The California

"Hotel staff amazing. Emma, Innocente and Lynette as well as all cleaning staff I met were service minded and attentive. Location was perfect. Room was high standard and valuable integrated AC that was easy to operate. 4th floor and no elevator was a bit of a struggle but did me good. Breakfast was a really good arrangement and the back terrace was great for online meetings I had to attend. The only real drawback was the loud flushing of toilets and hearing floors creek and people talk as they passed in the hallway but no big thing. Will likely stay again! Good value for money."

"Decided to book this hotel due to going to a concert at Wembley Stadium as it has easy access to the tube and was very good location for this with connections to the St Pancras Station, Kings Cross line and St Pancras International. However despite this, the hotel was lacking. We were given a big king sized room down in the basement lower floor which was difficult to navigate where we were going, no lift and had to go down small, steep stairs to get to it. There was a lot of noise from the corridors, the tube station tracks could be heard from our room until early hours, tv had no signal, WiFi that didn’t work and not even mobile data could be picked up The room was stuffy, no aircon and it felt incredibly uncomfortable to sleep in due to this. Then on return home from this hotel I had traces of bed bug bites on my arms and legs which has never happened to me when I’ve stayed in hotels anywhere before. They did note in the room that the bedsheets are only cleaned if you request them to, so one to note. Bathroom shower also had terrible water pressure and wasn’t very warm. Didn’t have breakfast, we just went out. Even though you are close to the handy tube/train station, you have to go past the very sad homeless population of Kings Cross who have addiction and mental health issues and are clearly not being supported like they should be. When we walked back from the concert some were sleeping on the floor, hunched over like zombies due to drugs, trying to also make sure we didn’t step on anything like broken glass, needles, any suspicious substances etc. all to get back to the hotel. It was very sad and uncomfortable, especially for two young adult females who just wanted to get back to the hotel as soon as possible. Walking at night back was very intimidating. For the cost, there’s definitely better hotels in London I won’t be returning here and will find other hotels the next time I stay in London."

"Beware that this hotel is in desperate need of a refresh. I had a rather horrible stay — fortunately for just one night. There is no lift, so be prepared to carry suitcases up narrow stairs and across carpets that look dingy and like they haven’t been deep cleaned in years. The room I was assigned was filthy too; the walls had grime on all of the high-touch areas like the door, near the light switches and electrical outlets. The heating and cooling system was the worst because it was clear that nobody had changed the air filter in ages. It was caked with dust and dirt. The door is opened by key with no security lock, so beware or bring your own security lock for the door once you are inside. The mattress was lumpy and saggy, and the walls are terribly thin. I could hear every word of the television in the room next door to me, causing me to find a pair of earplugs to try to get some sleep. The front desk staff were incredibly kind and helpful, but I would never return to this hotel because of the lack of cleanliness and overall lack of comfort. Yes it is only a 3-star hotel, but there are much better options."