It is a hotel I had never stayed at before, but the idea of trying it out came to me last year when in November I passed by it on bus 483, travelling from the Hilton Wembley to the Hilton Syon Park.

I had the opportunity to stay there last Tuesday, 13th May, more or less out of necessity, as despite booking a month in advance, hotel prices in London were outrageous on that day. The Hampton Park Royal offered a rate just over £110, which was perhaps the best among all the Hilton hotels in London (except for the Spark in Romford where I had stayed the previous day).

I don't know if there was a particular event in London, but that day about 70% of the hotels on the Hilton platform were sold out, and the few available had prices well above £500, and I'm talking about hotels that generally have prices under £100.

Location:

There is not much, apart from a few shops almost opposite the hotel and a shopping centre with a Burger King and other fast food outlets about 10 minutes away.

It is however opposite Park Royal tube station (Piccadilly Line) and about 5 minutes walk from Hanger Lane tube station (Central line). Also available are bus routes 95 to White City and Shepherd's Bush, and bus 487. Other bus routes (including the 483 I mentioned above) stop near Hanger Lane tube station.

Check-in:

I tried to check in online by choosing the room, but every time at the end of the procedure I received a message that it was not possible to verify the payment, so I gave up.

I arrived at the hotel around 2pm and was greeted by an agent who certainly wasn't the friendliest, who immediately made it clear that check-in time was 3pm. Only after my insistence, and probably checking my Diamond status, did several rooms become available. I was even offered an upgrade to a Queen Room with Sofa Bed, which in my opinion wasn't a big upgrade, but was still offered during online check-in as a paid upgrade for an extra £30.

No water bottle offered (but I had the MyWay option selected for the extra 250 points).

Room:

Very small room. The sofa bed was already prepared as a bed, and this was useful for having a space to put down luggage and to take advantage of the extra pillows and towels.

There was no hairdryer in the room and it never arrived after we asked for it. Digital Key not working in the elevator, so I asked for a couple of plastic keys, but one of them also not working in the elevator.

Breakfast:

Not sure if I’ve just been spoiled lately by staying at too many Hampton hotels in Poland, where breakfast is genuinely top-notch.
Here, though? Bit of a let-down, to be honest. Only one coffee machine actually working – and of course, there’s always a queue. Staff seem to have mastered the art of invisibility when it comes to clearing tables.
And the scrambled eggs? Let’s just say they looked a bit... suspicious. I’d wager they were made from something that once dreamed of being an egg, but definitely didn’t come from a real chicken.

One thing’s for sure: if eggs like these were served in even the worst hotel in Italy, there’d be a full-blown guest uprising before breakfast was over.

Conclusion:

It is certainly a convenient hotel for reaching the centre of London, thanks to the two stations of two different underground lines a very short distance away, but also for getting to Heathrow (or Wembley on the occasion of some particular event when the prices in the area are exorbitant) but I would choose it only if the price was really advantageous compared to other hotels in London (as happened during my stay).