The Rockwell

Recently stayed here for a few days. We had opted for a Superior Double which was a good size room, especially for London. The en-suite shower room was a bit small, but the bedroom was a good size and at the back of the hotel overlooking the gardens of surrounding buildings meant it was nice and quiet at night. In the room we had there was an AC unit build in, but it had clearly seen better days wasnt very effective and after a few hours of running the control panel would just blink an error code. The hotel had provided a small plug-in AC unit which was very effective, however it only had 2 settings: fast and loud, or very fast and very loud. On the plus side it did chill the room down rapidly. The rest of the room was nice enough, but overall, a bit tired. The chairs in the room were a bit uncomfortable due to aging padding, and the woodwork (lots of shelves and cupboards) was a bit worn. There was a mini-bar fridge in the room which wasn’t very cold, but was well stocked. The bed was clearly 2 singles pushed together to make a double. This left a noticeable ridge in the middle of the bed. To my taste the mattresses were too hard, but my partner didn’t think they were too bad. The room we were in was nice enough but just needed a bit of updating. Breakfast was OK. It was nothing special, but there was also nothing wrong with it. Mostly self-service English Breakfast or Continental options. Tea & Coffee were brought on request from the person servicing the room, however we were never offered a refill or another cup – not a complaint, but I do like 2 cups of coffee in the morning. There was a bar next to the restaurant, but we didn’t use it. There was a lift to get to the upper floors, however even with the lift I wouldn’t say our room was wheelchair accessible, or accessible by those with restricted mobility. The path from the lift involved going through a door into the landing of a staircase which was narrow enough you had to almost step into the stairs to let the door close to then walk to the room. Another real nuisance was the window in the room. It was a large single pane sash window which was clearly quite old and in need of some attention. There was a gap of about 4mm between the window and the frame. This meant when there was a gust of wind the window sash rattled in the frame, waking both of us up frequently at night. I was able to wedge this with folded up bits of paper and old train tickets which was effective at curbing then noise in our room, but I could still hear the windows on the other rooms rattling instead. There was only one thing which I think really does need to be addressed, and that was the shower cubicle. The Shower itself was decent enough; however the shower tray was ridiculously high off the ground. The en-suite had skirting boards which were in the region of 5-6 inches tall. The shower tray sat on a wooden batten on top of the skirting. This meant it was a step of about 7-8 inches to get into the shower. Not such an issue getting in, but a bit more challenging getting out when your feet are wet and there is nothing to grab onto. If you had a towel on the floor, it helped step out, but I dread to think what might happen if you tried to step out of the shower onto a tiled floor with wet feet! The location is fantastic. 10 min walk from Earls Court underground, 15 min walk from Gloucester Road underground, 15-20 min walk from Kensington High Street or the Science and Natural History Museums on Gloucester Road. Loads of places to eat and drink on at all 3 locations. Overall, it was a nice enough hotel with friendly staff. There was a small sofa are in front of reception and some tables out the back door which you could use if you wanted out of your room. All the staff we spoke to were friendly and pleasant. I know I have found issue with a few things, but nothing major or too serious. I would probably stay there again next time we are down in London.