staff.
Wifi iffy at best.
Don’t make the same mistake.

Das Imperial Hotel ist ein sehr altes Hotel, was den Anschein hat es wäre früher ein sehr angesagtes und gehobenes Hotel aber mit den Jahren nicht mitgekommen.
Wer für wenig Geld in London schlafen will ist dieses Hotel genau das Richtige. Es liegt sehr zentral in London un das British Museum ist nur 2 Gehminuten entfernt. Ebenfalls ist die Ubahnhaltestelle Russelsquare eine Minute entfernt.
Jetzt zur Einrichtung:
Die Zimmer sind sehr klein, aber man hat zu zweit ausreichend Platz. Die Hygiene wird großgeschrieben, aber die Tapete ist teilweise abgerissen gewesen und die generelle Einrichtung ist spärlich gehalten.
Das inkludierte Frühstück ist hauptsächlich englisch gehalten, was sehr schade ist, weil sie mit einem internationalen Frühstück werben.
Trotz allem kann man perfekt auf dem Bett und schlafen und es gibt in jedem Zimmer einen kleinen Fernseher.
Allen in allem das Hotel erinnert an ein amerikanisches Hotel d.h. lange Flure schlecht dekorierte Zimmer un einem hässlichen Betonbunker.

Nice reception area, but such a bad hotel. Check-​in involves several ridiculous and unnecessary stages. As someone said before me you have to fill in a firm at reception, then shuffle 20 feet left to another person who asks you what your room number is, and then give you a foot long metal rod with a key at the end. This you must hand in when you go out, an then show the form you filled in to get it back! Why? I slept really badly on the quiet courtyard side. A single bed with sheets and blankets that disintegrated into separate piles overnight, the curtains don’t block out the light, the tea and coffee I’d a joke. A plastic envelope with a generic teabag, red mill (?) coffee sachet, 2 x generic white sugar sachets, a plastic stirrer and a tissue. There were 4 milk pots though. Breakfast is cheap. Coffee nasty and orange from powder I believe. It’s been a while since I stayed in somewhere so big and yet so bad.

(This review is outdated as I stayed here for about 2 – 3 days in September 2009 & am only now Unilocaling about it.)
I was on a tour of London, Paris, & Amsterdam with Contiki Tours, so they booked this hotel for me as part of my tour package.
Room was very decent, nothing spectacular but at the bare minimum was just what I needed. I was supposed to be in a double with a random roommate from the tour, but due to a glitch, I wound up with a single room (which was fine with me! Am not a fan of roommates — unless roomie was my boyfriend!)
Our tour package included a dinner at the hotel our 1^st night there. The food was good, but like the room, nothing spectacular but decently good. Hotel staff were all very nice.
A few funny things:
— Room doors slam shut very easily.
— Room key was a key attached to a long metal rod. I think you had to leave it with the hotel’s front desk before leaving the hotel to sightsee, but can’t remember for sure because it was like 2.5 yrs ago.
— Bathtub was sort of elevated, so I felt like a giant (even though I’m only 5’2″) when getting in & out of the tub after my showers
— TV channels: It was kind of like the part in «National Lampoon’s European Vacation» when Rusty turns on the TV in the room & only got the few channels all about cheese making. You only get a few channels & that’s it. Not a big deal, more comical than anything else.
Location is EXCELLENT! I think this was my favorite aspect of the hotel. It’s about 1 – 2 blocks from the Russell Square station on the Underground/​Tube. Lots of restaurants & bars nearby.
Also near the hotel:
— ATM down the block from the hotel, on street
— currency exchange place right by the driveway leading to the hotel
— casino right next to the hotel (didn’t get to check it out, but some of my tourmates did & said it was ok)
— lots of shops & stuff (small shopping center a block down from the Russell Square tube station, a cute little park near there as well)
— Tesco (which is like a 7 – 11) across the street from the Russell Square tube station
— lots of bars & pubs all just a few blocks away. Hotel bar was ok but felt like it was too brightly lit.
— 1 of the Imperial’s sister hotels, I think it’s called the Royal National is like a block away & also has the Contiki Basement (which is where Contiki tour people can go to buy tickets for excursions & stuff). There’s a decent pub there as well.
I would definitely stay here again. Although it was a bit on the shabby side, it was very clean & I loved how close everything is to it.

I got a single room for the night with free wifi. The room is small, but pretty standard for Europe. I got room 210 at the very end of the hallway. Room is a bit noisy since its facing a major road with sirens and constructions going on during the daytime.
This place gets the job done. It provides two towels, blow dryer, outlets with one adapter, and a heater… no AC seen in here (I don’t imagine it getting too hot). As for toiletry, two bar soap and two shower gel. No lotions provided here, so bring your own!
The shower comes in a deep tub, which is a plus… a nice dip of hot water is much needed after long hours of traveling and walking!
Btw, their room key comes with a 12″ metal rod. Not attractive and hard to carry in a smaller purse, but it comes in handy if you want to turn it into a weapon :)
Warning. The shower is hard to keep neat meaning the water will overflow to the back counter and onto the floor. The design of the shower is plain dumb, why? The rear of the shower is a counter where if any water gets pass you and it will, the water flows like the river all over the counter and onto the floor. Don’t leave any clothes on the counter!

Second time at this hotel. The bed was lumpy, even with the window close the noise from the road make it hard to sleep. Did not really enjoy my self here.

It was my first time flying over water to visit a country. The location was perfect, within walking distance to the tube station. My friend and I had a nice view of Russell Square.
The first thing that freaked me out a bit was how tiny the elevators were! They can fit about 6 people crammed into them, packed like sardines without any luggage (the amount of space would’ve been for 2 people in the States). I’m claustrophobic so that took a little getting used to…
The rooms were a bit tiny and didn’t have any fans in the bathrooms (the toilet is in a separate tiny «bathroom» from the tub and sink). There wasn’t an iron so make sure you bring those wrinkle release sprays if you have clothes that wrinkle! Also, the blow dryer doesn’t work at all…
I don’t care too much for having a fancy, shmancy hotel so this place sufficed.

I walk pass this hotel almost everyday when I’m heading towards Holborn and Bloomsbury. There’s nothing I could say about this hotel, however I do use the local shops and cafes that are right next to the Imperial. I could tell straight away there is nothing special and deluxe about it.

This hotel’s website link is incorrect.
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I stayed here for two nights through contiki.
Don’t expect much and you will be fine.
Very close to the undergound station.
Close to a shopping center and resturants.
Touristy bus hop on and hop off right on the same street.
The only annoying thing was having to leave the key at the main desk when you leave.

Stayed at this budget Hotel just for the night per our Contiki tours included package.
The best part: Located near various local spots in London where beers were 2 pounds/​liter, near what locals call the «tube,» a public rail system, and walking distance to many locations, which will allow you to be the ‘tourista’ that you seek.
However, don’t expect shampoo, soap, a dryer, an iron, a safe to secure valuables, or COMPLIMENTARY anything. You will get 2 twin size beds even if you ask for a double, so don’t expect to get «Lucky» if you bring UK home from the bars. You don’t get a room card key but instead an actual old school key that you need to return each time you leave the hotel, so don’t leave your valuables hanging. It’s a very small room w/​linty, old, sheets and covers to sleep on and a severely squeaky bed.
Lastly, when showering, Beware! The movable shower head monster will not sit still in it’s post, so expect the hotels bathroom tiles to flood, don’t place clothes on the side rails or flooring, and avoid traffic in the morning or you will have a freezing cold shower, Ha Ha…
PS: Walls were so thin the night I stayed, so I heard people next door moaning and groaning til’ the break of dawn (Sat.).
Keyword: Budget (but British Pounds are already high end!)

I stayed here when I went to London in college. It had everything I needed — it was not expensive, safe, clean and close to EVERYTHING.
I’d go back.

I got on business trips and other outings, I’ve had the chance to stay here whilst in Central London. From what I remember, the rooms are slightly larger than I expected and there was no strong smells.
Sainsbury is down nearby Holborn Station. Ruseell Square station is just around the corner. London Pub is close, adjacent to a another hotel. And Russell Square is just right there.
Everything else touristy and dining is just a 5 to 10 minute walk away. ie. West End theatres, British museums and everything else that is crowded. Nice place close to everything

great location, right next to russell square station and holborn. russell square park is right outside and the british museum (FREE, woots) its a 5 minute walk away. doesn’t get 5 stars cause the breakfast leaves a little to be desired, but may be thats just not being used to a traditional english breakfast.

This is the first hotel that I stayed at in Europe. It’s hard to adjust after experiencing the huge sized rooms of the hotels in the US, but this place was definitely nice.
It was clean, good for the price, and had a nice view of Russell Square. It’s conveniently located near the London Underground, so if you are catching a train from Heathrow, this place is right on the way.
There is a restaurant/​pub attached to it. For my first fish-​n-​chips experience in the UK, it was actually good, although a bit on the pricey side.
It has Internet stations if you need to check your email, but I am pretty sure they belong to the hotel next door — this place just has a nice passage that you can take to get there.
Everything is within walking distance. Great location. Great price.

Imperial? I don’t think so! Such a disappointing hotel. The actual room wasn’t awful, it did at least seem clean. But there were so many other things wrong, that it all added up.
Where to start, well how about check-​in. The hotel is clearly used to having large groups staying, so if you are a family or couple checking in you get the same officious processing. No one behind the desk seemed to want to actually welcome guests, just deal with them. You have to fill out a form, with exactly the same information that you supplied when you booked online.
As I say, the hotel room itself wasn’t too bad. However the shower holder was broken, so you could only really have a bath. The towels were the size of handtowels and some were well past their best. The TV is tiny and barely visable from the bed, also they have about 8 channels, (1 to 5, plus BBC World and a couple of other channels). Why do hotels not offer Freeview or FreeSat, which would give so much more choice?
There is supposed to be a wireless network throughout the hotel. I had hoped to do some work while staying, so booted up my laptop to pick up my emails. Sadly the service wasn’t working. I phoned reception, who told me they couldn’t guarantee it would work in rooms, but that it would work in reception. Strangely when I tried in reception the service still didn’t work, and this time the story changed to ‘We’ve been having a few problems today.’ When I asked whether someone could have a look at the system, I got ‘Oh I don’t know anything about computers and the person who deals with this has gone home’, surprising bearing in mind it was 4pm, not midnight.
Breakfast was dreadful. The cooked breakfast was far from nice, with cheapest ingredients avoid the sausages! The tea that we were served, was the colour of coffee and tasted worse.
All of the above was pretty awful, but the windows were the final straw. We were on the seventh floor and with the windows firmly closed we could hear the conversations of people in the park outside and sirens reverberated around the room. There was no balcony on the rooms, which is no problem, however the windows open wide, meaning even the largest hotel customer could easily fit through. There was no safety catches to stop windows from opening too far, which is particularly scary with small children. I would love to see the risk assessment that has been written for that, as I would have thought inspections should have picked that up and forced the installation of safety catches.
This hotel very definitely doesn’t offer a Quiet Night Guarantee and if sleep or comfort is part of your planned visit to London, I wouldn’t choose this hotel.

If you’re on a budget but dream of traveling the world, then this hotel will be perfect. It’s clean, roomy for the price, and the staff is decent. The food was bland so don’t eat here but there is a great fish and chips place across the street.
I found the location perfect. My boyfriend and I took the underground from Heathrow to this hotel. Our tour group walked to the Covent Garden from here and passed the British Museum (which to this day I still regret not going to. Harrod’s was NOT worth it!) It’s also within walking distance of several small markets. I guess what us Americans would call convenience stores. I loved going to Tesco Express.
I would definitely stay here again. I can’t wait to go back.

Didn’t stay here because I live in London but came here for drinks and supper for an old school function. Food and booze was pretty standard fare and nothing to write home about. However, the location is great and I’m told rooms are pretty cheap so it would be a good option if you are planning a trip to London during a time when money is tight such as a recession. Who wants to spend most of their time in the hotel anyhow?