196 Bishopsgate Hotel London

( 4 stars , London , United Kingdom )

Very pleased with accomodation. The reception staff very friendly and helpful, made a refreshing change from Hotel rooms and made life very flexible

very spacy and convenient appartment; well equipped with flatscreens, dvd player radio etc; kitchen with micro, dishwasher,fridge ...; perfect location right opposite entrance to Liverpool Station , broadgate circle; some technology needs fixing (minor : like antenna cable in bedroom; bulbs in lighting etc.); windows to street only single glass so a bit noisy;

I took my girlfriend here for two nights in February as a birthday trip to London to see a show. I booked a studio apartment, but was upgraded to a one-bed apartment on the day, which was a pleasant surprise. The apartments are nice inside; comfortable and modern. However we had three main problems: 1) The heater in the lounge would not turn off. This meant that it was on full heat all evening, meaning the lounge/kitchen was extremely hot! We told the concierge several times but he told us he would report it in the morning, which he did not, so we had to report it again. It never got solved! 2) The noise on the Friday night from the bar below was so loud we could not sleep until it stopped (around 1.30am). The music vibrated the whole apartment! Thankfully the bar was closed on Saturday so we had a restful sleep! 3) Don't get the breakfast basket thing. For £10 it is a rip-off!! Just get some stuff in from Tesco the day before and put it in the fridge! Overall though, the apartment was lovely and the location great (just opposite Liverpool St station). I had booked it because I thought that it would be a bit different staying in an apartment rather than a hotel. On balance though I wouldn't stay there again, but it wouldn't take much to improve these apartments and make them a great place to stay. Not sure how you convince the bar to turn their music down though...

196 Bishopsgate London Myself and my husband have just returned from a weekend in London, we were visiting our son who is in college in Loughton so we need somewhere convient to Liverpool street station. I chose 196 Bishopsgate as I felt it meet our needs. I was by no means dissapointed. We checked in after 9 0 clock the receptionist was very polite and mannerly, the reception was clean and there was a beautiful aroma in the area. Our room was on the third floor, we didn't use the lifts, we used the stairs instead, every flight of stairs was immaculate and the smell of polish wafted in the air. The studio apartment was equally as clean and tidy, there is everything that you could wish for in it,. flat screen TV, DVD player, CD player, trouser press,hairdryer, radio alarm clock. The kitchen was well equiped with all the usual aplicances. The bathroom is tiny but still fairly well equiped, withh eated towel rail and plenty of towels. The apartment was cleaned on the Saturday and fresh towels were provided. There were no major faults with these apartments that we could see and we will most definetly return as we will be travelling to London quite a lot.

This review is mixed. In March I stayed with a business partner for a week while doing business in London. The location is good for business - right accross the street from Liverpool Station and walking distance to the financial center. We very much enjoyed the 2 bedrooms, kitchen and living room. It gave us some private space but we could still be together in the living room to discuss business and hang out. Far superior to a hotel room. Check in was OK, but setting up the internet service was a borderline miracle. The staff was quite disinterested in our issues. No one offered to assist with luggage, or anything else for that matter. No one even came to the room to introduce the room to us. The beds are old and hard. The bedrooms were abutting a court yard which was loud with maintenance all night every night. We did not have one good night sleep the entire week. Our primary issue began with not being able to access our room the night before we left. The keys did not work, although the desk attendant assured us that we were not using the card key correctly. After 20 minutes of nonsense, we dragged the attendant to the room, where he declared that we were not permitted back in the room until we paid $300 for a broken couch. He let us in, and if one were to actually pull the arm of the couch away from its body, yes, it was broken. However, we did not break it, and it looked like it had been in that same condition for quite a long time. We sent the desk attendant away, and in the morning we were told that the couch was being charged to our credit card. We have been fighting this bogus charge ever since. Eliminating this issue from this review, to be fair, we stayed in a spacious 2 bedroom flat in a good business location with a living room and dining room table with internet access for far less than the cost of 2 separate rooms at a hotel. Unfortunately, rooms are for sleeping, and that was not to be had both due to the lack of quality beds, sheets and blankets, and the noise. I would not stay again based on principle. I don't like being swindled. But I suppose if this is considered an issolated incident and you are a good sleeper who does not need a luxury bed (or anything even close to it) and you don't mind constant night noise, and the extra space is valuable, and you don't want to spend a lot, than maybe you could tolerate this place.

The apartment itself was fantastic, the location of the place is brilliant, but don't expect the service and staff to match up. We were treated like idiots, probably because we didn't own our own business, and didn't stroll in in suits. Do NOT pay on your debit or credit card, because their system has an interesting way of charging you more than once. I wouldn't go back because of the way I felt I was being treated, but for a 'treat' on a weekend away bishopsgate does the trick.

My wife and I stayed in this hotel for one night recently as we were in London for the company's Christmas party at a nearby venue. Imagine my happiness on entering the hotel foyer to be greeted by the sight of hooligans beating each other up inside whilst five policemen tried to restrain them. Outside the hotel is like a war zone. If you like hanging out with drunken louts then this is the place to be. On returning to the hotel later on there was nobody at reception to let us in. Luckily we had our room key to open the front door. Imagine how much fun it would have been trying to dodge the mobs outside had we not had the key. 24 hour reception. Where is it? On entering the room, which incidentally was perfect in every way, we had to fight to get to sleep against the thumping music emanating from the room upstairs. Maybe some soundproofing is in order. The only good thing I have to say with regards to this hotel is that there is a police station right next door.

Please note, this is not a hotel, it's apartments that you are renting, so the previous reviewers that have complained about "useless" staff are a tad misplaced. Don't expect service like in a hotel. It's centrally located, just accross from Liverpool Stree station, and the apartments are spacious, modern and comfortable. We were actually upgraded without asking, from a junior suite to a larger one with an extra room, which is great service in my opinion. Not being a hotel, there is no breakfast (they offer breakfast 'packs' for £10- just walk the 100 yards or so to Tesco's and get it yourself), and yes, it can be a bit noisy, but what do you expect for central London? We stayed here for one night as a stopover before getting the train from Liverpool St. station to Standsted for a flight the next day. I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone planning the same, and at £100 for a suite I'd say it represented good value for money in great surroundings by London standards and prices.

We based ourselves here for the marathon weekend as I was running it and wanted facilities to prepare my own food, as what I ate was really important. We were upgraded which instantly put us in a good mood, and we weren't disappointed when we got to our room either. The finish was great we had a balcony and a great day bed that doubled up as a sofa, although this probably made our guests feel a little uneasy! The informal nature of the accomodation meant all our friends felt comfortable popping in for tea, which made for a much more relaxing stay for us (and economical, because we didn't have to go out for lots of meals and coffees). The mini dishwasher and washing/dryer were great because I could take my running kit home all nice and clean. I was a little disappointed that we didn't have a bath, especially given the nature of our stay, but the great TV, DVD player and cosy chairs made up for it. Our party hired out two other rooms at 196 Bishopsgate and they were absolutely massive, and they both had baths. The location was also really great. Just down from a great Tesco metro, opposite Liverpool Station and all its amenities, and near the charm of Spitalfields. I recommend this accommodation heartily.

I booked an Executive One Bedroom apartment for a weekend break at a fab rate of £100.00 plus VAT. We had a huge one bed apartment at the front of the property which was wonderuflly furnished. The bed was ultra comfortable, as was the leather sofa and the TV and DVD player was brand new and worked brilliantly- so cool to be able to take and watch your own DVD's! The kitchen was spacious, well equipped and hi tech- really impressive! The staff at the front desk were helpful and friendly and I liked the fact that they weren't over bearing- it isnt like a hotel- it is more like staying in your own apartment in the city. Next doors there is a Pret sandwich shop and the nearby Tesco's is great. The Police station is two doors up so a a very safe feeling neighbourhood. Bit of a trek into the main tourist parts but just so cool to have your own london apartment. One word of warning- we had an apartment at the front of the building which had air conditioning. This was great in the London heatwave, but the room was very noisy early in the morning due to traffic and I did have to put some cotton wool in my ears! However, balanced up I would rather have the air conditioned room- as it was so cool and made such a difference! Apparently the rooms at the back of the property only have fans. Your choice!