Originally Posted by BotB

Updated Hilton London Olympia Pictorial Review:

I hope the below updated info is of interest as well as the pictures showing differences in room style and space / bar area....apologies if this takes quite a bit of bandwidth to view...

Booked a one night stay here recently on short notice with cash (IIRC 2 days out it was £ 106 summer sale rate, so excellent value for money for London!)

Floor plan Hilton London Olympia: (sorry for poor quality, the amount of reflected light and glass made it impossible to capture without using a flash): Rooms 835 to 810 are facing Kensington High St.

floor plan sorry for quality by BA_pics, on Flickr

I had booked a double hilton guest room (entry level room) and was ‘upgraded’ to an executive double guest room which was on the top floor, away from the elevators (as per my prefs) and did indeed have a bathrobe and slippers which I guess was the difference in features.

View from Entrance to Room:

view to room by BA_pics, on Flickr

As I mentioned in my previous report last year if you are needing to be in the area it is nice and one I would recommend. However, for my preferences, I find it a bit too inconvenient if you want to spend most of your time in the main tourist attractions (and are here mid week) as the tube stations are equidistant apart at about 1/2 Km away and connections seem to take a while (compared to other locations and tube stops that is!) You can use the West Kensington stop on the District line and walk North or High St. Kensington stop on the District line as well as the circle line (yellow) and walk West. There is also the ability to use the Olympia stop on the London Overground but that only works weekends.

View back to the Entrance:

view to entrance by BA_pics, on Flickr

The hotel building is dated with the older grey concrete block structure, although they have done renovations and the rooms generally are quite modern. I did find that on both stays there is a smell in the rooms that were unpleasant, I don’t have a sensitive nose and couldn’t place the smell but I wouldn’t want to spend more than a night here due to this and the access on tube line issue mentioned. YMMV.

View of building facade from 8th floor elevators looking towards Kensington street:

view of building facade by BA_pics, on Flickr

Anyway, the staff were very pleasant and helpful, the diamond treatment is according to standard and I received lounge access (its on the second floor and is a decent size with views to the main road with windows). There was no additional amenities in the room as a diamond over any other standard room (so no bottle of wine, no free water or jar of some snack, no mouthwash).

The hotel has a large reception area straight in front of you when you enter the building and a small souvenir shop on the right of the reception with some small snacks as well. To the left of the reception (viewed as approaching it) you can either go up some stairs to the main bar and restaurant area or go through into the attached Costa coffee shop.

I checked in just after 15:00 and was soon on my way to the room. There are 3 elevators which are quite slow and fairly small (given the amount of rooms here) so I tended to use the lifts going up and the stairs (right in front of the lifts) going down.

I was told I could eat in the restaurant or the lounge for free as a diamond and have to say it is one of the best London Hiltons for breakfast as a Gold or Diamond. The choice is quite large and although busy it is never overly stuffed, nor is the service ever poor. I have had several non standard coffees (cappuccino and espresso) brought to the table that staff have ordered from Costa and brought to me during breakfast free of charge. ^

The restaurant is quite large and has a full side of windows so you can also look out and get natural daylight.

The bar area is very modern with some interesting colour schemes and furniture but again always seemed to be pleasantly busy but not overfull or loud.

Bar Interior:

more bar interior by BA_pics, on Flickr

Colourful Seating in Bar:

modern bar interior by BA_pics, on Flickr

In the room, there same electronic mini bar are still being used. When i asked about water the front desk staff were great and apologised that no extra ‘free water’ was in the room for me, they offered to either send some up or if I wished to simply use the two bottles that were in the room and they would remove them from the bill on check out. (which I did and they removed without me having to say anything).

Water (not free) and crisps (also not free) electronically monitored:

water not free normally by BA_pics, on Flickr

Work Desk and TV:

work area and TV by BA_pics, on Flickr

I used the internet here on a Thursday and Friday and found it decent enough for email access on both days. The access was via a code you are given at the front desk (only tried it on one device so not sure if you need more codes for extra devices or not).

The room was in very good condition and all the furniture was fairly new along with the bathroom. The bed was comfortable. There are no opening windows in the room but it would have been far too loud if it did allow this as the room I had overlooked the main road and even through the windows I could hear the traffic (but I sleep soundly so didn’t bother me…if you need quiet, I would suggest a room towards the back, which may be smaller but at least quiet?)

Wardrobe with bathrobes and slippers, safe and ironing items:

wardrobe contents by BA_pics, on Flickr

The bathroom door was showing its age and as you can see in the picture, didn’t close fully as the wood had worked over time but it did seal the room well enough that any steam or heat didn’t set of any alarms!

Modern Bathroom:

modern bathroom by BA_pics, on Flickr

Warped Bathroom door:

warped bathroom door by BA_pics, on Flickr

Sink and Amenities: (bigger than previous stay)

sink area and amenities by BA_pics, on Flickr

The shower had great pressure and hot water, considering the age of the building and being on the top floor this was very appreciated!

Shower head detail:

shower head by BA_pics, on Flickr

I’ll skip the other bathroom photos as they are nearly the same as my previous post, however the tiling behind the bathtub was different and of a higher quality in my opinion in this room over the previous one shown above in my last review.

All in all, a decent stay at a good price for London with great staff and an excellent breakfast, however, I would choose something more central with easier access for stays of more than a night or two personally.

Generic Letter of Benefits:

letter given to diamonds (click to view in bigger size) by BA_pics, on Flickr

Hope this is of use to those considering staying here. I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.