First, the positives: the location is genuinely excellent, very close to Big Ben.
Some of the hotel staff were very professional, such as the greeters in the lobby, the luggage storage personnel, and the greeters right inside the ground-floor entrance. They were all very good.
Now for the many downsides; we can truly describe this experience as terrible. This was a school field trip, and many of us chose this hotel. Now, I can confidently say I will never stay here again.
I've traveled to nearly 20 countries, and have been to most of Europe, but this is the first time I've encountered such issues.
Everything in the room was broken. The bathroom light kept flickering incessantly. We informed staff first thing in the morning, but by the time we returned late at night, almost midnight, the light still hadn't been fixed the entire day. I have no idea what they were doing.
On the afternoon of our check-in, staff inexplicably came to ask if we needed a phone repair (at that time, we hadn't realized the phone was broken; we only discovered it when we tried to use it because of the bathroom light issue). I assume a previous guest reported the phone as broken, but they only got around to fixing it after we had already checked in.
On the first day during check-in, the front desk repeatedly told us that if we opted out of housekeeping, we could get two free soft drinks. However, the next day (the evening of May 26, 2026), when we went to ask a Black front desk agent, he claimed they had already been given, specifically two bottles of wine. We told him we had never been told this nor received anything. We then wondered if they might have been left in our room while we were out, but upon checking, we found nothing. When we went back down to ask him again, he simply refused to give them to us. I don't know what this front desk agent was doing or thinking.
This same Black front desk agent was extremely rude. The flickering in our bathroom light was worse than a disco, incredibly dazzling, making it impossible to shower or even wash up. The air conditioning in the room was also broken; it was unbearably hot and stuffy, making it difficult to breathe or sleep. The wardrobe was also broken; it wouldn't close properly and kept popping open automatically. So, we requested a room change. We communicated with Ctrip, and Ctrip informed us that they had spoken with the manager and a room change was possible. However, when we spoke to this Black front desk agent, who was on duty in the early hours of May 26, 2026, he kept lying, saying there were no available rooms and we couldn't switch. His attitude was extremely poor, and he even questioned us with a dismissive 'What do you want?' But clearly, the hotel manager had agreed; this front desk agent simply refused, which was absolutely insane. I don't know what kind of internal miscommunication or madness was going on for this to happen.
Oh, and the most dramatic part of this whole drama hasn't even come yet. This rude front desk agent moved us to an absolutely terrifying room. As soon as we opened the door, a massive wall mural of a woman with a pale face greeted us, and right by the entrance was something like a stainless steel nursing bed. We were so scared upon opening the door that we were petrified. We quickly fled back to our original room, still shaken. I don't think anyone seeing this scene at 2 AM wouldn't feel like they were in a horror movie.
Then the manager personally stepped in, and it turned out there was an empty room right across from our first room, so there was no such thing as being fully booked. I was speechless. And then they forgot to give us the key card for the new room. A staff member knocked loudly twice and slid it under the door onto the floor. It's hard to imagine that this is the level of professionalism from staff at a hotel near Big Ben; it truly tarnishes London's image.
Even during check-in, there seemed to be a crowd of greeters in the lobby, but they weren't actually helping customers solve problems. There were very few front desk staff available for check-in, and we waited for nearly 40-50 minutes, which was a complete waste of time.
Also, regarding the fire drill, couldn't there be a better notification method? I understand that a fire situation is an emergency, but you are a hotel, a service industry. Many guests have flown for a long time, haven't slept all night, and had just checked in and lay down for less than 20 minutes when a super loud fire alarm started blaring in the room, announcing that everyone should quickly evacuate. We walked down from the 10th floor via the stairs, only to find out it was a drill. Did anyone consider the guests' exhaustion?
I'm too tired to complain anymore. It was truly a terrible stay.
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