Garth Hotel

Excellent location next to UCL and very close to the British Museum. The hotel itself is a little old and not the cleanest. For the price it was still ok.

On arrival, I was sent into the basement to find my room, but it wasn't there. On going into the room, it was a bit cold. There was no hot water until the evening. I had to transfer water from the bathroom tap into the kettle with a glass. The light switch was not near the bed. There was quite a bit of noise from the road and also I got woken several times through the night by the noise of next-door room. I found that there was poor TV reception on some stations (such as BBC1) and the remote control would not switch the TV off and volume buttons and some other buttons did not respond. The keys provided would not open the main front door and room key (No.18) was not easy to operate. Otherwise, my morning shower was good with soap and gel provided,.and the three staff I met were very nice.

This hotel has become legendary in my family. My husband and I stayed here for 7 days in 1998 as young newlyweds and after traveling the world, it remains the worst hotel we have ever experienced. We are returning to London this summer so I was taking a trip down memory lane and it appears it's still as bad now as it was then some 26 years later. The wallpaper was peeling, the carpet was ancient then and it appears it still hasn't been updated (was gross to walk on without shoes). We had to share a bathroom with several other rooms without hot water (always felt like a race to get water before someone else used it), there was zero counter space, felt very grungy with bad odors. The windows were very cold and drafty in February (luckily they put us in a room with 4 twin beds so we could use the blankets from the other beds to stay warm. It was super loud from both outside traffic and noisy drunk neighbors with thin walls. The breakfast area in the basement was dark and musty. The tea set in our room was covered in so much dust, that it looked like it hadn't been touched in years. The outer bedding appeared dirty. I still have memories of hauling my giant suitcase up three flights of stairs (back before I learned how to travel light) because it's essentially an old house with no elevator. Our stay was back before the internet when we couldn't read online reviews and had to rely on calling to book a reservation using a travel book with only a single black and white photo and short description so I'm shocked they can stay in business in today's era. I think a youth hostel would have been cheaper and a step up in quality. The one plus is the prime location. If you can lower your expectations and view this like staying with your elderly grandmother whose house is rundown and everything smells a little funny or if you plan to tour all day and only come back to sleep, then this place might be tolerable in a pinch.