Best Western Premier Shaftesbury Hotel

My companion and I were forced to stay at this hotel, when the Shaftesbury Kensington overbooked our room and transferred us. On the whole, our stay at this establishment was unpleasant from start to finish! On arrival there was no-one to carry our bags, and the chap on reception was incredibly rude! We thankfully found the room to be spotless, and well ventilated. However, the windows were not double-glazed, despite the hotel being located on a very busy main road, which is exceptionally noisy - especially at night when sirens, late-night drinkers and car horns can be heard well in to the early hours! Having gone to bed by 10.30pm due to an early start in the morning, by 2am we were still awake, and I was forced to go down to reception and request a change of room! Thankfully, the two young men on night reception were far more polite than their earlier colleague, (openly admitting that they often received many complaints about the noise!!!) and a new room was arranged. However, just as we left the room to move to the new one, reception called to say they had made a mistake and asked me to come down to see them again to change keys for yet another room! This was only a double for that night - which was 2 floors above the first one, and not much better noise-wise - and we had to change again the following day! No apologies were made to us by the hotel for the inconvenience caused!! If this were a 'cheap' hotel I would have less cause for complaint. However, this is apparently a 4-star hotel, with very high prices to boot, and I am sure I am not alone in expecting value for money from such an establishment!! I am confident that 'party people' would love this hotel! However, depsite the good location for shows, shopping, etc. I would NOT recommend this hotel to anyone who likes to receive good customer service, or indeed values their beauty sleep!! As you are unlikely to get either from this establishment! I travel a lot, and stay in London often, but I will NEVER stay at this hotel again! I strongly advise fellow travellers to look elsewhere for their accomodation!!

This is a chic little hotel! Took is a while to find but we dot there in the end...the reception is a little plasticy but the rooms are totally different! Check in was a little dodgy and slow. My room was on the top floor, nice corner room lush dark purple velvet curtains, dim lighting and the room was a little small. The beds were very, very comfortable fluffy and crisp, Internet access in the room....fabulous dressing table with a little bud vase with a couple of carnations and a platter of fresh fruit tea and coffee. Flat Screen TV and a little lounging area/couch with magazines and papers. The bathroom was a little dissapointing, very small, couldn't swing a cat in it but the shower was nice, showers are always important. I had a view of the Chinatown gate and the London Eye. If you are looing for somewhere to eat, be prepared to stand for up to 30 mins inline for a seat in any of the near by restaurants..the Italian across the road invited us in but had us standing for ages at the top of a steep victorian stairs, pushing and shoving past us trying to make us feel akward, so we left.....straight for Leicester Square to the Angus Steak house... The Shaftesbury is in an EXCELLENT location! a couple of doors down if you come out and turn right is the bar/club Sirocco, very upmarket and fab cocktails! I wouldnt complain about this hotel tbh. Very reasonable price! Try it!

Let me start by saying that I fully agree with previous reviewers about great location of this hotel.Tthe hotel was clean and pretty modern (for London standards). However, those were the only positive things.... After reading positive reviews here I decided to book a premier double room for one night. Big mistake! I felt like staying in some "Easyhotel", since my "premier" room that costed over £150 per night didn't even have a window!?! The room also was so small that there was probably less than 50cm space between bed and walls, there wasn't even room for a single chair. I wonder what the "regular" room is like, is it possible to make it any smaller? So it's a place for just sleeping after having the night out in Chinatown/elsewhere nearby, but that's about it. You could have the same experience at least £100 cheaper from some other place. Personally I will stay away from this place. Romantic getaway in this place? Yeah right... Luckily I was on a business trip so I didn't have to pay the bill for this pleasure

Arrived at hotel 17.00 Tuesday with my mum. helpfull friendly concierge. Got shown to room on 3rd floor, at front of hotel. Twin room, very, very small! Beds were together, person in bed by window had to walk sideways on past tv and desk to get to bathroom. Very clean, dreadfull pillows on bed and extremely hot, unable to change settings on air con. The vibraitions really bad at night, as there is a bus stop right in front of hotel, and the busses when they are sitting there with engines on send vibrations up through hotel which you can really hear and feel, not good. Managed to sleep eventually. Breakfast good of it's type. Friendly staff. Great location, just ask for a room at the back of the hotel! by the way, our reason for visiting London was to go to The Palladium for the 'Sinatra' show. If you see one thing, make sure it is this. It is FANTASTIC! Could watch it again and again.

I was disappointed when I stayed at this hotel. The double room I had was quite small and the TV/Internet did not work properly. I returned to reception and was allocated anther room where the TV/Internet did work, but be warned! Although the hotel does offer free broadband Internet access as advertised the screen resolution size is fixed at a ridicuously large size, which makes navigating for such purposes as internet banking impossible. When I rang reception to ask if the resolution size could be changed I was told it couldn't be. Add the less than friendly staff to the picture and I'd say you are best advised to try elsewhere.

If you're looking for a romantic or relaxing getaway in London head for the Portobello Hotel or the Hazlitts. For 5 star service, perhaps the Halkin or the Dukes might suit you. However, if you're interesteded in enjoying the bustling day and night of Central London while staying in a clean, affordable, and functional hotel, the Shaftesbury will result perfect. A friend of mine and I booked a double premier room with a nice king bed through londonnights webpage and found it very satisfying. We actually ended up sneaking in a third friend and the 3 of us still managed to fit confortably in the king bed. The bedroom itself was decently sized, airy and with two nice big windows facing dean street. The bathroom was fantastic, with functional non-flooding-american style shower and equipped with another TV and american sockets. Even though you could hear a bit of noise at night it was nothig to prevent you from sleeping, and you have to realize that you're actually ON Shaftesbury Ave. and a block from Old Comptons Street. The staff were always nice and helpful and always left any left messages under your door. However, what I valued most of this hotel was the location. Everything is walking distance! It's great to be able to walk back to your hotel at any time without having to take a taxi.

I was a bit concerned about staying here after reading some of the reviews, but as a single woman staying in London the location was ideal for the two theatres I was visiting. I needed have worried as I was pleasently surprised by the whole visit. I found it better to book via the Best Western web site as the room was much cheaper with their special offers, though they were non-refunable. The staff were friendly and helpful, with an offer of help with my luggage. I was given a free, unrequested upgrade as I'd requested a bath and their single rooms with baths were occupied. The room was small, however plenty of room to manouver and everything to hand. It was clean and nicely decorated, and the bed was one of the best I've ever slept in - one to sink into without it being too soft, the linen was clean and crisp, plenty of natural-fibre pillows. The bathroom was clean and a nice size, thoughthe TV in the bathroom was a novelty, though difficult to see from the bath and the picture was never quite right. However this was a luxury not a necessity and the main TV worked well. I would advise though that they increase the number of channels availabe - BBC1, BBC2, ITV and C4 were the only options. The fresh fruit and complimentray newspaper were a nice bonus. I didn't dine at the hotel so cannot comment on the food. There is a free luggage room, though I did tip the 'consierge' when he brought my luggage as I left as he'd been helpful throughout the stay. Again the staff were great and very accommodating. All in all it was a great experience and I would recomment it and consider staying there again.

We were there for our anniversary, basing on the name : BW Premier Shaftesbury because in France the BW Premiers are the top of the BW. In fact, here, premier is only the name of a local chain... Location is very convenient/theaters, Piccadily, shopping... We have a room on the avenue so very noisy even late in the night...and I have requested a quiet and large room for our anniversary. It was called "junior suite" and I 'm always looking for the "suite". bath room was only a shower... Staff was courteous and smiling but didn't remplace quietness and squarefeet.. I think BW have to change the denomination "premier" in this particular case, because it allows some (voluntary ???) confusion...

I was concerned by recent bad reviews and would not have booked this hotel had I read them first. I nearly cancelled actually but I am glad I didn't. Good points - excellent room, fair size and well equipped with everything working. Clean, comfy bed and good bed linen. Breakfast was very good in a small, bright, airy room. Bad points- Reception area is very plastic. I had to wait quite a long time to check in as two receptionists dealt with a group of four. The hotel is brilliantly positioned in the theatre district close to Soho and Covent Garden. Tips - book a junior suite and phone to tell them you may be late as I think there were people being moved on.

We were sent to the Shaftsbury by the Best Western Paddington Court hotel. The only good thing was our cab was paid for and supposedly we were "upgraded" at no charge. The Shaftsbury is okay if you don't mind filth, torn carpeting, dirty banisters and dark hallways. Urine on the bathroom floor, televisions dangling out of the wall, Sticky, dark, unknown substances staining surfaces and broken coffee machines. If you are the adventureous type and the possibility of catching a disease from unclean surfaces, the Shaftsbury is your place to stay in London! It was awful. I would not recommend this place to an animal.