First impressions of the Academy Hotel, London

The Academy Hotel was actually really hard to find. Google Maps took me to the wrong side of the hotel and told me I’d arrived when I hadn’t. You need to walk around to the Gower Street entrance, so it’s worth bearing that in mind if you’re arriving on foot with luggage.

I checked in at around 3.45pm. Although rooms are advertised as being ready from 3pm, mine wasn’t ready, so I had to wait in reception. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s a disappointing start, especially when you’re paying premium prices & I MEAN premium, they charge £400 for a single person in a standard double room with continential breakfast. I think the prices had been increased because its Wimbledon at the moment – disappointing.

The Academy Hotel is made up of five interconnected Georgian townhouses, which gives it plenty of character from the outside. As part of the Small Luxury Hotels collection, it promises boutique styling with individually designed interiors inspired by Bloomsbury’s literary heritage. The reception area is very well decorated and creates a lovely first impression. The receptionist was also very friendly and personally showed me to my room.

Unfortunately, there’s no lift. We had to walk up five flights of stairs to reach the room at the very top of the hotel. The staircases are old, carpeted and very creaky. It certainly wouldn’t be suitable for anyone needing an accessible room, and after climbing that many stairs with luggage it wasn’t the best start.

The first room ( because I didn’t sleep here!)

When I first entered the room, the air conditioning was running on full. It actually felt freezing, which seemed a bit odd. The remote control didn’t work, so I had to switch it off using the controls on the wall after loads of faffing about. As soon as I did, I immediately realised why the air conditioning had been left running.

The room smelt very unpleasant.

The smell was like stale cigarette smoke and drains and was really unpleasant. I’m not a big complainer so I’d resigned myself to the smell but then I discovered an even bigger problem. The bedroom door wouldn’t shut(!). I leant all my weight against it and still couldn’t close it properly. As a solo female traveller, I was pretty horrified that this was the room I’d been allocated. It wasn’t just an inconvenience, it was a genuine security concern.

I called reception and asked whether I could move rooms, but initially I was told the hotel was fully booked and there weren’t any alternatives. At that point I thought I was going to have to move hotels because there was no way I could sleep in a room where the door wouldn’t even shut, quite apart from the smell.

I asked to speak to the manager and, after a while, I was asked to come back downstairs. Thankfully they were eventually able to find me another room, but I was made to feel like they had really had to put some effort in to make this happen so I felt bad although surely this isn’t that unreasonable?!

The second room (slept in this one!)

The replacement room was much better decorated and equipped than the first, but unfortunately it had its own huge issue. It came with an unplanned water feature.

The wall-mounted, ceiling-height air conditioning unit leaked water like a running tap. I ended up with soggy socks walking across the carpet near the bathroom because there was so much water on the floor.

At first I assumed the previous guest must have flooded the bathroom and that water had come over the shower threshold. It turns out that wasn’t the case at all. The air conditioning unit simply drips constantly.

Even worse, it continues dripping whether the air conditioning is switched on or not. I had mine turned off completely and it still sounded like a tap dripping all day and all night. It also meant getting a decent night’s sleep was almost impossible because the constant dripping never stopped.

Overall, those first impressions really affected my opinion of the hotel. It was an awkward situation because nobody enjoys complaining to staff, particularly when everyone was polite, but I simply couldn’t stay in the original room.

The room itself from a decor perspective

There are definitely some positives.

The lighting is nice and the décor is attractive, although the finishing isn’t particularly impressive. There are small details, such as poorly cut wallpaper edges, that let the room down considering the price.

Facilities are good. There’s a large television, wardrobe, bathrobe, slippers, desk and chair, along with a fridge, which is always useful.

The minibar is complimentary, which was a pleasant surprise. It includes tea and coffee, a couple of biscuits, four cans of soft drinks and bottled water. There’s also a Nespresso coffee machine, a small kettle and free Wi-Fi with no password required.

The only disappointment in the room refreshments is the UHT milk, which regular readers of my hotel reviews will know I’m never particularly keen on. Hotels such as the Kimpton Fitzroy and the Grand Brighton both provided fresh milk in small glass bottles, and it’s a tiny detail that really does make a difference. The Academy Hotel bills itself as 5 star so I really think you should supply fresh milk in the room.

The bed itself was a good size and reasonably comfortable.

One area that does look particularly impressive is the garden and bar. It’s beautifully decorated and, from first impressions, appears to be one of the hotel’s standout features.

Breakfast at the Academy Hotel, London

Breakfast at the Academy Hotel was okay, but overall it was quite underwhelming.

I really don’t think you should have to pay an additional fee for a cooked breakfast when you’re staying in a hotel charging £400 per night for one person and advertising breakfast as being included.

The continental buffet itself was perfectly adequate. There was a selection of meats and cheeses, cereals, pastries, bread, juices and the usual continental breakfast options. It was nicely presented, and I had some bread with salami and a pain au raisin, which were perfectly nice.

Coffee is ordered from the staff, but it tasted like it came from one of the automatic coffee machines rather than being freshly made by a barista. For a hotel positioning itself as luxury, that felt disappointing.

The cooked breakfast menu sits on every table, but if you want a vegetarian breakfast or a traditional cooked English breakfast you have to pay an additional £15 per person.

Personally, I think that’s really poor.

The breakfast room itself is downstairs at the Academy Hotel in what feels like the basement. It almost feels as though you’re eating in somebody’s front room. It’s quite a strangely laid out space and feels rather small for a hotel of this size. It would’ve been nicer to eat in the bar area with the option of sitting outside in the loel garden at this time of year.

Although the staff were very friendly, there seemed to be quite a lot of confusion over which guests were sitting at which tables, and overall breakfast didn’t feel particularly well organised.

The communal areas

I thought the communal areas like the reception, the lounge, the bar and the garden were well designed and comfortable.

The decor and colour palette was a bit on the dark and maximalist end of things for my tastes, with a lot of very deep blue walls paired with busy patterned wallpaper.

But it was cohesive and flowed from space to space if a little samey.

Overall, the Academy Hotel isn’t one l that I would recommend unless you are just popping in to have a cocktail in the bar, sit in the lounge or garden and then leave.

I definitely won’t be returning.

London has so many fantastic hotels, particularly those claiming to offer luxury accommodation and I highly recommend examples like the Standard Hotel, The Dilly (after the refurb), the Kimpton Fitzroy and even the Melia at the Whitehouse (as long as you don’t get a connecting room) and unfortunately this falls very short of those expectations.

The hallways are small, dark and there are SO many stairs to climb, so you’ll need to request a ground floor room if you need an accessible one.

For £400 a night, I expected a premium experience. Instead, I experienced a room that smelled of stale smoke, a bedroom door that wouldn’t shut, a replacement room with a leaking air conditioning unit that dripped continuously throughout the night, and a breakfast where guests are asked to pay an extra £15 if they want anything cooked.

The public areas are attractive, the staff are friendly, and there are some thoughtful touches such as the complimentary minibar and pleasant garden. However, none of those positives outweigh the basic maintenance issues and poor value for money.

Overall, the hotel felt hugely overpriced. It wasn’t relaxing, it wasn’t enjoyable and it certainly didn’t feel luxurious (it’s hard to feel luxurious when you have soggy socks from the soaking wet room carpet!).

Update: I received a 25% refund because I complained to the hotel.

Where next?

Read more hotel reviews here…

Here’s my travel on a budget posts

Here’s my Rome on a budget guides