The photographs shown on the websites are terribly deceptive! The rooms are very small, and the bathroom is tiny; however, if all you are using it for is to sleep and shower (which most people do), then it won't be much of a problem, but don’t expect palatial accommodations. Still, our room was clean and nicely decorated, with a comfortable bed and adjustable lighting (which only operates when you insert your room keycard into the light switch). The hotel also offers a free broadband Internet connection hookup, which worked well for us. The property seemed well-maintained, but the elevator didn’t work, and the water in the bathroom was constantly at the extreme of freeing cold or scalding hot. In room phone calls are overpriced. Depending on how you made the reservation, breakfast may be included, but if it is not, it is very expensive to purchase – which I do not recommend.

The only thing I really did not like about the hotel was the rude, apathetic, and downright uncaring, unprofessional staff. They ignored you, would not answer questions or acknowledge you if you were standing at the desk, and turned and walked away as you spoke to them. I had one attendant literally toss back my credit card to me when he was done, and when I checked out, I didn’t get so much as a "Thank you," "Goodbye," "How was your stay?" or "Can I call you a cab?".

All in all, despite the staff, it is a pretty good facility and good for the price, but I do not feel that it earns anything near the four-star rating, as it lacks the facilities and service that I’ve enjoyed in other four-star properties. I did enjoy my stay, but I only slept and showered there. I would recommend the facility, with the caveat of the abysmal staff. If it were not for the staff, I would probably stay there again.

This was particularly surprising because I had read the information on the hotel’s website which talked about a charming boutique hotel. The outside of the hotel is in fact charming. It is in an attractive row of buildings that has a bit of character. The lobby is also relatively attractive, and little things like free apples and a nice staff are a good touch. But as I walked through the hall to my room, I noticed a few little things that I wasn’t overly crazy about (i.e., worn carpets, temporary room numbers on some of the doors, and lots of marks on the walls). Also, there was no elevator, so I had to carry a very heavy suitcase down a winding set of stairs to get to my room. That is when I discovered the space issue in room 019.

Once I got settled in, I took note of other things in the room. One, the high-speed Internet access was not available (broken, and the hotel did not have an Ethernet cable even if it had been working). Two, a large white fan was the first piece of room furniture I came across. It was nice to have the fan, but it took up quite a bit of the limited space. Three, the rooms were very noisy in the mornings (from people going in and out of their rooms and the maid closet). Finally, the pillows (on the otherwise comfortable bed) were not particularly comfortable.

The most positive thing I can say about this hotel is that I liked the location. It is about three blocks from Paddington Station (which makes it easy to get to and from Heathrow Airport), only a five-minute walk from Hyde Park (a place I like to run), and near Notting Hill (i.e., Portobello Road).

All said, it is difficult to recommend this hotel for the price I paid. But I must admit that when 5am rolled around on the morning I had to catch a 6:30am flight out of Heathrow, I was very glad to be staying at the Hyde Park Paddington. It literally took me two minutes to walk over to the Heathrow Express out of Paddington Station. Total time from room to Austrian Airlines ticket counter was 35 minutes.