Just back from my quick 3 night trip to London. It was my first trip and I appreciated the tips I received from past posters.
Visited The Tower of London (really enjoyed), Westminster Abbey (thoroughly enjoyed), saw The Producers (very funny), toured Madame Tussaud's (18 yo daughter really liked it) and Harrod's. Did a lot of walking and found the tube to be extremely easy to use and takes you everywhere. Didn't have any food that I'd say was outstanding. Fish and chips in a pub near Earl's Court, Indian in Covent Garden, Italian in Kensington, sandwiches at Pret near Oxford Circus. The last night my 18 yo decided she had been as adventurous with her palate as she wanted to be and insisted we eat at Texas Lone Star near Gloucester tube stop. We're from San Antonio so she had to check it out. I must say...very authentic Texas ribs, fajitas and nachos with Lone Star Beer and margaritas and country music playing. Now I realize that no one would go to London for this but the place was packed and my daughter loved it.
All in all a pleasant trip, although just looking over my bank charges and oh...the sticker shock!
Our hotel was a dump although conveniently located near the tube. It was a personal recommendation and I'm not sure what that person had been smoking when they made the reference!?!

What was the name and location of your "dumpy" hotel?

www.westburyhotel-kensington.co.uk....dumpy for sure although the young Polish lady at the desk was so sweet and helpful, but she was not enough to make up for the horrid accomodations. I wanted basic and inexpensive but this was just NOT a nice place.

Unfortunately hotel and other personal recommendations are just that, they are individual views, if a plave has a run of bad or good comments it can help but it's no guarentee. I have a very good friend who runs a guesthouse in Northern Thailand, the stories he tells me are amazing, some people love the place so much they come back year after year, he has others who complain from the second they arrive, someone says the beds were too hard, next day someone says the beds were too soft, then someone says that they loved the beds so much they wondered why they were 'so good'. He also recounts a customer who wanted to change the bathroom soap because she hated pale green colored soap. A guest wanted a call at 6 a.m " Did they want an early breakfast?" ..oh no, the guest wanted the call so they "could go back to sleep again".
Recommendations are 'sometimes' good but as you have proven, they can go wrong too. Anyway glad you overall had a great time.

<i>&quot;Our hotel was a dump although conveniently located near the tube.&quot;</i>

Unfortunately, London has a bumper crop of dumpy hotels. But glad it sounds like you had a great time anyway.

We stayed there about 5 or 6 years ago and it really wasn't much. The bed was particularly minimal. It wasn't, however, as small a room as we have sometimes stayed in. We had a package deal, which made it quite inexpensive, but I saw the rack rate and couldn't believe anyone would pay that much for it. Perhaps no one did!

Glad you had a good time and got to visit The Tower of London, a favorite for sure....London rules

Hi
let me suggest that you post your hotel comments at tripadvisor.com, assuming the hotel is listed.
This will add to the information about the hotel.