What i needed was 3 rooms for 6 people on new years. What we got was a well accomadating hotel, clean rooms, breakfast in a location about a half mile from the tube, a few resturants and quick stop stores.. We were greated by 3 well dressed staff members and check in was quick with hotel information and wifi password provided. The rooms were small but clean and fitted with everything we needed....drinks, snacks and a welcome message on the TV. Large and small pillows and an OK bed. The bathroom was large but the shower shield was small so the floors got wet...nothing an extra towel didn't cure. The breakfast had fruits, breads, pastries, cold cuts, cheese, juices, yogurt and the complements for a full english breakfast. Coffee was hot and strong.

I was skeptical after reading other post but for this visit we did not encounter the staff that others complained about. Traveling throughout Europe for many years, we knew what to expect of the rooms sizes but we were pleased with our rooms and the hotel. We would stay here again

We (myself, my mum and sister) were initially booked in at another Shaftsbury hotel, but were moved to the Paddington after we complained (repeatedly) about the ridiculously loud noise that sounded like it was coming from the room above. Based on the comments here, it was probably the air con system, but sounded like an industrial washing machine stuck on its spin cycle!

So far, so bad... but it got worse. We arrived at the new hotel, and at reception was a woman demanding to be moved because she was experiencing the same problem as we had just had! After booking in, we were sent to our room which was actually in another building across the road. Our room had one double bed, clearly not what we had booked for 3 of us! After complaining, my mum was told she would have to go to another hotel. We were on a weekend away as an early Christmas treat so obviously did not want to be staying at different hotels! In the end, she ended up in a tiny single room, which was freezing, and in a different building to us (but technically the same hotel).

I should say that all the rooms that we had the displeasure to stay in were actually decorated to quite a nice standard. However they were not very clean. My mum's room had sweet wrappers on the bed, and our bin had not been emptied- there were condom wrappers in the bin! Worse though, were the bed bugs which we discovered on our second evening and again the following morning. Disgusting, and not something I have ever experienced in a hotel (and I have stayed at much cheaper hotels).

They also tried to charge us for breakfast, which should have been included in the price. When we questioned this, we were told it was not included, but was complimentary because of the inconvenience caused. Breakfast was actually quite nice, but there was a long queue each morning as the dining room clearly could not cope with the number of people at the hotel.

All in all, a terrible experience! Some of the issues were clearly beyond the control of staff, and I could perhaps excuse some of the problems if they had been dealt with in a professional manner, but the staff were terrible: rude, incompetent and unhelpful. No customer service skills whatsoever, but for that I'd blame management not the individual staff. Having read the reviews here, it seems that the problems we experienced were clearly not one-off occurrences!

Stayed at this hotel for two nights with my OH on the 22nd of December to the 24th just to spend a christmassy weekend away because we love London at Christmas.

The hotel is easy to find, if you're arriving via train it's a very short walk from paddington train station or a short walk from tube stations/bus stops. The location is perfect, you can walk to Oxford street and Hyde park, there's a few shops, restaurants and pubs just outside the hotel too but overall you have very simple access to anywhere in London especially all the main tourist attractions from the hotel.

When we arrived check in was smooth, all the receptionists are lovely and extremely helpful, they printed out our winter wonderland tickets for us no bother. The lobby is nothing special or grand though.

The rooms are perfect. They're long but narrow so don't have much space width wise but I don't see the issue with that. There is plenty of wardrobe and drawer apace, a safe and all the essentials like a hair drier and coffee facilities. The beds are comfy, no complaints there.
The bathrooms are very small but bareable with a powerful shower.

My only complaint about the rooms is the thin walls, you can hear people in the next room having a normal toned conversation and people upstairs moving about.

If you're not a serial moaner and look for things to complain about you will definitely be happy with this hotel, we expected less than what we experienced with the price.

We arrived on NYE and as soon as we walked in i was excited it looked lovely. Soon came the dissapointment, the staff were rude, made us feel uncomfortable and by the look of things made others feel this way too!
We got told whilst trying to check in (with grunts on their behalf) that their was maintenance issues so we were being transfered to a 5* hotel, 30 minutes away, anyone would think this wasnt too bad, we were being moved from hyde park to islington! We had planned our stay around the location of the hotel, and whilst trying to explain this to the staff, whose english wasnt exactly..amazing, i was just talked over! We ended up staying in the other hotel and to be honest i was glad.. untill i arrived!