I have stayed at the Carlton for over 2 years now it's excellent value for money, the only thing is now the price is a little lower because they have gone fully Continental Breakfast, but loads of cerial, toast, croissants, Cheese, and boiled eggs, Tea & coffee, plus it's just across the road from King Cross Station and Underground.
The price and location makes this a good place to stay for a solo traveler! You are next to St Pancras and a decent curry shop. WiFi is on every floor, but the signal is sometimes better in the lobby. Generally clean and warm. Breakfast is weak, but completely in line with that price point. Very nice staff at front desk!
Originally booked the European Hotel but received an email saying it was closed for Christmas for refurbishment so we had been transferred to their sister Carlton Hotel for the same price but with continental breakfast instead of English. We also ended up with 2 separate rooms instead of the family room booked. Our rooms were on the second floor and there was a small lift as well as stairs. The rooms were extremely basic and smelt of urine and each room had a tiny en-suite. There were tea and coffee making facilities but no milk. The sheets in the bed were clean but all beds had a grubby thin duvet which made me feel like I needed a good scrub after I'd slept under it! Breakfast consisted of juice, croissants and a couple of cereal choices and you could also have toast. Pitiful to say the least so we went to McDonald's across the road instead. We definitely won't stay there again!
Everyone that worked here were very nice, very helpful and very welcoming. I have nothing to complain about cleanliness. Furniture and shower was pristine. I would have given 5 for only that.
However the internet was literally non existent. I needed it badly. I have told the reception about it and one of them said that he was going to refresh it. Another reception was asking me if the wifi was working every time she saw me. My reply was always no.
I would like to point out that I have stayed here in December 2013 and it was the same situation not to say this time round the wifi was even worse. I had also posted a review for that stay and mentioned the wifi was a problem. So I don't think the wifi has been improved and probably they knew even tho they were asking me if it was working every time they saw me at the reception area.
In my previous review I said that the wifi in the morning was extremely slow and in the evenings there was no connection at all .... This time round, absolutely no internet for my entire stay.
Wifi is important at least for me, I needed it to do some work and besides .... I did my research before I had this holiday of where to go and what should I do and what should I take to go from point A to point B but still I needed to refresh my memory while I am on my holiday.
I'm not sure if I will use this hotel again just for this reason. Since both times I stayed it was the same problem.
If you don't need wifi / internet I recommend Carlton Hotel 100% for the location, cleanliness and kind staff but if you need the wifi for some reason or if you need to work while on your holiday, I wouldn't recommend this hotel.
Stayed here for 2 nights at just over £160 for a double. Room was half way up the road and up a tight flight of stairs - almost like shabby student accommodation. Room was small with tiny bathroom and very basic. No toiletries, no bin, 2 bars of supermarket basic soap placed on top of the toilet. Don't expect a good night's sleep here either, even at the side of the station, the noise at night was horrendous - homeless/ drunk people shouting, sirens, delivery lorries at 5am! I expected noise but this was terrible. To top it all off, there were building works in the place next door starting early in the morning. It's funny that this is never mentioned yet the prices they charge are ridiculous. Oh and expect to pay in full up front! Avoid!!
