Chelsea Cloisters Apartments and Kensington
 

Has anybody stayed at these apartments in Chelsea, London?
http://www.chelsea-cloisters.co.uk/

Or how about these in Kensington? 38 Emperor's Gate.
http://www.accomodata.co.uk/360999.htm

I can get great deals on these flats for our family of 4, especially the ones in Kensington, but there are no reviews on all of the Internet.

Several fodorites have stayed at Emperor's Gate so maybe if you re-post w/ that in teh title . . .

I haven't stayed ther but know the location very well - it is very convenient to Kensington Gardens and the Gloucester Rd tube station.

I have stayed at Chelsea Cloisters once. (Iusually stay in Pimlico but got a VERY good deal at CC). The location is great -- on Sloane Ave. Walkable to S Kens Tube, Harrods, LOTS of shops and restaurants. But each flat is totally different - from really miniscule studios all the way to very posh penthouses. Even w/i one type of flat - there are different sizes/decor/amenities. Before you know if it is a good deal you need to know precisely which flat or at least the size . . . .

Thank you so much for your reply Janis. The flat at the Cloisters is a one bedroom apt. Master bedroom, living room, kitchen. The sofa is a sofa-bed. I have two children, ages 3 and 5. I can get the one bedroom in Chelsea for 108 pds. per night and that includes tax and services. The price for the Emperor's Gate apts. is 515 pds per week, this is just a studio with 2 single beds on a mezzanine, a double bed, and a kitchenette, shower. Decisions, decisions. :)

Also, thank for suggesting that I repost about Emperor's Gate. I think I will do that. :)

Janis, what kind of flat did you rent at the Cloisters if I may ask, and did you find it nice? Was there daily maid service. I listed the price per night above. Do you think this is a good price for a one bedroom flat? Thanks.

I rented a very small studio - it was just for me. Many of the flats in Ch Cloisters are individually owned so they can be very nice or very basic. I got a chance to look inside a few other flats during the week I stayed there. The couple of 1-bedrooms I saw were MUCH larger and nicely furnished. In fact a couple of studios I saw were also larger than my tiny one -- but it was just for me and I paid less than £50 per night.

Emperors Gate is good for kids because you'd be close to Kensington Gardens and the wonderful Princess Diana Playground. And that is a pretty good rate for that neighborhood. I might have a concern about little ones being up on a loft in a place they aren't familiar w/ though.

I answered on the other post but wanted to reiterate here that I don't think 38 Emperor's Gate is the Emperor Gate apartments owned by the Arnold Family. Their flats are 5 Emperor's Gate www.apartment-hotels.com.

Thanks Janis and sprin. :)

I know Emperor's Gate and Sloane Avenue, having lived very nearby both locations, but don't know the apartments (the Cloisters I know from the outside, have not been in). So I cannot comment on which apartment is better, but I would certainly prefer the Sloane Avenue location over Emperor's Gate. More upmarket, nicer restaurants and shops nearby. I really like the area near there, in Elystan Street/Chelsea Green, with small shops and restaurants. There's also Brompton Cross, Walton Street, and the King's Road, all within easy walking distance.
Emperor's Gate is not bad, being close to Gloucester Road Tube, but given the choice, I would go for Chelsea Cloisters.

As for the Tube; from Emperor's Gate you cross very busy Cromwell Rd to get to Gloucester Rd Tube; very close.
Chelsea Cloisters is nearer the Fulham Road on Sloane Avenue; walk through Pelham Street to get to South Kensington station. If you're going to stay at Sloane Avenue with children, there's a playground behind St Luke's Church (Cale Street/Sydney Street), a wonderful children's shop on Cale Street (opposite the Jane Asher Cake Shop; also a must see for kids!), and another excellent children's toys/books/clothes store on the King's Road just opposite Sydney Street (Daisy & Tom).

Thanks so much Tulips. I think we are going for the Chelsea Cloisters location. I think you just sealed the deal. I am finding this is a nice place, with a nice rate. We will be booking today. :) Thanks for the info. I am a shopping fanatic. I don't know how much shopping I will be doing since things are more expensive, but I hope to get in some window shopping.

Do have a look at the area around Elystan Street/Chelsea Green then. It's one of my favorite areas of London (I lived nearby), and has much more a 'village feel'. I have also lived in Cornwall Gardens, very close to Emperor's Gate, and much prefer the Chelsea location.

Be very, very careful with Chelsea Cloisters. About 4 years ago I booked a 3 week stay there & paid completely in advance. When I got there, they had no space. They also refused to refund my money since the CC I had originally paid with I had dropped in favor of a differnet Visa card, even though I had tons of proof.

They kept sending me to the lobby to wait. I got friendly with the clerk there who told me they had very high staff turnover because of the overbooking they're known for & the staff can't tolerate the very upset customers.

I was finally able to get a CC refund ONLY by threatening to put on my nightgown, sack out in the lobby AFTER calling every tabloid in town. And I meant it. They didn't even offer a taxi to a hotel.

Check out London Guest Suites. I've had very good luck with them.

Thank you so much Carrybean for this report. I haven't booked yet thank goodness. I am very apprehensive now.

NurseLRT: CarryBean's experience sounds dreadful - but do realize it is just one. My one and only stay there could not have been different - very helpful front desk, etc. But again, mine is just one experience.

a couple of comments: Overbooking can happen anywhere - it is not fun but not unheard of at any hotel, airline, apartment. And getting a refund to a cancelled credit card would not be a straight forward transaction.

I'm not trying to talk you into staying at CC - as I said I normally stay in Pimlico - but as bad as carry's experience was, mine was quite good. And the location really can't be beat.

You might check tripadvisor to see if anyone else has posted similar problems. If not, I'd probably think it was a one-off. But if others also faced overbookings and rude staff -- well, maybe I was just lucky.

(And sometimes it is a useful extra step to check other Fodors postings by the same person)

Yes, check my other posts. No complaints about anything else. The office staff wouldn't even let me use their phone to call another flat I had stayed in the year before to see if there was space available. I had to go in the hall & use the pay phone. Remember, they had held my full payment for nearly a year.

The nice front desk staff are the ones who told me this happens frequently. I didn't invent that. This was also confirmed again a couple years ago when I contacted another flat rental agency who said they had heard that that happens. This agency repped a privately owned apartment at Chelsea Cloisters. So my experience wasn't a one-off. I was a hotel manager for many years. I know about overbooking but I also know how to treat those who get bumped & this wasn't it.

Maybe you'll be more lucky than I was.

Thanks Carrybean. I think I would take the risk, but my husband is dead set on staying at the Holiday Inn Kensington or Holiday Inn Mayfair. The funny thing is, they are more expensive than the flat! Well, I guess I can't complain too much, just as long as we have clean sheets and towels. It's sort of sad that we won't be able to stay in a flat though, I had my heart set on it. Maybe next time. Thanks for all of the information.

You're most welcome. In a case of over-booking, the normal thing for a property to do is to put you up in a nearby place, assuming that when space becomes available, you would then move in. Evidently they were so overbooked (this was in June) that there was NO chance of anything freeing up.

The first time I stayed at a flat rented by London Guest Suites, there were several things wrong with it. LGS gave my a 5% discount on the following year's rental in a different flat that I LOVED as well as providing a driver to pick me up at the airport free.

I will be going back to this same flat next June. The nice thing about it was the flats were quoted in dollars & that was a real plus since the dollar nose-dived in that period. It was inclusive of VAT too. The flat was 1 block south of Brompton Oratory/Victoria & Albert Museum & was terrific. It even backed onto the community gardens. If you go back, check it out. They have lots of flats available.

That's the place my sister & brother-in-law booked a while back. She said they wouldn't give any explanation at all for why their apartment wasn't available and never even got an apology. They did find a nice hotel nearby and stayed there instead.
Good luck in what you chose to do.

Thanks Spyro, I am so glad I posted this question. I am having some luck with other flats at the moment, and they have nice reviews. Hopefully husband will go for it. :) I will not be staying at the Cloisters! Thanks for the information everybody. :)