Restaurant
Check availability

Reviews of The Kensington Hotel

2.5 out of 5
The Kensington Hotel
18 Durley Chine Road, Bournemouth, England

Reviews

6.6
Rating 10 - Excellent. 39 out of 173 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 43 out of 173 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 34 out of 173 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 34 out of 173 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 23 out of 173 reviews" "

6.4/10

Cleanliness

7.0/10

Staff & service

6.0/10

Amenities

6.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

6.8/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

2/10 Terrible

Andrew

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Booked a hotel with parking. Couldn't park
Stayed 1 night in May 2024

6/10 Okay

Stuart

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024

2/10 Terrible

family

Travelled with family, Travelled with family and small children
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Outdated, rude, no proper parking, fire alarm kepy going off, very noisy, no sign of a bar, the desk worker, walked in our room without knockin, didnt speak apology or anything, just walked in looked round and out again, my kids with special needs didnt feel safe staying we left very early thay morning and didn't stay for our second night, not recommend at all stay away no offer of a refund either
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Friendly, no frills, and convenient location
No frills but cheerful seaside hotel. Convenient location and good size room. Don't expect luxury but friendly service and simple accommodation.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Julie

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good location, walking distance to attractions and restaurants. Very clean, easy check in and was told all about the area and history of the hotel.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

2/10 Terrible

Nabi

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Terrible and nit suitable for the price .
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2023

2/10 Terrible

Louis

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Where shall i start... i read the reviews on Expedia when booking and thought the place looked okay for a one night stay. Upon our arrival we got a half hour history lesson that was well intended but after 8 hours on the road our bladders were ready to burst. The host didnt seem to notice that we all had heavy bags and were tired. Our room was in the basement . The first inspection of it was decent. Two double beds and a single. Turns out that the reviews on google were more accurate than expedia. The single bed ended up being a box spring with beddjng on it. The double beds were awful, mine was collapsing on one side. The thin excuses for pillows left us with sore necks. We had to ask for more towels. One was provided and there were four of us booked in. We were handed an extra towel and another bath mat. So two towels for four people... thanks. Doesnt look like we were bitten by any bed bugs thank goodness... i do not recommend this place.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

6/10 Okay

A

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Cheap n cheerful
A real mix of ok and could do better.. Lovely chap on reception who gave a overview of Dorset and sandbanks. The room had a few issues TV remote missing No towels Window opens fully to a flat roof with staircase so not secure But Beds were ok and room was warm but it was the hottest day of the year Shower leaked Plugs had a smell of drains It was a good location and parking was free It worked for one night as a cheap stay over.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Boualem

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Sean

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023

10/10 Excellent

Gary

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

4/10 Poor

Daniel

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Sorin

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Caitlin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I stayed here for a week and it was a lovely room the bed was so comfortable and when I had a small issue a really nice man came and helped me solve it very quickly and he was very polite. It was in walking distance to the beach and shops so I didn’t have to waste money on Ubers so I was happy with that and I can’t wait to book my next stay with them.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2023

6/10 Okay

Nanthakumary

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Maihrnisa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Everything was good
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

4/10 Poor

Adeel

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Graham

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2023

4/10 Poor

Valdemaras

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Laurette, burbank

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Very hospitable staff. Gentleman at front desk had lots of local information.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Alice on 23 Jun 2023
thanks for your support kensington hotel office

6/10 Okay

Grace

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Cleanliness
Host is very pleasant, has a wealth of local knowledge. The room was a good size for a family. Wifi worked well. The cleaning can be improved by ensuring the floor is swept of sand (probably left by previous guest) and the kettle and cups could do with a scrub.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Alice on 23 Jun 2023
thanks for your support kensington hotel office

6/10 Okay

Gary

Stayed 3 nights in May 2023
Response from Alice on 23 Jun 2023
thanks for your support kensington hotel office

10/10 Excellent

Geoffrey

Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Alice on 23 Jun 2023
thanks for your support kensington hotel office

8/10 Good

Phil

Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Alice on 23 Jun 2023
thanks for your support kensington hotel office

8/10 Good

Anna

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Gosh hotel
Walking distance to everything, very clean and comfortable. But bring a body shower soap and shampoo, there are none in the bathroom
Stayed 1 night in May 2023
Response from Alice on 23 Jun 2023
thanks for your support kensington hotel office

10/10 Excellent

Geoff

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent for a visit to Bournemouth.
We enjoyed our stay at the Kensington hotel. In a nutshell I can’t fault it! We would definitely come again.
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2023
Response from Alice on 23 Jun 2023
thanks for your support kensington hotel office

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Sleepless in Bournemouth
Very welcoming owner. Parking was tight due to skip and ongoing refurb works. Room was very compact. Bedding, mattress and towels have seen better days, one towel was just not nice. No bedside light, one very dim overhead light, shower tray was old and very worn, shower mixer tap was broken. Flooring was vinyl so easier to keep clean. Room was warm but I was woken by drunken guests returning at 3.15am, this continued until after 4am with no controls by management. I finally had to intervene myself to get some sleep. I Would not return.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good location Great staff.
Nice hotel in a convenient location for the centre of town. Very welcoming staff. Elaine at the front desk showed us up to our room and told us all we needed to know. A nice change from the usual ...' your room is on the second floor'.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023

8/10 Good

Martin

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
The hotel was nice and quiet friendly staff too. The room was a nice size and clean. Some things it could do with is bedside lamps and a mirror. The bed was a bit uncomfortable too.
Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

Scott

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 7 nights in Mar 2023

6/10 Okay

Elaine

Cheap and cheerful!
The Kensington states it is a no frills hotel, after reading some reviews I was cautious and took my own bedding and towels, but these were not needed. 😊 We were greeted by a very friendly host and the reception was clean and comfortable. Our room wasn't quite ready, but our host entertained us with his knowledge of the history of Dorset. 🙂 Our room was freshly cleaned and the bedlinen and towels had been laundered but did have slight marks and evidence of nail varnish marks. But this didn't worry us. We didn't see much of our host or other staff throughout our stay as the reception isn't covered much. This didn't cause any issues for us. 🙂 We stayed for a full week and enjoyed our stay. 🙂 We would return!
Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Bradley

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 6 nights in Jan 2023

10/10 Excellent

Kieron

Stayed 1 night in Nov 2022
Response from Gerry on 1 Dec 2022
Thank you for your support.

8/10 Good

Daniel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hospitable and cozy
It was great; we’ll stay there again next visit. It was very convenient to the beach and town center.
Stayed 12 nights in Sep 2022
Response from The Kensington Hotel on 21 Nov 2022
Thank you for your support

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2022

4/10 Poor

Christine

Stayed 1 night in Sep 2022

2/10 Terrible

Melissa

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Man on reception very rude. Wrong size room providing,booked for a family of 4 and bedroom had 3 single beds in. Payment was taken twice and no responsibility taken by staff, he just said it wasnt his fault
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2022

8/10 Good

Alec

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

2/10 Terrible

Giovanna

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Appalling cleaning conditions and customer service
I can't still decide what was worst, the cleanliness or the customer service. My standards were already not that high (I've been to many hotels in Bournemouth and you can't expect much when you opt for locally owned hotel), however when at the checkout I've been asked how was my stay and pointed out that the place needed a good cleaning the owner got aggressive. I am attaching a picture of the shower where you can clearly see some melted soap bar with hairs in it. This place needs a good inspection from health authorities!
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Mateusz

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 6 nights in Jul 2022

2/10 Terrible

P

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Totally avoid..
It is a very basic hotel.. no housekeeping at all.. smells of damp. Bed was very uncomfortable.. could hear people talking all night. Pay little extra and get a better hotel and service.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Gurpreet

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

8/10 Good

DEIMANTE

Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Teresa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A great stay in Bournemouth
Friendly and informative gentlemen on reception. Our third visit and we will be back. Location ideal for town and beach.
Stayed 5 nights in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Jul 2022

4/10 Poor

Peter

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Poor
The room was a single with a double bed. It was against the wall and the room door caught the end when closing. There was no wardrobe, only a HATSTAND to hang any clothes. The sink plug had come detached from the chain and got stuck in the plug hole, the hot/cold control on the shower was broken, water went from very hot to cold, the toilet cistern leaked leaving a brown stain in the bowl. The very small double bed had no headboard, so your pillows disappeared down the gap during the night and the bed creaked very loudly every time you moved. On arrival there where no towels in the room, when asking for towels I also asked for another pillow to be told they didn't have any spares. The room very small, dingy and not very clean. The only good thing about this hotel was the free parking.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2022

8/10 Good

Akif

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Terry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2022

2/10 Terrible

Paul

Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2022

8/10 Good

Akif

Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2022