The Academy Hotel

Friendly and helpful staff. Room was clean. Bathroom was nice size. Hotel was in a safe and well lit area. I would stay at the Academy Hotel again. I was a bit disappointed that there was daytime construction going on at the hotel.

The Academy in Bloomsbury boasts an excellent location for enjoying London, especially the British Museum, Soho, and the theatre district. Our first night there was inauspicious: we were given a small room on the top floor, four flights up with a window (opening onto a scaffolding) that wouldn't close. It was obvious that the window had been broken into. The staff quickly moved us to another room, a suite two flights down, that was a lovely compensation and much better value for their high prices: spacious, comfortable, elegant. They offer an additional-cost breakfast but we didn't take it. The Academy is a mixed bag of nice boutique rooms with good beds but with shabby stairs and halls and no lift. Another drawback: the high-speed internet doesn't function well, if at all, and is far from high speed.

A very comfortable hotel with no elevator - I prefer stairs anyway. Two intimate lounges with adjacent gardens and one with a computer made for very convenient meeting spaces with other members of my group. Breakfasts were very good with a fine continental breakfast buffet and ala carte menu. One of the best aspects of this hotel is the congenial and helpful staff - they were super. If one wants to experience a more British cultural style of hotel and is able to put up with less luxury, this is a very good deal.

The hotel has a reasonably nice reception and outdoor patio. Otherwise things are fairly nondescript. The single room was reasonably sized, but the bathroom wasn't particularly nice (no place to put soap or shampoo while you are taking a shower for example). The room was relatively drab and uninteresting. The air conditioning also didn't cool, which made the room fairly uncomfortable. The hotel was willing to switch me too a different room, but that meant repacking everything so I didn't. For a hotel that charges a healthy rate, though, these kinds of things shouldn't be issues. There was definitely not an atmosphere of excellence.

The Hotel staff at The Academy are first rate - very helpful and provided good advice on travel within London, sites to see, how to negotiate the city. The room was less desirable. We are extremely seasoned European travelers and the room was exceptionally small and we know small European hotel rooms. Basic things, such as outlets for recharging various electronic devices were notably absent. The room was clean but the washroom toilet did not flush well and there was absolutely no place to put toiletries when shaving, cleaning up, etc... again, very cramped space. My advice, if you value creature comforts is to look elsewhere.

The hotel was extremely easy to find & 2 Underground stops close by made it very easy to sight-see all the things London visitors want to see. The hotel was comfortable and well equipped. We didn't spend a lot of time in the room, but the accommodations were good. The hotel is an older hotel, but nice. We selected it because of the good reviews and were not disappointed. Very friendly and helpful staff - GREAT food nearby (Thai Metro on Charolette Street was FABULOUS!)

I was too hasty based on [...] 4-star rating. Location is good: Gower St. is a series of townhouse hotels probably all like Academy. NO ELEVATOR --this shd be indicated in the [...]listing -- and room was on topfloor; fortunately there was a friendly young helpful porter to help w/ the bags. The bathroom is unacceptably small: the sink dimensions are 8" X 15". We asked to change but were told nothing available and basically sinks all the same.Staff was OK though leaving my husband asked what terminal Delta is at Heathrow and the guy breezily said 3 but it was 4; fortunately we checked on our own. [...] rate did not include breakfast wh was L10 or so and my husband said did not look particularly inviting.

Hotel was clean and the staff were very helpful. Just a short walk to many different restaurants. Would recommend this hotel.

Loved our stay at this hotel. Staff were fantastic, service was great, the room was gorgeous, and location cannnot be beaten. Appreciated the free wi-fi. Breakfast not cheap but good quality. Will definitely be back.

Had a 24-hour layover in London and chose the Academy. Room was quiet, comfortable, with all amenities promised. Library looking out on the garden (and complimentary Internet connection) a nice bonus--definitely stay there again.