Is that poop or mould on the ceiling?

[Nick]

Have to book an hotel in London on Monday. Prices are astronomical (who the fook pays £600 a night!?) and I have been cross checking hotels with trip advisor. Some of the reviews are priceless! 

This is a 2-star hotel offered by Late Rooms. The photo of the hotel, which overlooks Norfolk Square, is quite enticing. However, a notice on the reception door warns that undesirables are not welcome; the carpets are threadbare, the decor is grimy, beds are stacked on the stairs between each floor, the bedrooms are squalid, the shower space disgusting. There is one tiny bar of soap per person. Woe betide you if you switch on the TV, there will be a banging on the wall or door from other residents as the walls are so thin. Continental breakfast consists of cereals, bread or toast. Breakfast finishes at 9 am and you have to be out of your room by 10 am. You can't leave luggage "for health and safety reasons".

I reckon the owner must be earning a fortune!

Since we were only paying £17 each per night for this hotel I wasn't expecting much. I wasn't expecting the room to be big. I wasn't expecting the room to be comfy. I was expecting the room to be clean and for the staff to be at least a little interested in the quality of their guests' stay. Apparently even this was too much to ask.

To start off our awful experience, we arrived at the hotel after midnight, so nobody was in the reception to give us our key. Instead we had to phone another hotel and let them know we we had arrived. When I phoned I was told I would have to come and pick up my keys from the other hotel. When I asked how to get there I was told there should be directions on the door of the Earl's Court Gardens hotel. There was an arrow pointing right. When I told the man on the phone that that was all there was he proceeded to reel off a list of directions and then got annoyed at me when I had to ask him to repeat the directions, since we had gone the wrong way and had gotten lost.

After all that we finally got to the other hotel and, after settling our bill and paying the key deposit, we were given the key to our room. There was a slight confusion with our money ("What's this?" "Pounds stirling. It's Scottish money" "Do you have any British money?" "Last time I checked Scotland was part of Britain") but to be honest I should have expected that since I usually run into problems with Scottish money when visiting England. There was also a problem considering we owed £68 but did not have change. We gave the receptionist £70 and were given a note explaining that we would have to collect our £2 change from our hotel the next morning and that there would be somebody there from 7am to make sure we got our change.

The real problems started when we got into the hotel. We found room 203 with no difficulties, even if it was a bit of a squeeze to get through the doors even with our tiny suitcase. When we got into the room I had to cry. At first glance it looked clean but as soon as we looked up it was a different story. As well as several damp patches on the ceiling there was also a stain which, in the poor lighting we had, we were unable to identify. We decided it was either mould or poo. Either way it was very unpleasant. After this discovery we started inspecting the rest of the room a bit more thoroughly. The wallpaper was coming off the walls in places and the carpet was stained pretty badly underneath the bed. One window did not have curtains and the curtains on the other window were falling off. I opened the cupboard to hang up a dress and changed my mind as soon as I saw how grotty the inside of the cupboard was. If it hadn't been so late we would have left right then and found somewhere else.

On top of that there's also the fact that our room looked out onto railway tracks. This meant that we didn't get to sleep until roughly 2am when the trains stopped going past and were woken at 6am when they started again. All in all a very poor night's sleep.

We decided it was not worth staying in this hotel any longer. We phoned travel lodge and booked a room at their Farringdon hotel (which ended up costing us over £100 we had not been planning on spending), since we at least knew that it would be clean, and got ready to check out. This is when we discovered that on top of everything else the hot water was not working in the shower, the taps did not switch off and there was no soap for washing your hands in the bathroom.

We got to the reception at 8.30am (an hour and a half after we were told that there would be someone there with money) and found it unmanned. After a quick call to the main hotel the receptionist dragged himself out of bed to serve us. He told us we would be able to get a refund for the night we were not staying but that there would be no money on the premises until 10.30am when the manager (who we never saw once during the whole ordeal) arrived. This seemed pretty poor to me, especially since the latest you're supposed to be able to check out is 11am and you have to get your £10 key deposit back. I think they just intend to scam an extra £10 out of many of the tourists who stay there.

So we handed back the key and filled out a form saying why we were unhappy with our stay (which I refused to sign until I got my money back) and went and had breakfast at the nearby Sainsbury's.

At 10.30am we returned. The receptionist told us several times to be patient and wait longer before walking out the door and coming back with some money. However since another couple were wanting to check out by this time he served them first and had to leave again to get the rest of our money.

When he returned he gave me the form I had filled out back. When I reminded him that I wasn't signing anything until I got my money he said "No. You sign here and write 'No complaint' and I give you your money back. Trust me. Right 'No Complaint' otherwise it looks bad for me and I lose my job". After arguing about this with him for several minutes (because I had a fair few complaints about the room and the customer services) I finally wrote 'No complaint' on the form and we were given our money back. Except for the £2 change which then caused a further argument (I know it's not much but by this point it was the principle of the thing that made me do it). When we left we realised they'd given us all our Scottish notes back, which was the only laugh we got out of the whole thing.

Throughout the whole ordeal the receptionist did not apologise once except for a monotonous "Sorry for your inconvenience" as we walked out the door. So two and a half hours after we first lodged a complaint and checked out (and four hours after we were told we'd be able to be served), we were able to leave.

If I had one piece of advice about staying at this hotel it would be "Don't". The rooms are disgusting and the staff couldn't care less about customer satisfaction. I wouldn't wish this hotel on my worst enemy.

Two to avoid then!

[Nick]

I love Trip Advisor!! 

was it the heavy cigarette smoke aroma that permeated the room - including the bed linens or the Barbie House of Dreams-sized bathroom. Entrance to the bathroom was barred partically by the protrusion of the sink so to get to the toilet, it required a deep knee bend and some fancy pivoting. Said toilet was postioned mid way into the shower which only dispensed a trickling of icy water. No phones in bedroom. cot like beds; I am 5'5" and my ankles protruded over the end. Depressing basement dining for Breakfast only. Dreadful egg accompanied by two heapings cold canned baked beans and canned stewed tomatoes. they should rate it as a hostel, not a hotel.

[Snoopy]

Stick with Travel Lodge ~ they are not good but at least you know what you will get for £22 a night per room.

[Nick]

Travelodge Fulham booked. £70 

[tel]

I believe that TripAdvisor is being taken to the courts cos of the "negative" comments - looks as though they and other sites are about to get pummelled.

[Miss Demeanour]

Miss D's sofa ...free 

[Snoopy]

He is scared of catching "The Itch" 

[Snoopy]

Travelodge Fulham booked. £70  

Only £22 if you book a month in advance ...... the 6p rule*  







*Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

[Nick]

Miss D's sofa ...free 

Now she tells me!! Still, safer in a hotel, eh?

[Nick]

Travelodge Fulham booked. £70  

Only £22 if you book a month in advance ...... the 6p rule*  







*Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance

I only found out about this trip earlier this week, OK? 

[Snoopy]

 

I do understand ~ I am paying for the hotels every time the THW and her mother decide on yet another Uni to view.  

BUT if I didn't comment you'd think I didn't care  


Norwich this weekend. Leaving here at 1pm today and returning tomorrow night.



Oh and since they keep meeting the same people at these places, also doing the rounds, they have both had to have new clothes. 

[Miss Demeanour]

He is scared of catching "The Itch" 

Quite right too......he would be scarred for life 

[Darwins Selection]

He is scared of catching "The Itch" 

Quite right too......he would be scarred for life 

His back would match his mind then.

[Nick]

 

[Barman]