Stayed here just after Xmas with my daughter to see a show and also do some sale shopping.
We were upgraded to an exec room which although dated was large by London standards and was clean and adequate for our needs.
The hotel staff were very attentive and willing to help and also took good care of us at breakfast.
The location is great for the palace, london eye, Big Ben etc etc and only a five minute walk from the tube station.
Lack of evening eateries in the surrounding area is the only drawback but plenty of cafes etc during the day for lunch and the hotel does have three resturants attached to it but all rather expensive.
All in all a good hotel with good staff and no complaints.

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza London, St. James between November 16, 2007 and November 24, 2007. The hotel staff was polite but never went out of their way for us. Everything was quite serviceable but nothing special or extraordinary.

This was our first stay in London and it would have taken a lot to detract from our trip. In the title I mention that the location was average. I say this because after business people leave the area and on the weekends, this part of town is mostly deserted. We would prefer staying in a livelier area next time.

Being about 1/3 of a mile from Buckingham Palace was nice and we were also within walking distance of Parliament, Green Park, Westminster Abbey, and a great many other attractions.

I am pleased that we booked our hotel/airfare with AAA. They took care of details such as transport from/to the airport (Gatwick) which was nice. As this was our first international trip, we felt more secure using their service.

Overall, I am not displeased with where we stayed. However, knowing now what I do about the great city of London, I would likely stay in the Piccadilly Circus area or maybe closer to the British Museum.

We loved the trip so much that we are considering returning in 2008 - probably in the summer. When we return we plan to see a great deal more of the country and particularly look forward to visiting the Cotswalds.

This hotel was part of a package deal with a local travel agent. We had two twin rooms for 1 night.
Overall a very poor experience. All glitz and glamour in the downstairs lobby and restaurants, but shabby upstairs in the rooms and hallways.
We requested non smoking rooms, but one of the rooms had obviously been a smoking room . We asked housekeeping to freshen the room while we were at dinner, on our return the room had been sprayed with air freshener (but not cleaned), so we had the awful smell of air freshener and cigarette smoke. When we requested another room it took almost an hour for the transfer (there was only approx 50% occupancy according to the porter) which at 11pm was not great.
We ending up moving floors and wings...... with a very inadequate lift service this was frustrating after waiting so long.
We found the breakfast well below average, we had to stand outside the breakfast room to wait for an available table, the 'hot' buffet was tepid, and the rest uninspiring .... for a 4* hotel this one just does not live to any expectation.
The only positives were the location and the doormen.

Other reviewers are correct.

When you arrive, you are impressed by the numerous liveried doormen, etc. hovering around the well-presented reception area.

But head upstairs and you're walking on threadbare carpets and the rooms are dated in terms of furniture and decor. Loose door handles give a poor impression. The bathroom sink units look OK, but the bath area is very old. Water pressure was OK, hot water was always very hot. Heated towel rail was a nice feature too. Bathroom had frosted glass windows so got natural light, but at night, the absence of curtains/blinds, meant that outside lighting shown through.

Breakfast was included in my rate. This was OK, but the buffet offered less than half of the selection of the lower-level Holiday Inn chain.

If you can get a discounted rate, then well done. The location is very good (St James's tube is closer than Victoria). But otherwise, there are much better all-round hotels elsewhere in London.