Review of Crowne Plaza London Kings Cross, an IHG Hotel 4*

We travel extensively and we were very dissatisfied with this hotel. The room was nice but the carpet smelled and our house keeper didn’t do the best job cleaning the room. We were told upon check-in that the pool was only open until 6:30pm for kids. Luckily I questioned that when I extended our stay and told for summer break it was extended until 7:30pm for kids. When we went to use the pool we were told there was £3.50 per adult/ per hour charge for adults and £1 per child/ per hour. They forgot to turn our charging privileges on at the desk which they quickly rectified. We extended an extra day so we could see more of London and had a bit of trouble. My husband and son came back separate from myself and they would not give him a room key. I spoke with them and they agreed to give him a key that didn’t work when he got to the room. He took my son to the pool and the pool attendant said they could not go in because no charging privileges on the account and she said there was only 1/2 hour left to swim anyway. It was 34 Celsius today and the 1/2 hour swim was what our 6 year old needed. He would have had an hour had my husband not have been so long at the desk and been able to get into the room. While we fully understand there are policies, I would never have imagined someone telling a 6 year old they couldn’t use the pool for 1/2 hour over a £4.50 charge that could’ve have been easily rectified. The pool attendant was unfriendly from the time we arrived at the hotel until the time we left. Additionally, other guests in the pool were complaining about paying to use the pool and the hours. It should’ve been posted on the hotels website. Due to the unfriendliness of the pool staff and the fact we enjoy using the pool, we would not return.