City Inn Russell Square Hotel

Lovely stay, immaculate clean great value for money in a great location ready to explore London. Please ignore negatives comments I don't understand what peoples expectations are!!! Clean and a great shower and very informative with all aspects of checking in etc... Will definitely stay again thank you.

I had read some of the negative reviews before staying here and, like many people probably do, thought they must be exaggerating. Unfortunately, having now stayed here myself, I can honestly say they aren’t. Calling this a hotel feels generous. It is essentially a converted house with rooms, and our room was below ground level, tucked next to a staircase which seemed to be used by staff throughout the night. We could hear people coming and going, talking and repeatedly slamming doors at all hours. Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly conducive to a good night’s sleep. The room itself was filthy and very poorly maintained. Everything was old, tired and dated, with silicone seemingly used to fill every gap or cover every issue, and even that was covered in mould and mildew. It genuinely felt like basic maintenance and cleanliness had been neglected for a long time. The stairs are incredibly narrow and steep, and getting large, heavy suitcases down to a below-ground room was extremely difficult. This is something other reviews mention, and I completely understand why. There were also some ridiculous little details that really summed up the lack of care. The UHT milk sachets provided in the room were so old that they left bits floating in our tea. And, despite us still being in the room and before we had checked out, the "cleaner" entered our room to clean it. For what we paid, this was absolutely not good value. Other members of our family stayed in hotels that were only marginally more expensive, and the difference in quality was enormous. I would have no problem paying more for a better experience, but this hotel simply does not reflect the price being charged. I appreciate this is an old building and nobody expects luxury at a central London hotel, but there is a huge difference between basic and dirty, poorly maintained and uncomfortable. A good location does not make up for that. So, if you’re reading the reviews and thinking “it can’t really be as bad as everyone says” — yes, unfortunately, it really is. I wish I had listened to the reviews. I would not stay here again and would strongly recommend looking at the alternatives, particularly when there are better hotels available for only slightly more money.

The rooms at the front of this converted terrace house overlook a busy and noisy road, in which vehicles often stop due to traffic lights nearby, and the old windows are single-glazed, so it's noisy at the front. On warm nights the windows can't be kept open because of the noise outside. No glasses or beakers were provided in the bathroom (only 2 ceramic cups in the bedroom). The steps on the stairs are narrow (width & length) and are potentially dangerous. The keys in the tiny vestibule cannot be accessed without keeping a door open. The doors of the cabinet beside the toilet were dirty (see photos). The bathroom was tiny, but its shower cubicle was large. To use the "wardrobe" we had to remove an ironing-board and fix the rail in position. The bed was very comfortable and the bedding was perfectly clean. The shower was splendidly strong and could be wonderfully hot (when you wanted it to be hot)