Thistle City Barbican Reviews

Room very tired looking. Lower end of the Market obviously but still expected better. Would pay a little more and try elsewhere next time.

We had an overnight stay here so that we could visit central London. The hotel is conveniently located only a 10 minute walk from Old Street Tube station. The hotel itself was clean, the room was comfortable and the staff were courteous and helpful. We used the restaurant and the food was very good and service was also good.

Good smart friendly hotel in a central area - quiet too.

Exceptional service during the day, with service during the day still good but less so. Breakfast was very good. However the Bar is exceptional expensive and there are more local venues with better prices.

Booked this hotel for proximity to business event. Very Friendly staff particularly at breakfast.
Room quite poky and very warm even though it was cool outside so beware booking in the summer! Opening the window not an option as noisy generators and enclosed courtyard magnified all sounds.

Very pleasant night , clean comfy room very good breakfast. Friendly staff.

Nice room and stay, would stay again, luke warm water in the shower though but on check-out the very friendly receptionist queried if we had reported the water which we hadn't and had we the problem may have been resolved.

Stayed here on cup final day. very reasonable price and 5 mins walk to tube station. friendly and pleasant staff

Its cramped and run down.

On the plus side, the staff here are exceptionally welcoming and helpful. On the minus side, there was no cold water in the bath/shower tap in my room, which I only discovered when going to take a shower in the morning - so I had to wash my hair in the miniature sink. The room was very scruffy, with marks on the walls and damage to woodwork, and the decor looked as though it hadn't been updated since the 90s. It was unbearably hot in the room (despite being cold outside) and although there was air conditioning it was extremely noisy, so a virtually sleepless night.

Tiny box room, not what I would expect. Room numbers not very clearly signed. The door handle came of in my hand! Wont stay here again.

The lobby is very grand and you think the rooms will match, but they are a little tired - dirty grout in the bathrooms etc. Bed linen was nice and room was functional. For the price you can't complain!

There are two buildings to this hotel. This fundamental point wasn't explained to us so we spent time searching for a room that didn't exist. Rooms extremely cramped just enough space to get out of bed in mine. Otherwise, probably decent value for central London.

I booked a standard double room. I was expecting something similar to the picture on the hotel website which shows a double bed with bedside tables and room to get out of the bed on both sides. What we were given was a room where the bed was crammed into an alcove and there was no room to get out of the bed except on one side. There was no room for bedside tables and only one bedside light. We spent one night in this very cramped room. We upgraded to a deluxe room the next day. I felt that because we had initially refused an upgradethat we were given a very small room, it was certainly the smallest double room that I have ever stayed in. As a single room, it would have been fine, as a double, it was a disaster.
Quite enjoyed the swimming pool and the spa facilities. I thought breakfast was very expensive at £16.95 per head, we went elsewhere.
The restaurant across the road called Fish Central was excellent.

Unfortunately when we arrived at the hotel, we checked in and the toilet in our room was dirty. One phone call to reception, and we were reallocated a different room - with such efficiency and politeness. Other hotels could learn a lot from the wonderful staff at this hotel. Mistakes happen - it's how they are rectified which makes all the difference to the customer. Our next room was lovely and clean, and our stay very comfortable. As a result of this experience, I would definitely like to stay here again, and will recommend that my friends/colleagues/family do to. A* for customer service!

Unlikely to stay again as when away on business I rely on having easy internet access without problem and additional expense. I was unable to get access with either my iPad or laptop

I've stayed here before, but this time had a room in the annexe which was extremely dated and really not worth what I paid for it - maybe just 3 star - having said that it is 'cheap' for rip off London The location is good for the city

No Comment Left

Hotel is peculiar in that it's split across two buildings.
Late check in may have influenced this review.
Arrived, stood in a queue waiting to check in... Given wrong room type... Revisit queue and wait to be reallocated. Very few staff, fewer still doing anything
Room was ok, little tired.
Couldn't get the extortionate wifi to work

More like a 3* star than a 4
- 24 hr room service actually stopped after 1am
- room service food was forgotten or missed out

No Comment Left

We both enjoyed an wonderfull time at the Thistle city barbican hotel. The staff we very friendly and extremely helpfull. We had great food and a really enjoed the swimming pool.The room was really nice, warm, comfortable and had good ventelation and air conditioning.
We would really love to stay again on our next visit to london.

Good quality facilities and service at a very reasonable price particularly in view of the hotels location within Zone 1. Breakfast was included in the price we paid and was very good. Staff were friendly and helpful, so all in all a really good aspect of our visit to London. I shall definitely look to stay at The Thistle City Barbican next time we come to stay in Central London.

For the price we paid (£68) this is about as good as you can get near the centre of London. The room was in the main building (I believe there is also an annex building) and was extremely clean and well maintained. Air conditioning was nice as the hotel was quite warm by default. There were plenty of staff at the reception desk who were extremely courteous and happy to help.
My only complaint would be the location. It's a few minutes walk from the nearest bus stops and about ten minutes' walk from the nearest Tube station. If you're bothered about being nearer to amenities and transport then Bayswater is probably better but if you want a comfier sleep in this budget range then this hotel is worth a shout.

No Comment Left

Room cleanliness was very satisfactory
Quility was less than should be expacted, tv mounting unlevel, electrcal supply was roughly installed on an angle, with cement patching up prevois tv mounting holes.
Window could not be supported in the open position as both holdig clips had come away, either due to rotten or split woodern window frames
Bathroom again was clean, but extremly basic and old.
Overall, i would stay again as staff and cleanliness was to standards but not within this part of the hotel.........urgent requirment for refitt!!!! & new windows!!!!

Hotel was easy to get to parking was restricted although we were allocated one.
room was clean and tidy staff were very helpful we will stay there again disappointed in the food
which was more like pub grub and expensive but overall excellent .

Staff were very polite & helpful with luggage . Very clean . Excellent location. Excellent price. Did not eat/ swim but restaurant & pool looked lovely.

The furniture was a bit dated, but the facilities were good (iron and ironing board provided).
The prices at the bar were, as you might expect, outrageous and for the price we paid I would have expected breakfast to be included.

Dear sir
i had come with a friend and son for a short break to london
we were very disappointed with the accomodation and amenities
the decor was threadbare-like basic student hostel,noisy outside the rooms and was very disappointing.In fact i was actually ashamed when another friend came to pick us up from this venue and was compelled to apologise to friend and son for booking here!!
The hotel foyer and advertisements didnt reflect the reality.
I am sorry to say we felt it was a rip off for the amount we paid and on hindsight and with local knowledge could have done much better with the same amount and we dont think we will be booking in any thistle hotels and esp barbican in the future.
Ms Javali

No Comment Left

I booked this hotel via Laterooms.com 4 days prior to needing it. This was the cheapest room only accomodation I could book in London town centre. Essentially, it had to be less than £120 which would have been the cost of a cab to and from home to a friends wedding. This was and they also let me check-in 2 hours earlier at no cost so I could get ready properly. My partner was the best man at said wedding so had been with the groom since the night before, but he did join me in the evening after the festivities. We were so tired and merry that we virtually passed out as soon as we got in. The bed was very comfortable. My only real issue was that the reception was very elegant but that the accommodation was very tired. Everything was functional but there were broken and dirty skirting boards and a broken bath tap (which was only cosmetic issues) but the room was clean and completely functional for our purpose. The only other thing to mention was that that at around midnight, the sound of the city street could be heard and some drunken revellers that we passed in the hotel lobby so I had to close the window. At 4am, the air conditioning unit starting making an odd noise and it was exceptionally warm so that I had to get up and open the windown and insert ear plugs to get back to sleep.
But - All in all, certainly did the job of providing a reasonable room (excellent service) and at a reasonable place.

The room was fine but they charged me ten pounds for internet access. I wouldn't object to this except that the signal was so poor throughout the hotel that it was virtually unusable, leaving me unable to keep up to date with important work. When I communicated this information to reception I was provided with a long list of irrelevant excuses.

Would have expected a trouser press.
WI-FI too expensive.

All staff were excellent at all times.
My room was a bit small and very hot with no way of cooling it down (I left the window open the whole time)

Often stay at Thistle Euston and Trafalgar! Thought City would be comparable! Big mistake. Got moved as 1st room was awful in the annex. 2nd room better but not by much. Just vowed to myself not to stay there again.

Pokey miserable rooms.

The reception were very friendly and efficient. A smile always makes a difference.

Apart from a mix up with the room and being given a single room instead of a twin which was quickly sorted out this was an excellent stay.

To be honest disappointed with the hotel, the pillows were so thick I couldnt lay my head on them. and i am not a fussy sleeper. i had to call reception twice to get some more teabags and milk as there was only two (in a twin room). we were looking forward to using the leisure facilities, but to be frank they were quite basic to say the least and the floor needed a real good mop, it is not nice to see fluff and god knows what on a wet floor! also the main point of my review isnt these minor points, but it is to really say how annoyed we were that the hotel is called the thistle barbica, when in actual fact it really isnt! even the london cabbie said he didnt know how they got away with calling themselves that! this really did affect our stay because we had to spend a lot more money on cabs than we thought and our feet hurt from tottering around what is basically islington, please study a map closely before you book any hotel, i am a london girl and i was mislead.