St Ermins

2nd and last time at this hotel. Reserved an Executive King bedroom only to be given the smallest room on the entire floor. This is the 2nd time this has happened to me at this hotel, which leads me to conclude that this is company policy - place the guest in the smallest room and wait and see if they complain...which I did...to be told the floor diagrams on the back of the door are not drawn to scale "...does that make sense..?" the clerk said......Actually no, it doesn't...eventually shown to a slightly larger room at the back of the hotel facing an alley with trash containers and air conditioning units.....(again....the philosophy of "lets see how much our guests can tolerate") - quite appalling. The reservation also included breakfast, again only to be told that refers to the Continental...an additional charge for the "Full English".......all-in-all a very poor experience....but I've learned my lesson.......A shame really.....it has potential......I subsequently stayed at The Compleat Angler in Marlow (a MacDonald Group hotel)...and the difference with respect to taking care of the guest was night-and-day.....St. Ermin's has a lot to learn....

My sister and I stayed at St. Ermin's for the New Year's holiday. It's in a fantastic location, just a couple blocks from Westminster Abbey and St. James's Park. Literally the next corner from the hotel is the St. James's Park tube station and Scotland Yard is across the street. It's very lavishly decorated inside. I only had a few problems which brought the ratings down. Check-in is at 2 and we arrived at 2:30. We were told that our room was being cleaned and they were waiting on a call from housekeeping and suggested we wait on the lobby couch or have a drink in the bar while we wait. Well, we waited for 30 mins and then I went up to the desk. It seems our room was ready but they hadn't told us about, instead just left us waiting. Not a big deal but less than I'd expected. Later we ordered room service - a sandwich (which I was told came with fries), a side order of fries, two Cokes, ice cream and ice. The order came and there was only one order of fries and no ice. We weren't charged for the extra order but once again, the service didn't meet my expectations. On New Year's eve, we ordered room service again and were told we'd have it within in 20 mins, almost 45 mins had passed and no food. So I called to cancel and the attendant wasn't aware that we hadn't received our food yet. He did offer to check on it but it was past midnight and we were going to sleep. I would like to stress that in each of these cases the staff was very courteous and polite, one staff member even recognizing us at the tube station and offering assistance. I have no issue with any of the staff just with the service/training. I expected better from a $300+/night hotel. I would also like to stress that this is just my experience and I'm sure that there are 10 other positive reviews to counteract my negative.

The hotel is beautiful and it's location is excellent for everything you want to do during your stay. The hotel is clean and well kept and the staff is eager to assist with anything you may need.

Great hotel and great location. The hotel is very clean and the staff incredibly nice and helpful. We had problems with the TV on the first night where it had to be rebooted every 5 minutes. When it was still occuring on the second night, the night manager, Bilal, moved us to another room and personally came up to help with the bags. He also credited us two days internet. The hotel location is right next to the St James tube which is on the district line and can get you pretty much anywhere. It also connects to Victoria Station which is how we came and went from the airport. West Minster Abbey was less than a 5 minute walk. The two rooms we stayed in had exterior obstructed views of brick walls so we pretty much kept the blinds closed but with the great location and since we were out most of the day anyway this was not that big of a deal. We never ate at the hotel so I cannot comment on the restaurant or prices. I did have a couple of draft beers at the hotel bar and a pint was ~7 pounds (or ~10 dollars) which is about what I paid at the hotel bar in New York when I stayed there last year so it was pretty much the same; better to hit the cool pubs like The Albert just around the corner for a pint half that price and served on cask. Overall, I highly recommend this hotel and would definitely stay again next time we visit London.

Very pleased with the location of this hotel. Quiet area, only one block from the tube station and pubs, short walk to many eating venues. Walking distance to Buckingham Palace and St. James Park. The staff was very friendly and helpful when needed. Would have liked free wifi service but there were 2 Starbucks close by.

Stayed here for a week with my daughter. The hotel decor is beautiful. I was very impressed by the concierge services (especially Gary and Juan) who were extremely courteous and accommodating. Location can't be beat. Hotel is within very easy walking distance of Buckingham Palace, and is also close to the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. The walk to these sites is about 10-15 minutes, but a nearby bus route (serviced by multiple bus lines) runs past there frequently, and the St. James's Park tube stop is a short block away. As others have said, the rooms are quite small, but in a city like London,where one is always out and about, this matters little. It also would have been nicer and left us with more of a secure feeling if there was more activity in the neighboring streets at night, as very few people can be seen milling around after dark. Nonetheless, we went out (sometimes quite late) every night, and never had a problem. The area seems quite safe. I guess my biggest complaint is the lack of WiFi in the rooms. You can request a code (it changes daily) for use in the lobby but this can be a pain at times. The in-room WiFi fee is shockingly high. It was nice to have electrical outlets suitable for use with different geographically-based appliances right in the room, though. The shower was quite nice too. I would definitely stay in this hotel again.

Best part of hotel is the location. If coming to see the sites, a great option. Front face & lobby are beautiful. Clean, comfortable rooms - big for Europe. I was barely in my room, so the fact that room view is wall of another building not a huge problem. However one could wish for a view of this amazing city with all the beautiful architecture. Their cable or satellite operator should probably be reconsider as routinely had signal issues - shouldn't happen at a four star hotel. I had no issue with water temperature, but a women was complaining of it as I checked in & I saw this on some other reviews. Perhaps result of this being an old building. History & character never come without modern day complications. Great place to stay overall - major sites are truly just around the corner!

Lovely surprise since I booked this based on pictures and stranger's reviews. The best is that it was so perfectly situated in walking distance to so many of the sights I wanted to see in Southwark -(The Tate Museum), Imperial War Museum, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and extremely convenient to 2 underground stations (less than a few minutes walk) to the rest of London. The Superior Queen room, although small, was very comfortable, newly decorated and very clean; there were bathrobes and slippers in the small closet (with an ironing board and iron) but not much drawer space so 2 pieces of luggage, placed on the deep window sill, served as large drawers; Staff was very efficient, extremely professional, smiling and cordial, willing to help in any way possible.

we like it people help a lot where to go and they are very nice too.

I had little hope that the hotel would be as nice as the pictures (are they ever?) but St. Ermin's was indeed as nice as the pictures. Because I purchased the room as a package, I expected a small room, inconveniently located. Our room was tucked in a little alcove, away from elevators and foot traffic. As a result, we were over a back street, where the building behind us unloaded heavy loud things several mornings, but that was the only negative of our stay. The room was large and comfortable, especially for a city hotel. Staff could not have been more helpful. Wi-fi was free and quite decent (the hotel was not full, either, which may have helped). Location was perfect for weekdays, with many breakfast and lunch options. Holidays, not so much, as everything closed for Christmas. The Tube station was right around the corner, which could not have been more convenient. (Again holidays made that slightly less than perfect - for some inexplicable reason the Tube closes completely on Christmas, forcing us to get car service to the airport.) I recommend St. Ermin's wholeheartedly.