This is the worst hotel I have ever stayed at in this price range. I did not expect royal treatment. I simply expected a room broadly consistent with what I had requested, paid for, and confirmed more than once. Apparently, that was ambitious.
When booking, I requested a quiet room, away from the lift, and on a relatively higher floor. I did not ask for the penthouse. I only wanted to be away from traffic and get proper sleep. I then paid in full, not a deposit.
Before arrival, the hotel again asked me to confirm my requirements. I had to re-enter my personal information and provide my bank card details on a separate hotel-specified page, otherwise I could not complete their process. I was not happy to provide extra private and payment information for a fully paid booking, but I complied and repeated my request.
At check-in, the receptionist, Miss M***an, first insisted that I complete another online membership process. She then assigned me a room on the “M” floor. I asked what floor that was. Her answer was: “You will know when you go to the lift.”
A fascinating answer. The “M” floor was not higher at all. It was below Floor 1, effectively between the ground floor and the first floor. My room was next to the lift entrance and exit, exactly where one might place a guest who had explicitly asked to be away from the lift. It was also close to the railway line. One has to admire how efficiently every part of my request was reversed.
I contacted Trip.com customer service, and their agent was genuinely helpful. After repeatedly contacting the hotel, she told me that the duty manager had approved a room change. I was also told that the front desk had tried to contact me, although I received no call. This was impressive, given that the hotel had asked for my phone number several times before and after arrival.
The Trip.com agent told me to return to reception because the duty manager had approved the change. Unfortunately, I met the same receptionist again. She insisted that I provide the duty manager’s name. I asked whether the hotel had so many duty managers working at the same time that this could not be checked internally. She did not answer directly.
So I had to trouble the Trip.com agent again. While I stood at the desk, Miss M***an tried to send me away to wait elsewhere. I declined, because the hotel had already wasted enough of my time and disrupted my evening plans. After five more minutes, she suddenly went to the office area to ask the manager. One minute later, she returned and changed my key card. So the manager was, in fact, just behind a door. A remarkable logistical challenge, apparently.
The room was changed, yes. But the new room was still railway-facing. By some stroke of comic timing, my next-door neighbours were a couple with a baby. Every morning at around 5:30, I began my London day to the charming duet of a crying infant and passing trains. A truly immersive urban soundscape.
I was not in London for a holiday. I had work to do, and I did not have the time or energy to keep fighting the front desk or troubling Trip.com again. The most absurd part is that Trip.com offered me a discount voucher, while the hotel itself appeared to bear no consequence.
To be objective, the hotel’s location is good, and the general cleaning was acceptable, although the fridge had an unpleasant smell. The view may be pleasant on higher floors, but from the M floor one mainly enjoys the wall of the railway.
I should add that I do not know whether Miss M***an acted deliberately. I am simply describing the experience as it happened from my perspective. I also appreciate that the duty manager, whose name I never learned, approved the room change. My comments are not directed at that person personally. This is a factual account of my stay and the difficulties I experienced.
I will certainly remember this hotel. Unfortunately for them, that is not a compliment.
(Photo attached: the best part of these nights.)
