This weekend just gone it was one of my missus' mates' birthdays, and as is the norm we all decided to go out on a fun night of drinking. Rather than shell out the extortiante taxi fare home (at least £35 back to my part of West London!), we decided to book a hotel in advance and then wander home on the tube the next day.

We booked the hotel through Lastminute.com's Secret Hotels. The idea behind this is that in return for not knowing the hotels' name until you have booked, you get cheaper rates on the room. The Thistle was described as a 4 star hotel just behind Tottenham Court Road at a rate of only £69 - cheap for London. We booked there and then, and were a tad disappointed to say the least when we discovered we were staying at the Thistle. We have used the Secret Hotels before and stayed in some pretty nice places, however felt that maybe we were mislead on this occasion. A quick glance at other online reviews showed that not only was the Thistle rated as a 3 star hotel (as opposed to the 4 advertised) but also not too many people enjoyed their stay there.

Saying the hotel was behind Tottenham Court Road is a bit of a misnomer - it is in fact right next to Euston Station, with Tottenham Court Road a good 10 minute walk down Euston Road. The location is a bit poor, although convenient for business travellers I guess. The only place to grab lunch (short of the hotel, whose food I'll come to later) is actually…. Euston Station! Hardly the place for a nice romantic lunch. Well I lie; there is a small, random, community (almost like a mini village) down some winding backstreets with a couple of curry houses, but really. That's it.

So. We arrived at around 1pm (check in was 2pm) and were pleased to see that we were able to get a room straight away, we were hoping to just store our bags and come back at 2. There were plenty of staff on duty, which was in contrast to the other review's we'd read. After check-in (and the offer of a newspaper - I asked for FT and the receptionist looked at me like I was insane, so I changed to the News of the World) we were offered the help of a porter to take our bags up. This is a first for the hotels in the UK we've stayed at, and something I was quite impressed by. The lobby itself is quite traditional, but clean. There was a moderately-priced bar, and a restaurant downstairs.

We stayed in what was known as a Deluxe room. I hate to think what the standard rooms were like.

The bed itself was ok, nothing special, a little lumpy. It IS small, since I'm only 5'8'' (yes ok I lied earlier when I said I was strapping) and my feet dangled of the edge. Plenty of pillows are provided, but to be frank they weren't great. Hard and lumpy, I chucked mine away and slept on my towel.

The bathroom was a little nicer, with a combined shower/bath and tiny (small really is the theme) bottles of shower gel and shampoo. Good water pressure - I mention this since again previous reviews I read stated the opposite.

Food man food!
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To be honest this hotel left me feeling cold. There were very little redeeming characteristics about it, and to be honest I've stayed in cheaper hotels that are better. The City Inn, for example. The location is poor, the price is not value for money and the final nail in the coffin is the fact that you can stay in the Ibis next door for £72. I know where I'd go.

I hasten to add that the rate we paid was heavily discounted. The standard rate for the room is somewhere around £90, with the Rack rate being £170. At those prices, there is simply no excuse for the quality of the facilities.

Avoid - unless you really really really like trains.