Converted Victorian townhouse with high ceilings and original features
Set on a quiet, tree-lined street in the heart of Paddington
Two-minute walk to Paddington station, with shops
and restaurants
10-minute walk to Hyde Park
Free basic breakfast with option to upgrade for English breakfast
Large choice of room types, including a room with five beds
Small outdoor garden with seating
Many rooms have views of the small park across the road
Charming lobby with a fireplace and antique leather furniture
Bathrooms are tiny and smell musty; some cleanliness issues
Rooms suffer from train noise and not all have en-suite bathrooms
No air-conditioning
There’s a charge for using the Wi-Fi
No elevator
The Dolphin hotel has 37 budget-friendly rooms in a converted Victorian townhouse in the heart of London’s
Paddington area. The Paddington train station is within a couple of minutes’ walk and Hyde Park is around 10 minutes away on foot. Basic rooms are traditional and dated in terms of decor, and not all have en-suite bathrooms. The free breakfast is basic, though guests may pay more for a traditional English breakfast. On the negative side, the hotel has no
elevator and there’s a daily charge for using the Wi-Fi. Tune Hotel - Paddington may offer lower rates and a bit more style in the same neighborhood.
Disclaimer: This content was accurate at the time the hotel was reviewed. Please check our partner sites when booking to verify that details are still correct.
Scene
Victorian house converted into a budget hotel with a traditional feel
Originally built in the 1850s, this hotel still maintains a fundamentally
English feel, especially in the lobby area where there are traditional touches
like deep red leather Chesterfield sofas, a cast iron fireplace, and
antique furniture. The property has a homey feel, and there are some
attractive black-and-white prints of London scenes on the corridor walls. High
ceilings and ornate cornicing can be found throughout the building, as well as
lots of natural light. Note that rooms are located over four floors, without an elevator. The hotel is geared towards tourists, especially groups and families,
as the large rooms can easily accommodate them. Guests are drawn here for low room rates and the central location near Paddington Station and Hyde Park.
Location
In Paddington, near the train station and attractions like Hyde Park
The hotel is located on a fairly quiet, tree-lined street and in a pretty
row of Victorian townhouses, just across the street from a small park in the
heart of Paddington. The streets surrounding the hotel are home to many other
budget hotels, and lots of restaurants, including a steakhouse,
Indian, and Italian, as well as fast food chains like Burger King. It’s only a two-minute
walk to Paddington station where there is an overground train line as well as the underground. The train to Heathrow Airport from Paddington takes under a half an hour. The large
station also has shops, cafes, and restaurants within it, including Yo!
Sushi and Starbucks. Hyde Park is a 10-minute walk away, and there are a number
of popular attractions in and around it, including Kensington Palace and
Gardens, the Princess Diana Memorial Playground, and the Serpentine Gallery.
Whiteleys of Bayswater shopping mall and all of the restaurants that surround it is also fairly close
to the hotel, around 15 minutes away on foot.
Rooms
Dated rooms with tiny bathrooms and some train noise
Rooms at the Dolphin are available as Single, Double/Twin, Triple, and Quadruple Rooms as well as a Family Room room with five beds. All rooms come with flat-screen TVs with satellite channels, a phone, and tea- and coffee-making
facilities. Some rooms also have a hairdryer, trouser press, safe, and mini-fridge.
Most of the rooms are well maintained, and they have plenty
of natural light and high ceilings, but the decor in some is quite dated, and guests have reported some cleanliness issues. Many of the rooms have windows that open up
over the street with views of the small park across the road. Bathrooms are generally compact and smell quite musty. They don’t have baths, just a small shower
stall plus a toilet and basin. It's worth noting that not every room here has an en-suite bathroom and those guests will have to share an external bath with other rooms. Due to the hotel's location near Paddington
station, the rooms do suffer from slight noise and movement each time a
train passes through the station or the tube.
Features
Decent free breakfast and a charge for Wi-Fi
The Dolphin Hotel includes breakfast in the room rate. The buffet
consists of a decent selection of eggs, cereals, yoghurt, pastries, toast,
cheese, cookies, juice, and coffee. For a small charge, the breakfast can be upgraded to a traditional full-English cooked breakfast, which has generous
portions and is popular with guests. There isn't a full restaurant or bar on the property.The hotel has a comfortable guest
lounge in the lobby area which has plenty of seating, a TV, and books to borrow.
There’s also a small but pretty garden. There is no car park on-site but there
is a public one nearby which guests can use for a daily fee. A meeting room for
up to 50 people is available at the Dolphin's sister hotel, just a few minutes’
walk away. The hotel does have Wi-Fi but they charge a daily fee to use it.
