When we last went to London, back in 2016, we stayed at the Ibis Styles South Kensington. The staff was, largely, pretty rude and unhelpful (which seems to be a thing in a lot of London hotels). The breakfast was not exciting but it was alright, and the room was actually pretty nice. Ok fine, there was an issue with a clogged sink, but it was sorted asap, and these things happen. Aside from that short lived minor inconvience, it was a perfectly nice room for what we paid, and it was a pleasant stay over all.
So of course, when we were going back to London this year we figured we'd book that same hotel again. Mostly also for where it's situated. Right by Earl's Court tube station, which is on both District and Picadilly lines, meaning a direct line to large stations such as King's Cross St-Pancras (aka the Eurostar station), a LOT of trains, even overground trains. As well as being situated in an area that is fairly quiet, pub and plenty of eateries nearby, as well as an M&S food and walking distance (for us at least) to the museums on Cromwell Road.
Our first bafflement was that there was apparently no longer an Ibis Styles South Kensington. It seemed that Ibis had dumped the hotel and the building had been taken over by Heeton Concept Hotels.
This turns out to be a BAD (tm!) thing.
First of all, the front desk staff was actually friendly and kind. And whilst that's great, that was the ONLY great thing about the hotel.
Firstly they were refurbishing both inside and outside. Because for some bizarro reason, since 2016 the hotel seems to have dilapidated. A LOT.
And of course these things need to happen, but there was NO warning, no indication, no nothing about this when we booked. I suffer from severe asthma, so there would have been no way I would have booked a room in a place they were doing building works.
Bert had specifically requested a quiet room, we got a street side room. So quiet, not really...
Our room was also the size of a handkerchief. Barely any room to move once we had put down our bags. We're used to small and basic Ibis rooms, but this was even tinier! Frankly, it was a crap hostel room, but at premium London prices (we paid close to €700 in total for 3 nights!). So yeah, we feel VERY ripped off.
Furthermore, the air flow in the room was WORTHLESS. We couldn't properly open the window, only flip up the top section, meaning very little fresh air would come in. There was a ventilator in the bathroom, but that would ONLY ventilate the bathroom properly AND would only work when you turned on the bathroom light. So basically, if we wanted something akin to ventilation during the night, we'd have to sleep with the bathroom door open and the light coming in. Meaning we'd get no sleep. And it was also super loud, so we'd bother other people in rooms next to ours as well. So that wasn't an option for various reasons.
Adding insult to injury, that stale air, minuscule dust pit was NOT cleaned on a daily basis!
No no, mid pandemic, mid construction, they would only clean the rooms EVERY... OTHER... DAY.
Which I only found out because I overheard a member of staff tell another guest!
We never even got told!
And when the room was cleaned, it was only cleaned superficially: bit of vaccuming, bed made, fresh towels and that's it. Because our bathroom floor was still wet in the spot where a wet towel had been on the floor.
So not only did they only clean every other day, they didn't even clean properly every other day. Which is not just beyond the pale, it is UNACCEPTABLE!
On check out day I pretty much had to FLEE the room because it was literally suffocating me and giving me asthma attacks.
The fact that I had to sleep 3 nights in a poorly cleaned room with hardly any air flow or ventilation, had undoubtedly contributed to me getting increadibly ill (nope, not Covid, I tested, regular plagues do still exists boys and girls).
So do yourself the favour and do NOT book a Heeton Hotel. Perhaps in general, just avoid the chain. But definitely avoid this one!
And yes, I am aware I should have photographed and filmed this absolute dive, which sadly I didn't, because I was only there to sleep and shower pretty much and was so wiped in the evening I just wanted to sleep. I kept putting it off as something to do for the last day when everything was packed and I thus could film it properly. And of course, that final morning it was one asthma attack after another, combined with a bad Sjögren's flare-up, so I just wanted to get out there asap.
