The Royal Horseguards

Room was booked as a present to celebrate my birthday. A wonderful surprise when we checked in our room had been upgraded to a suite. The suite was beautiful and a lovely view across the Thames to the London eye We ordered room service for our evening meal. Arrived within 1/2 hour. Beautifully cooked. All the staff we encounter where very helpful and cheery. At breakfast there was a very good selection to choose from Would highly recommend for the extra special night away

I booked this hotel as I had work near that area and also read good reviews. I liked the design and the feel of the hotel. Very nice. Breakfast was good and the restaurant has a garden. It feels great to have a coffee and smoke in summer months.

My wife and I stayed here for 3 nights in Mid-August while vacationing in London. We booked one of the cheap interior rooms with a view of the rooftop AC units simply because we knew we wouldn't be spending a lot of time in the room and didn't want to pay extra for a decent view. We did however pay extra for the included breakfast to prevent having to find breakfast each morning. Breakfast was our first issue; Upon check-in, the front desk clerk confirmed that our breakfast was included each morning and pointed us in the direction of where breakfast would be each morning. 1st morning of breakfast - We arrive at the hostess stand and provide our room number to be informed by the hostess that "her sheet" indicates that our breakfast was not included and asked if we wanted it charged to our room. I informed her that it was included as we paid extra for it and asked her to go double check the info on her sheet with the front desk. She said she would check it and sat us at a table. We went up to the buffet style breakfast, got our food (which was great), and sat down to eat. 20 minutes into our breakfast, one of the waiting staff members approaches our table and asks if we would like coffee or tea. We asked for coffee as we were anxiously awaiting someone to help us find some. 15 minutes later, after we were completely done with breakfast, she brings the coffee. On the way out, I stopped by the hostess stand and waited nearby for the hostess as she was speaking with someone else and I did not want to interrupt. She looked over at me awkwardly and snidely asked if she could help me. I said yes, and asked her if she was able to straighten out the issue with our included breakfast. She replied that she wasn't worried about it and that she believed us. So we left and went about our day. Second morning of breakfast - We arrived downstairs at the hostess stand and give our room number to the hostess (whom was different than the first morning) and watched her circle our room number without saying a word and then she directed us to our table. Breakfast itself once again was great and we were able to get coffee this time a little sooner which was great. We ate our breakfast and went about our day. Upon checking out of the hotel, on 8/18 we stopped by the front desk to drop off our keys where the attendant thanked us and said we were good to go. I asked him to check to make sure there were no charges to our room during our stay. He asked us if we charged anything to which I replied, no. He then looked at our registration and said well your breakfast was included in your stay so there couldn't have been any other charges. He then checked somewhere else on the computer and informed us that there was an outstanding charge for breakfast on 8/17 (our second breakfast). I asked, if breakfast is included with our stay, how can I be charged for breakfast? He apologized for the error and corrected it. However, had I not taken the initiative to have him double check before we left, I would be sitting here back in the US looking at $40-50 charge on my credit card for a breakfast I already paid for. Thirdly and finally - their elevators (or lifts as they're called in the UK) are absolutely the slowest and most inefficient elevators I've ever seen. My wife and I spent 5-10 minutes EVERY morning waiting for them to arrive at the 9th floor to pick us up. All the while we would watch the little number indictors showing them going between the 1st floor and up to about the 5th and 6th floor several times. These elevators completely ignore the 9th floor until they have nobody else waiting at any other floor. We spent a combined total of over half an hour during our 3 night stay here waiting for a lift. Absolutely ridiculous. Other than the problems mentioned above, the rest of the staff were nice and the hotel is in a prime location within walking distance of just about all the major attractions of London. Considering the price we paid for this hotel, I simply expected a lot better out of the staff. Sadly, I ignored some previous reviews from other TripAdvisor members warning of similar issues with the Royal Horseguard staff prior to booking and am now able to confirm their complaints. I'm sure the someone from the Royal Horseguards staff will try to contact me and apologize and try to remedy the problems mentioned above, but this cannot be corrected. The Royal Horseguard Hotel added unnecessary stress to our vacation and that cannot be undone. Look elsewhere for a place to stay in London.

When ever we are in London we stay here, the service is fantastic, very attentive without being intrusive. The staff are so friendly and helpful, nothing is too much trouble. I would recommend trying to get a room overlooking the garden and river as the views are lovely. We didn't have diner as we were going to the theatre and wanted to eat near to the theatre, but we did take breakfast which is served buffet style, full english and continental with various cold meats cheeses and breads are available. Thank you again for an amazing stay and see you at Christmas for our annual shopping trip.

I wonder if Ian Gray, manager actually reads and writes replies to the reviews? If he does, then it's I guess a tick point exercise because the shortcomings don't seem to be addressed. I don't know how it has achieved 5 star status, it should be reviewed, 4 star maximum. The reception is nice but nothing spectacular. Check in was easy and quick. Bedroom was small, with smallest closet ever. Room was not gleaming, could have done with a good Hoover and polish. Desk come dressing table had a lift up lid with mirror for drying your hair, but mirror was too high to see it. Hairdryer was terrible, kept cutting out when it got hot, no attachment with it, and not replaced despite me asking for a replacement, also the lamp bulb didn't work and again not fixed, so basically sat in the dark trying to dry my hair with a substandard hairdryer. Ditch the complimentary minibar, waste of time, 4 waters, 2 cokes, 1 packet crisps and nothing replenished over 3 nights, just offer 2 free waters each night like all other hotels do. No turn down service on first night, so we left do not disturb on all other nights. House keeping didn't empty the bin for 2 nights. Bedding was tatty and not replaced at all. Toiletries were elemis but poor, I see we didn't get new shampoo and conditioner as there was only half a bottle of each, hair conditioner was poor. guy who works with the main concierge person looked at us as if we were alien, do we care, no, if we couldn't afford it we wouldn't be there. We paid the summer special, maybe that's why We didn't get good room service, poor facilities, poor bedding etc. We spent another £300 cash on bar services etc, service wasn't 5star but believe me we don't want that, a bar is to relax in, just come and take my order and bring the drinks. I noticed the bars weren't fully busy with guests, it could be a little gold mine if advertised properly, Ian Gray!!! Doormen, were all very nice, on the wet Wednesday he even walked up the road to get us a taxi, excellent service. I reported to concierge that water was coming out the ceiling on the 8th floor outside the lift and he went to sort out the problem, only thing was they put the bin to collect the water underneath another hole, so I had to go back and point this out, the next day when it wasn't raining the bins and towels were still there at 11am, hotel management daily walk through's are good practice, Ian Gray might be worth giving this a go, you might be surprised. Breakfast was tasty, not hot, but adequate, staff were helpful and pleasant. Cleaners should clean front of the hotel too. Ladies toilets in lobby were very nice however I did not appreciate a male cleaner coming in to make a phone call whilst pretending to clean, he quickly left when I came out of the cubicle. Overall we will return to London, but not sure if we would stay at this hotel again as standards are below par. The buck stops with the hotel manager.