As a business traveller I expect a certain level from Hilton Hotels. The experience in London Hyde Park has taught me not to expect a very high quality. The check in began with a relentless upselling by the check in clerk to a room with a view of the park instead of my standard room. When I looked at the room and decided to stay with my original rate, I was instead placed into a room at the same rate, just looking at a terrible view.

The common areas of the hotel were saturated with a noxious chemical fume (I think it was the cleaning fluid used for the carpets in the hotel) and I had to air my room out every time upon entering to try to eliminate the odour.

There was a light bulb in the toilet that would Not. Stop. Blinking and although I asked it to be looked at twice, the light was still blinking upon checkout five days later, with the insistence that maintenance had looked at it twice. Looking is not the same as fixing, and nothing screams "cheap roadside motel" than slowly blinking malfunctioning lights in the hotel room.

This all came to a head when I discovered the mischarging of my room at the higher rate upon checkout, and when I asked for the charges to be resolved, the daily room rate was indeed lowered; however the upgrade fees were instead tacked on as a separate line item, so I ended up paying the same price!

If I can ever be persuaded to stay in a Hilton again, I might consider Hilton Paddington nearby, but never again this instance of the franchise. As my colleague commented when I told my story to him, "London Hyde Park?! I only stay there when someone's trying to punish me!" Next time Radisson will be my next business trip choice for a consistent standard

Good location, next to Tube station. Comfort is average, breakfast was very good. The hotel is nothing to get wild about, but OK. It was a good starting point visiting the city. Prices are rather high, but I guess it's due to London.

I recently spent a number of nights in this hotel for business. Overall, the hotel looks tired and badly in need of renovations. My room and bathroom were adequate, but nothing exciting. Prices are high for a hotel that feels more like a 3 star.

Internet access is extra, and after paying for one day's access, I couldn't log on due to "technical difficulties". I was assured this would be removed from the bill, but it was not, and I had to ask to have to removed when I checked out.

Another nasty surprise on checkout was an unauthorised bar bill on my account. When the slip was retrieved, I found my name and room number in someone else's handwriting, together with a fake signature. After querying this the amount was removed, but surprisingly the manager was not particularly apologetic, considering that this must have been an inside job - nobody else knew that my name went with my room number.

Overall, an experience that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

We have just had a two night stay here. Our room (110) on the first floor was clean, roomy and had a good view of Hyde Park. On a previous review someone had complained about road and tube noise??!! Ummm it's on a main road! BUT the windows had a second inner window which blocks out the noise almost completely! As for the tube noises...nope and we'd have heard it for sure being on the first floor! We only ate breakfast here and not dinner. Breakfast was ok, in the main dining room tables were quite crammed in, a few inches between each table. We ate in there the first morning, then in the 'bar' the second. A bit better, but table was very small so not able to fit plates, cups, coffee/tea pots. Both mornings people were having to queue and wait for a table and were being asked if they didn't mind sharing a table with other people. For the size hotel, they definitely need a larger dining room. All in all, it was clean and if I had to stay there again I probably would, but I have stayed in better hotels.