The Gore Hotel – Starhotels Collezione

We were delighted by our room at the Gore, and the staff was friendly and helpful. It was situated perfectly for us as we were planning visits to the V&A and Kensington Palace—eminently walkable. And the proximity to two tube stops was also useful for exploration in other areas of town (though you likely wouldn’t want to come from Heathrow on the tube to The Gore unless you pack super light.) The bathroom had a few quirks and I was concerned that we were situated next to the lift and a hallway fire door, but it wasn’t a problem.

Amazing decoration

I’ve stayed at The Gore many times in recent years. I’ve always enjoyed staying here and on most occasions find myself in a double or twin room despite booking a single, On this occasion I was in a genuine single room up on the fourth floor. As this is what I had paid for, I had no complaints. The single bed was styled like a four poster and very comfortable. The room was perfectly adequate for a single night with all of the amenities that I’d previously experienced in the bigger rooms. As a bonus, this room had a decently sized bathroom with both bath and shower, a washbasin with a good mirror and plenty of room. The taps were a little antiquated and hot water took a few moments to come through, but no real problem.

It was the hottest weekend in August and the AC in the room was not functioning, room 210. A fan was put in the room for my 2 night stay.:( Tiles outside the shower are stained with yellowish humidity stains giving an overall impression of slack maintenance and cleanliness.

I booked this hotel because it looked amazing in the photos and the write-up made it sound really special. It was more expensive than I would normally pay but decided it was worth it to stay in such a glamourous place. I had already booked somewhere else for half the price (including breakfast) but cancelled it. I was bringing foreign friends and wanted to impress them. Firstly, the hotel is at least a 20 minute walk away from the nearest tube, then when you enter the hotel, it is very dark with a small reception area. We were shown to our rooms and then the disappointments started, poky dark little rooms with tiny windows, tiny bathroom only big enough for 1 person at a time, very narrow room with the bed close to the wall, so I often banged my legs on the bed. The room was tatty, the wardrobe door didn't close as the hangers were to big, the TV was to the side of the room so impossible to watch it unless you stood up in front of it, they offered a plastic tea making kit but there was nowhere to plug it in unless you pulled the TV away from the wall and plugged it in there, they offered no complimentary drinking water, no prices for the mini bar, I wanted to iron something but there was nowhere to plug the iron in except if you crawl under the table. The only other plug was near the window which was useless as it is so squashed. Dripping taps plus many other problems. Very expensive and no breakfast offered in the price. Only positive - the staff were friendly. Never again.