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3.5
#756 of 1,150 hotels in London
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Situated within a 2-minute walk of Earl’s Court Tube Station, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, home to Kensington Palace and the Royal Albert Hall, Merit Kensington Hotel offers free WiFi access. Rooms at this boutique hotel are individually designed and feature tea&coffee making facilities, an en-suite bathroom and free toiletries. Other amenities include satellite TV, a minibar, a hairdryer and a safe. Set within walking distance of parks and famous shops such as Harrods, the hotel is a few minutes’ walk from various museums, including the Natural History and Victoria and Albert. Heathrow Airport can be reached in 20 minutes without any changes, via the Piccadilly Line. We look forward to welcoming you.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
Languages Spoken
English
Location
12, 16-18 & 24 Penywern Road, London SW5 9ST England
Merit Kensington Hotel
155 reviews
Getting there
Great for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
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The Merit Kensington Hotel is often celebrated for its inviting atmosphere, featuring clean, modern decor and comfortable rooms, amidst positive remarks about its convenient location near key transport links and attractions in London. However, guests have called out the service, describing it as unprofessional and at times dismissive, which dampens the overall experience.
Opinions on the rooms are mixed, with some highlighting modernity and cleanliness, while others raise concerns about size and maintenance. Additionally, the value proposition is questioned due to unexpected charges, and despite the clean rooms, the limited amenities and functional issues with plumbing and heating are drawbacks for some travelers.
Location
Convenient
Atmosphere
Inviting
Rooms
Cramped
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Mixed
Service
Rude
Amenities
Underwhelming
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This hotel is a 2 minute walk from Earl's Court tube, making it very well located to reach connect with all parts of London.
For London standards, this is a very good hotel. Staff is very nice and make everything possible to accommodate you. Rooms are small like much of London mid budget hotels, but very modern with lighting panel next to each bed, bathroom with bath and bathroom also has underfloor heating.
The hotel is equipped with a lift, and also offers a wi-fi with good and fast connection. They take care of the details, it's one of the few hotels in London in which I ever found good quality toilet paper, even if it might sound funny, it is the smaller details that makes the standard of a place.
The only thing that I believe could be better is the security cards of the room, since it happened on 3-4 occasions that they stopped working. It was never a big issue since staff comes quickly and give you new cards. The reason might be because cards are kept close to a mobile phone, but it happened also when they weren't even in the same pocket.
Would love to return to this place, well done to the staff and management.
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Date of stay: January 2020
Rooms
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from MeritKensington, General Manager at Merit Kensington Hotel
Responded 31 Jan 2020
Thank you very much for giving us an insight on your stay. We are delighted it was a positive experience and we hope to see you again in the near future.
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Merit Kensington is a small hotel. It is approximately a 2 minute walk away from Earls Court underground station which is a huge positive. Staff are lovely and helpful. Very clean room and bathroom. We were upgraded from a classic to deluxe upon arrival which was amazing, so this review is based on a deluxe room not a single. Hangers are provided and 2 water bottles are restocked daily in your fridge. Heating can be changed to your preferred temperature by the simple buttons located on each side of the bed along with the lights. The hotel is never too busy and so you are rarely in contact with others (Covid-19 precautions). The hotel does have a small lift. however it is in proportion to the hotel size and we never had to wait for it for more than a minute. The only negative I could think of if I was to be extra picky is that our room could have been cleaned/tidied daily a little bit better than it was. Overall, I was very very pleased with this hotel, especially due to to the high standard you receive for the price you pay and also with how welcoming and kind the staff are. I would definitely recommend and stay again!
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Date of stay: September 2020
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Ramses Andraous, Owner at Merit Kensington Hotel
Responded 26 Jul 2021
Thank you for staying with us. Your feedback is valuable to us. We are pleased you enjoyed your stay and look forward to seeing you in the near future.
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The area is kind of mixed. Not super nice but very convenient lots of attractions and places to go, very central. I booked a deluxe double room and it said on Booking.com that this was larger than average but it was in fact quite tiny. It was very compact with a small shower/toilet. The bed was a double fairly small for larger people. To be honest I can't remember how this was specified on the Web I should have been more attentive. It cost not much more than a basic but seriously, I am confused now as to how a basic could possibly be any different from a deluxe then. The bathroom door was a glass sliding door and the bed was so close to it I kept bumping into it and fearing to smash it Very new, very modern and super clean for a short city stay. The bathroom floor was gently heated even on summer days the warm tiles were lovely. The reception is two doors down from the Merit which was a bit unusual, there was no reception, no lobby seating, no Cafe or anything, or any visible staff at all in the hotel itself apart from the cleaners in the morning. There was a bit of noise from next door not sure if this was a fault in isolation or they were just super loud lots of thumping as if they were moving the furniture. Very strange!
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Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Check out Evans & Peel Detective Agency. Only with booking, a great experience.
The Courtfield...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Raouf Riad Meshreky, Owner at Merit Kensington Hotel
Responded 19 Jan 2022
Thank you for your feedback. Weare pleased you enjoyed your stay and look forward to welcoming you again in the near future.
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The room was impeccably clean - even the shower cubicle was free from mould and grime, which I seem to find as the norm in most hotels these days! There was a snazzy light panel at both sides of the bed to control the room lights, choose a "do not disturb" or "clean" for the room. A fridge in the room is a nice touch in a hotel that doesn't do food or drink so you can have your own. The location was excellent, less than 5 minutes walk from Earl's Court tube station, and walking distance to the museums and Kensington High Street.
Due to the excellent location, the area is very busy so quite noisy at all hours. The light panel next to the bed stayed lit, and light from the corridor shone in under the light all night, so if you're a light sleeper you may need an eye mask. Our room (315) was at the top of the stairs from reception, and sadly as there was no door separating the areas we could hear all conversations that took place.
Overall a lovely stay, very reasonably priced, and we would definitely stay again in the future.
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Date of stay: October 2021Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Raouf Riad Meshreky, Owner at Merit Kensington Hotel
Responded 19 Oct 2021
Thank you very much for staying with us. The was a great pleasure to welcome you and we hope to see you again in the near future. We will in the next coming months be unveiling the two adjacent buildings and we will have a lovely reception area as as a breakfast room and garden.
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Thank you very much for your warm hospitality Providing extra pillows for me The bedroom and bathroom was very clean The bed was very comfortable The bedroom was very quiet The shower is amazing. The room ventilation is perfect. Excellent complimentary hot drinks and a wine glass was such a surprise. Your guest information book is very smart and helpful Nice and clean fridge. Amazing and very smart technology of lighting system including reading light by the bedside table. Very clean bed linen and towels. Very clean carpet.
Please, listen to my suggestions so than I will be more happy on my next stay. The main business telephone numbers provided both in the guest information book and on the website is always off or no one answer it. You inform your guest in your guest book about numbers need to bee dialled from the bedroom if the guest required assistant. Also, your hotel employee informed me about this as well. However, you have forgotten to install the landline phone in the bedroom while your main phone line is off except when is not when you don't answer it as I previously mentioned. Because I tried to call you from my mobile phone many times. If it would be an emergency, you would fail to provide a safe place to stay. Its seems you must have done a great refurbishment but you need to finish it. The single bedroom is more likely a box room where no room to put down my luggage and open it. The shower cubicle with toilet is fairly okay but the mini wash basin is useless because its unsuitable for purpose. Almost looks like a decoration not an actual bathroom wash basin. Could you please ask your cleaners to dust behind the TV screen because its seems hasn't been cleaned for a year. The heating system is not actually working properly. I think something wrong between the AC and Heater. I had to turn it off because my sinus is very sensitive and I didn't want to sleep wearing a hat in bed all night. I think sleeping cap is out of fashion this days. :-) Thanks for your understanding
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Date of stay: December 2021
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Please check everything in your room with the receptionist before you move in.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Raouf Riad Meshreky, Owner at Merit Kensington Hotel
Responded 19 Jan 2022
Thank you for your feedback which is valuable to us. We have since your stay opened more facilities and look forward to your next visit.
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I don’t usually write reviews but just felt compelled to for this hotel. I booked online the day before travelling after the typical trawl through numerous hotels in London. The price was incredible for a hotel so close to the tube station in a nice, safe and convenient area on the district and Piccadilly line so easy to get around. I wasn’t expecting much from the room and thought it would be small but manageable to put up with for just a few nights. On arrival we were greeted by a lovely lady at reception who was so professional and friendly. We were pleasantly surprised on arrival to be told that we had been upgraded to a deluxe room which was in another part of the hotel a few doors down the street. At first I was skeptical of this and furthermore when we were told we were in the basement. However, when we got to the room I was so impressed. I had requested a quiet room and with it being in the basement it was so quiet! The rooms were spotlessly clean and so cosy and modern as they’ve recently been refurbished. There’s even underfloor heating in the bathroom, the showers were nice and hot and powerful and the large king sized bed so comfy. I can’t complain about a single thing and I’m so glad that next time I travel to London I don’t have to look around for hotels as I know exactly where I want to be staying!
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from MeritKensington, General Manager at Merit Kensington Hotel
Responded 15 Feb 2020
Thank you very much for your feedback. It was a great pleasure welcoming you. On your next trip please contact us and we will offer you the best available rate. Thank you again for taking your time to send us your comments which are valuable to our team.
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The Merit Kensington Hotel in Earl's Court, London, is an exceptionally nice hotel at moderate prices. Located one block from the Earl's Court Metro station, it makes for an easy trip to/from Heathrow Airport and Central London. Additionally, there are lots of eateries and a market within two blocks of the hotel making it an ideal location.
The double bed in my single-use room was comfortable and provided a variety of pillow types to make sleeping a breeze. A few points to be aware of: 1) my particular room on the ground level had a window but it looked out onto another room and, with the building being multiple stories, was impossible to see the sky to know what the current weather conditions were; 2) when managing luggage, there are several steps that must be navigated to enter the lobby; 3) the bathroom floods easily from the hand shower pointed in the wrong direction if you're not very careful; and most importantly 4) read your hotel itinerary closely upon checkin for errors in date or rate (they showed my stay 2 days longer than my confirmed reservation and would've charged me in advance for the entire amount if I had not caught it).
The nicely-styled room has all the standard amenities plus a mini-frig and luggage storage is offered after checkout. I've stayed at a number of hotels in the Earl's Court area and would rank Merit Kensington among the best.
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Date of stay: August 2022
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:A room in the main bldg is much easier: close to the check-in desk and don't have to navigate...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Ramses Andraous, Owner at Merit Kensington Hotel
Responded 15 Nov 2022
Thank you very much for your feedback which was shared with our team. We look forward to welcoming you again in the near future.
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Just returned from a girls weekend and I highly recommend the Merit. I got a double room, my friend had a single and they made sure to put us down the hall from each other. The rooms were very modern and exceptionally clean. The location is amazing, right around the corner from Earl’s Court tube station (the Piccadilly line goes straight to Heathrow). Tons of restaurants, cafes and pharmacies nearby. The biggest asset is the staff. They were incredibly accommodating when I came in on Friday morning and needed to do some work. They set me up initially in a nook, made sure the WiFi worked for me (including letting me use a converter when Amazon sent me the wrong one…) and then in the breakfast room once breakfast was over. All the staff were kind and incredibly helpful. Big thanks to Victor and the woman who runs the breakfast (I’m so sorry I didn’t get your name!) We will definitely be back!
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Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Firstly, the layout of this hotel was odd, whereby the reception was separated from the rooms. The hotel and rooms can be found on the same street and are only separated by a few doors up or down from the reception. When entering the reception area, the first thing to notice was the area was very small and could be very crowded especially if multiple people are either booking in or booking out.
The staff members were quiet and although not rude nor unprofessional, they did appear disinterested. Please also be aware this hotel asks for an further £100 to cover any issues and this amount will be refunded back to you after your stay.
Myself and my partner had the deluxe double room booked for one night. The room itself was very clean and tidy. The room boasted tea, coffee and water for no extra charge. The bathroom was clean and modern with shower gel and shampoo to use freely. The room also consisted of other items such as a TV, blow dryer, mini fridge, safe, air conditioning etc. The lights for the room were controlled with an electrical pad which could be located in various places in the room such as next to the bed and the door. This was extremely handy, yet so simple!
The hotel is located roughly 3 minutes away from the closest tube station and provides easy access to the central part of London.
Overall, I would recommend this hotel as it boasts cheap prices but with a luxurious touch.
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Date of stay: February 2023Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Nothing of note.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We booked this hotel last minute for a party, we didn’t expect too much for the price we paid for the night in the city but we were pleasantly surprised! The room was extremely modern and clean. The room had touch pad lighting systems and underfloor heating in the bathroom. The tv in the bathroom was a lovely touch. The concierge was extremely friendly and helpful. Highly recommend staying here! We will be back.
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from MeritKensington, General Manager at Merit Kensington Hotel
Responded 9 Mar 2020
It was a great pleasure welcoming you at merit Kensington. We would like to thank you for your feedback which means a lot to us and our passionate members of staff. We look forward to seeing you again in the future.
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I agree with wheelsupt7 answer. The only parking was on the street. We actually managed to get a park right outside hotel so we were lucky. No parking provided by hotel.
"There are plenty of Bars and food outlets, there is an M&S at the top of the street. Earls court station is 2 minutes walk. The area is nice and the hotel road is quiet at nigh"
There are more places to choose from in the London area.
PRICE RANGE
RM 555 - RM 1,059 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
United KingdomEnglandLondonEarls Court
NUMBER OF ROOMS
104
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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