London is one of our favorite places to visit in Europe. We always stay in the Stratford area…read morebecause it is close enough to the city center, and prices tend to be more affordable. This was our first time staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Stratford. The hotel is about a 10 minute walk from the tube (subway). Close enough to walk with our luggage. It was a pleasant 2 night stay at this HIE. Staff was cordial. Breakfast was included with our reservation, and it was busy the two mornings of our stay. The breakfast here was similar to the breakfast offered at the Holiday Inn Express United States locations. Big difference to me is that they do not have those yummy cinnamon rolls in this HIE in Stratford. Our room was fine. Clean and comfortable. Most importantly, we got a good night's sleep each night. As long as the rates are reasonable, it looks like this Holiday Inn Express will now be the place we stay when we travel to London in the future.

Where to begin? It's a chain or franchise, so how far off from the mothership can it be?…read more Our first time in London, our main reason for choosing this location was the proximity to the ABBA Arena where we watched the ABBA show last night, brilliant, by the way. So, it did the trick and was/is reasonably priced compared to other hotels in the heart of London. The breakfast buffet is top notch, which seems pretty rare for a chain like this, and the employees are nice. The room was nice and I really have no complaints... except. No room service. You order and have to go down to the bar to get it yourself when it's ready, which kind of defeats the purpose. And don't even think about ordering the burger... holy hell, how can you mess up a burger that much? The employees really don't do well as tourist guides, though I know that's not their job, but one would think they'd be able to assist with basic touristy questions. Otherwise, all good! Prost!

Lots of noise with mall right below, no ice for rooms, no fridge, no microwave, rooms very small,…read morebed uncomfortable, room heater would not stay set would kick on middle of the night and sweat you out, and they do not refund nights if you cut your trip short- even if they are fully booked and given a week notice. No customer service. Would have changed hotels but husband working at the Copper Box.

Stayed here for several nights when we were vacationing in London. It was our home away from home…read more Fabulous location! It is located right next to Westfield Shopping Centre!! Easy walking distance to the Tube (Subway) station. Made travelling everywhere much easier and convenient. Comfy bed. Friendly staff. Reasonable rates. Would definitely stay here again in the future. If you do not mind staying a little ways from main London, then this is a very nice hotel to book a room at.

30-10-10 from 5pm til late (10 for kids and visiting families) great halloween experience, great…read morefun for the family. Lots of scares, monsters ghosts, spirits and an impressive spooky maze. Scenery was very scary. Story telling, scary routes, and plenty of monsters. Volunteers always welcomed and the after party for the volunteers was blessed with lots of food and drinks. I will be going there again next year.

Secured entrance. Room is okay, but you pays for what you get, worst is wifi only available for 30…read moreminutes per day. This is insan for nowadays! Walking distance to struford train station (about 15 minutes). Booked by others I would not have booked a hotel, no motel without wifi. Hopefully they make up your room and change towels daily.

Fair prices for a nice room. Only drawback: wifi is not free, not even in the main lounge.read more

I just spent a delicious week in London and no doubt a large part of that was having been lucky…read moreenough to spend it staying at 40 Winks. Considered one of the best boutique hotels in the world (it literally only sleeps 3 persons max at any given time) and lauded by the likes of the Wall Street Journal and German Vogue, 40 Winks is under the aegis of the equally amazing incarnated Mad Hatter himself from Alice in Wonderland, David Carter, one of the top interior designers in the world.The place has to be seen and experienced to be believed. Every single room, every corner, every nook and cranny is Insta-grammable and worthy of multiple-page spreads in publications like Architectural Digest. Easily. I found out about this place from my "Quiet London" guide (from the same folks who produce "Quiet Paris" and 'Quiet New York") and I had easily some of the deepest and most restful sleeps I've had in a very long time (having the beds done by the best bed-makers in Britain helps, no doubt). Housed in an early Georgian townhouse, which is about 300 years old and located in edgy-East London, from the outside you'd have no idea of the world inside you're about to enter. During the day, the front rooms are flooded in daylight and even looks cute and benign but come nighttime and the house and rooms and the ambience take on a decidedly Gothic flavour. You'd almost expect the Godfather of Goth himself, Peter Murphy to suddenly step out of the shadows crooning "Bela Lugosi's Dead". The place is VERY popular among London insiders and creative professionals the world over and model shoots often happen in the rooms. Actors and pop-stars often stay here as well. I couldn't believe my luck when a whole week stay was open and coincided with my London stay. I jumped on it without hesitation. Now a word about Mr. Carter. The thing about travelling and the more you travel, you realise a place is only as good as the people there or the people who run it. I've already likened him to the Mad Hatter (as I'm sure many others before me have already) but that would be too simple. David is far more than an uber-talented interior designer, a gracious host, an interesting and clever raconteur; he is also a really kind and decent man who like other visionaries is trying to create and bring something unique and creative to the world and he's done it with 40 Winks. It's like having Oscar Wilde, Saki, Noel Coward, W. Somerset Maugham and Gore Vidal all rolled up into one. I have no hesitation whatsoever in staying here again and I hope that will be soon. If you're just looking for a place to stay in London, don't bother coming here, there are thousands of other options in London. On the other hand, if you want to have your senses stimulated, you're willing to add your part to the stay here with interesting and creative conversation and appreciation, then 40 Winks might be just the place for you. I already miss the place.

My friend and I came here for an event last month for Halloween. Ghosts & gin in our PJ's…read more The gin cocktails were very very tasty. The kitchen we had them in was a complete sweat box though. The nibbles were also plentiful, but none too fancy. Then we went on to another room to hear an extract from a guys book about people who have had ghostly experiences. He's never had a ghostly experience but is an expert on the subject. The decor here is just gorgeous really. The upstairs room where we got changed had an adjacent bathroom which I can only describe as sumptuous. Golden and black with the most amazing bath tub and fittings. If you needed to stay in Whitechapel then this is the place to go. Not easy to find as it just looks like a house from the outside. If you're already local I'd sign up for info and get down to one of their events though.

DO NOT STAY HERE. YOU WILL GET BEDBUGS…read more Absolutely horrified by the fact that bed bugs were found in a room, crawling across the pillows and walls in the middle of the night, a live bedbug was caught and presented to the night staff, and what to Travellodge do? Chuck you in a room with a broken toilet and refuse to compensate you for your stay because the dodgy inspector with 2 trust pilot reviews to his name that they hired to investigate apparently took one brief look through the doorway and said it was clear. THEY ARE SELLING THIS ROOM STILL. People will be coming home with bedbugs from this hotel because management refuse to believe photo and video evidence when they are presented with it. DO NOT STAY HERE. YOU WILL GET BEDBUGS

Coming from Hawaii I was actually shocked how nice a budget hotel like Travelodge could be…read more Apparently it's pretty new and it's still in good shape. The elevator is shockingly tiny and hard to fit two people and suitcases, but it works. Checking in and out is a breeze. The staff are really sweet and generous. They really helped me with making my stay in London easier. The rooms and bathrooms are attractive and minimal, though not enough clothes hangers! The best thing about this Travelodge is the location. Bethnal Green is a wonderfully diverse area with Londoners who are friendly and surprisingly helpful. The Bethnal Green Tube station is a few minutes away from the hotel so it makes getting about incredibly easy. There's a lot of little supermarkets nearby and of course lots of fried chicken and döner kebab places. It's also just a twenty minute walk to Brick Lane and Shoreditch. The City is about a 35 minute walk. If you love the East End I would highly recommend this Travelodge.

My big mistake on our trip: bulling check staff, non working TVs, moldy bathrooms, just to mention…read morea few. To be honest I love staying at IHG group hotels and why I'm a club member and always look for a IHG hotel to stay in. We just stayed at the Crown Plaza in Harrogate for 2 weeks for the second time, right before we came down to London. It was amazing, the staff was beyond professional. Check in was easy and everyone throughout the stay was incredible. The TV worked, the bathrooms were clean, the beds were comfortable and the rooms service was amazing. My big mistake... booking at IHG hotel Indigo in Tower Hill. We booked here because it was close to Eataly and it was part of the IHG family which I trust and we only had one night to enjoy in London. We went to check in and Natty who helped us was the least unprofessional and the most rude. We had booked a room for two and my sister had missed her plane last minute. So I said she could stay the one night with us until she could get the next flight out the following day. I tried to explain this to the man at the check in. He said absolutely not in very rude terms. I understand this was probably a silly hotel policy and not the staffs fault, so I agreed but understandably was frustrated. I paid £180 for the extra room, so my sister had somewhere to sleep. Even after paying for the extra room Natty at check in was still condescending and rude to us. The woman working behind the desk was amazing and was trying to help, but Natty just brushed her aside and kept being rude. Not wanting to engage further unhinged the employee as we all left. It was noon when we left our bags which they said would be taken to our rooms and went to lunch until 3pm check in. We came back around 5pm and thankfully the check in staff had changed. We asked for the two rooms keys and the staff on that shift were so professional and helpful. We were on the 5th floor and the second room I had been forced to booked for my student sister was on the 7th. (We were never told on checking in that the 7th floor was only accessible by one floor of stairs) We came up to the 5th floor where they said the bags should be and there were no bags. My wife and I had two heavy bags because we had been traveling for two weeks and my sister had a small bag she packed for a two day trip. Not seeing the bags in my room I thought maybe they were taken to my sister's room on the 7th floor. So we tried to make our way to the 7th floor. In doing so we realized the elevator only goes up to the 6th floor and you need to take the stairs to the 7th. Once in the room, all our bags were there. Figuring this was some kind of pay back Natty who obviously had something against us. I decided to carry our very heavy bags down the stairs to the elevator on the 5th floor. My only guess to why our bags were not left on the 5th floor is a mean joke played on us by the unprofessional check in man. I have a bad back so this wasn't easy. After we got to our room, myself and my wife just wanted to forget about it all. We got changed and went to dinner with my sister at Terra in Eately. It was amazing we really suggest it. We came back to the room and tried to watch tv. The only thing that came up was DTV 1, the TV didn't work. Again I think another prank from the guy that checked us in. It was already 930pm and my back was hurting for carrying the bags down the stairs so we just went to bed and not call down to complain. On waking up the we decided to take a shower and the mold on the bottom of the shower pan and the ceiling somehow so neither one of us wanted to take a shower. And with day light we could see how bad the stains were on the carpets. I have to say the IHG Indigo hotel Tower Hill is the most disappointing hotel I have ever stayed at in the IHG family. I was forced to pay for a second room because my sister missed her flight. Then we were bullied by Natty who sent all our heavy bags to a floor where he knew we weren't all staying because he knew we would need to carry them down. Then we had a TV that didn't work, which I'm guessing he knew as well plus I'm sure he gave us the dirtiest room because this is not how IHG hotels are in my experience. All in all it was a pretty terrible stay for me, my sister and my wife I'm sorry to say. IHG I know you can do better we saw it at the Crown Plaza in Harrogate!

Happy with our stay in this small hotel on a quiet street close to several transportation options…read more Felt safe walking around at night. Had a small quiet room with a comfortable double bed and small but good shower. Mini fridge has complimentary waters, sodas and sweets. Mirrors... elevator has walls of mirrors, hallways have panels of mirrors & there is a big mirror and mirrored tissue box on the desk in our room. Front desk was courteous and helpful with our questions and calling a taxi for us. Drinks & Fruit There is a bowl of fruit on the front desk counter. In the room there is the usual complimentary coffee & tea but the mini fridge also has complimentary soda, still & sparkling waters and candy bars. Transportation Bus #15, 42, 78, 100, 343, N15, N551 stops in front or across the street Aldgate Station: 3 minute walk NE Tower Hill Station: 5 minute walk SE Located -on the intersection of Minories & India St -10 minute walk to Tower of London entrance

Located right in the Westfield Stratford, this hotel is close to a ton of transportation options…read more In fact, it's right across the street from the Stratford International rail station as well as the DLR. A short walk through the mall gets you to the Overground and a few tube lines. The mall itself is quite upscale, and rather busy. The hotel itself is very basic (which is the goal of the premier inn chain). Wifi did not work though they promised it was being worked on every time we asked. They gave us one bath and one small towel in the room though it was booked for two people - after asking them for more, they wanted to know how many more - and gave us exactly that amount. After a concert at the nearby Olympic Stadium it was a crush to get back to our room - and quite a long line at the bar as well. We did not have any food there as they stopped serving quite early in the evening and we were out early in the day as well so we didn't have breakfast. All in all I'd stay there again but make sure I was prepared and have snacks in the room for when they aren't serving.

Stayed here for four nights. The room was big enough for two (one king bed) and the bathroom was…read morespacious as well. No closet, just a basic bureau with a coat rack to hang your stuff. A/C worked as did the wifi. Only problem during our stay was the elevators, they are slow as molasses. Take the stairs down if you are able to.