CP London (Kensington)

golsquare · Jul 6, 09, 2:12 pm

Newly refurbished hotel in a great location. Gloucester road tube station is across the road as are some good pubs, waitrose etc

First impressions were good, up to date modern decor in identifiable Crowne Plaza colors and style. Reception desk is to the left with two check in points - no dedicated priority club line.

Going to do the rest in point form. Overall the stay was a good one but there is room for improvement especially for elites.

Good points
Modern rooms, 32inch plasmas, quiet, good showers, comfy beds.

Free wifi

Excellent gym

Bad points
Front of house - I was on a points stay, was told point blank - points stays don't get privileges. No upgrade and the manager confirmed that

Platinum treatment - no welcome letter, no bottled water, no vouchers for F and B and in the absence of a room upgrade, no club lounge upgrade either but cash upgrade offered which in my opinion for a single traveller at 50 quid was steep. The final nail - no choice of newspapers - it's the Telegraph or pay for it which I got mistakenly charged for on check out

Equipment - Only one lift working. 5 floors - so imagine the morning wait.

Housekeeping - rushed job - newspapers still on floor, toiletries not replaced. Photos available if people want proof

So overall, a decent stay if you are a punter off the street but as a PC Plat I have had better stays at CP (City) and CP (St James)

browserden · Jul 31, 09, 10:05 am

We have a lurker from the CP Kensington on here so hopefully he seen your feedback, the hotel seems to be taking all feedback on board, so if you get no reply from the lurker here it might be worthwhile emailing the comments to the hotel if you've not already filled in a feedback form.

We have an excellent selection of Crowne Plazas to choose from in London, the ones I've tried all have their good points - but I've not tried the CP Ealing or LHR.

As you may have noted the lift issue is temporary, they're replacing the old Holiday Inn lifts which were old and knackered. As there's only space for two lifts there's not much they can do about it.

Gym is the best I've seen in a Crowne Plaza (just considering the gym itself, I've been to ones in other cities that have nice pools, but I'd not expect a pool in Central London).

WiFi didn't work for me, so looks like they've fixed that.

Upgrades - you were unlucky but you can't expect miracles on a points stay, for me anything is a bonus. There's reports on here and tripadvisor of people staying on points and getting upgrades, but I guess they don't want to promise anything when you're staying on points. There's also reports on tripadvisor of people getting upgraded to multi-level suites. Presumably most of these have paid. There's even reports about golds getting upgrades which is rare with IHG.

Housekeeping - this was certainly not my experience - they were very thorough when I stayed there. I think you definitely should send these pics in an email to the hotel, let them investigate.

I'm fairly sure I got water in my room, can't remember whether I got a welcome letter, I've stayed in so many hotels since then, no food and beverage voucher - but I seem to rarely get these from any IHG hotel. I get a drinks voucher at the CP Schiphol, a voucher for wine (with a meal) at the CP Shoreditch but nothing in most hotels.

Club access: never tried the lounge at the CP Kensington but apparently it offers a full English breakfast as well as evening drinks, etc. Therefore I think if there were two people in the room £50 would be fair (I assume the £50 is per room not per person).

bmi goldenboy · Nov 4, 09, 5:00 pm

My first post on the IC forum is prompted by the fantastic stay I had recently at this CP property. Excellent location, extremely efficient and friendly staff, upgraded on check in and offered additional upgrade to a duplex for a bargain £50 per night

Lounge is nice with great brekkie choice and free bar (my first and only experience so far as I'm normally resident in HI and HIX), canape's in the evening were used as a free meal by many guests who decended on the plates like vultures as soon as the staff refreshed them.

I will absolutely use this CP again, nothing but good vibes from the place

My only other experience of CP is Leeds, they couldn't be any more extreme in their difference. LHR next week so hopefully its more of a Kensington CP than Leeds.....

SamsoniteBoy · Nov 7, 09, 8:34 am

I have to admit I was somewhat underwhelmed by the hotel during my 2 day stay.

It was on a 2-4-1 so the rate was really good but there was no platinum recognition (certainly no upgrade or lounge access).

The room was a little dreary although obviously refurbed.

I (& others) were very frustated by only one small lift in operation - this is made worse as there is no obvious alternative with a nearby staircase. The whimsical little signs explaining the lift problem probably eased the annoyance slightly but it was still very far from perfect.

One a more positive note - I love the location & the public areas looked very stylish.

I certainly enjoyed my stay in (an executive room) across the road in the HI Kensington Forum just as much.