The Lawrance — Hotel in Great Britain

DO NOT stay in Suite 16 STONEGATE

I posted on Tripadvisor in August having had unsatisfactory responses to the 3 emails I had sent. The Lawrance Team response is also on Tripadvisor. Please read it, then decide whether to give them your money.

The apartments look great in photos and get many good reviews, but there are underlying themes from reviewers which we experienced. These largely relate to diabolical smells, disturbance and the stated intent (on booking and in the apartments when you arrive) to charge customers exorbitant amounts should they contact the management about issues which the management THEMSELVES don't deem to be urgent.

For those of us who have had a duff experience, and who have stated so, we are accused of being at fault. I myself have been called (I quote) "quite appalling" and have been accused of "defaming" them. Not so. Those of us less than impressed by what The Lawrance consider 'luxury' should not be chastised for giving genuine opinions. The smells pertaining to Tanner Row MIGHT not be the fault of The Lawrance, but they are certainly not the fault of paying customers either so, The Lawrance, do not whinge when the drainage stink you have admitted to (and received council visits about) can not be resolved. It's also generally a good idea not to imply your customers are liars when you can't trace emails sent through your own website 'contact' page. Maybe don't patronise worldwide travellers for not liking the rainfall shower and maybe don't continually refer to them as 'madam'. Since we were so sickened by the smell, I also contacted York council about this (most definitely not curry cooking, rather more like sitting in the refuse pile in a bin wagon on a very hot day) and also about the sounds coming from the upper 'open' room area which made us feel we were in a brothel or phone sex room.

My Tripadvisor review reads:

Hugely disappointing and a vile stench throughout the apartment (16, Stonegate). Yes these apartments are well located and modern however ours had serious issues.

We followed all self check-in instructions only to find our suite's lock box code was incorrect, requiring us to get someone to let us in.

The shower and bathroom looks great but sacrifices function for form - no extractor and only a huge rainfall shower head, no adjustable height head, meaning the shower was unusable if you didn't want to soak your hair every time.

Whilst clean to look at, the tall kitchen cupboard containing crockery, pans and cutlery reeked of what we thought may have been spilt gone off curry. We literally stopped breathing when we opened this. The Lawrance's own email response to me about this is : "We have raised the issue to the council as we are experiencing a sewage smell at Tanner Row"

There was additionally an appalling, acrid stench of damp throughout our apartment which in just a few short hours had permeated all our clothing and luggage. It was so strong it was almost impossible to sleep. Clearly management and owners are aware, since a large portable dehumidifier was already running in our apartment when we arrived. It was full by evening. This suite also has no windows for ventilation at all.

Finally beware of your privacy in this apartment and, potentially, the one above. They share a 2 storey open roof 'void' which acts as a sort of garden room in Suite 16. We were unaware of how much our conversation may have travelled upstairs until we heard very disconcerting noises from the apartment above that could still be heard in our main lounge area. Business travellers beware. Any work related conversations or video calls may not be private.

This birthday gift to me from our children was a disaster, we were grateful only to be there one short evening and my first 2 email complaints made to The Lawrance on their own website's automated message system appear to have disappeared into the ether. Direct emails to the York site did receive a quick response though. Naturally we can not comment on other apartments which seem to get a glowing review but for us,...

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Karl R wrote a review Today 1 contribution Beyond disgusting!!! Avoid at all costs. So we arrived at our apartment 30 mins before check in, however, the cleaner said the room was ready and the key was at reception. I went to reception and there was no one available. I noticed the key on the desk so I thought it would be okay to take it and access our apartment.

20 mins later the receptionist knocked on and accused me of going behind reception desk to take the key, which I never did as it was in a basket on the desk. I asked why no one was there and she told me she was having her lunch?? She then said because we accessed the apartment 30 mins early there would be a £20 charge. I offered to leave the apartment and wait in the cold for 20 mins to avoid the charge, at this point she said well it's done now so just stay in the apartment.

I then went to the toilet and when I flushed the chain there was a huge repeating banging noise that would not stop and could be heard all round the apartment.

I went to reception to raise the issue. I was met with comments such as 'well it happens in my house' and it's a York thing??? I was told to go run the tap for 5 mins. No one offered to come and look at the problem, I was just told to fix it myself??

At this point I returned to reception and explained as a paying guest I shouldn't have to fix plumbing problems myself. They said they had no maintenance on site and wouldn't get a plumber as it was a bank holiday Monday. I explained that you could get a plumber but obviously they didn't want to pay the call out charge.

I then asked if there was an alternative room they could put us in and she said yes but it's a deluxe so would be an extra charge....I asked why should we pay an extra charge when it's an inconvenience of no fault of our own.

We then asked to speak to the manager and was told they couldn't give us their number. So I said well dial it on the phone and pass it to me so I didn't have to See the number, I was told she couldn't do that. At this point I was completely flabbergasted as to the customer service I was subject too. I explained that my partner had a miscarriage 3 days earlier and an operation 1 day previous and that this was really upsetting her. I was shown no empathy whatsoever.

We went for lunch and returned and was told we either stay in the room and put up with banging or they would refund us and we would have to leave, it was 5pm at this point. She said the refund could take a few days to go through.

So I then explained that we don't have funds to book somewhere else at this point and you would be leaving us homeless in York, she replied, ues that's right.

I again asked to speak to the manager or owner and was again told no.

The whole experience was truly shocking and I can honestly say I have never ever received such rude, uncaring, service with a total lack of empathy.

We left the property and my partners brother had to £300 to find us somewhere to stay.

Seriously, how can any accomodation provider be so unprofessional and potentially leave someone homeless in a city we have never been before. And not be able to speak to a duty manager??

After such a traumatic week this just made it even worse and ruined our first day in York!!!!

Seriously avoid...

Review for The Lawrance Luxury Apartments, York

I rarely feel compelled to leave a negative review, but my experience at The Lawrance, York, was deeply disappointing, particularly as I had booked this stay to celebrate a milestone 60th birthday with family.

The problems began even before we arrived. Despite booking and paying in full weeks in advance, we received no arrival or access information two days before our stay. Multiple calls went unanswered. When I finally made contact, I was told the information would be sent later that afternoon — it wasn’t. On the day we set off to the apartments I did manage, 1 hr before we arrived to speak to someone who explained a “system failure" was at fault, though Booking.com advised no such failure was reported on their systems.

On arrival, we were told check-in was not until 3 p.m., despite having already struggled with our luggage from a distant car park. No luggage storage was offered, and no flexibility shown i.e. that our one case coukd be stored in an empty room until ours was ready and then moved across, despite the disruption this caused to our planned celebrations. Attempts to find a reasonable solution were met with flat refusals.

When we finally accessed our apartment after returning early from lunch and hauling luggage back from the NCP again, we found it to be far from the "luxury" standard advertised. Apartment 11 is functional but let down by numerous issues: scuffed walls, unfinished paintwork, a very small television, only four coat hangers and no wardrobe, and a filthy, unusable mirror on the dressing table. The blinds did little to block out light, and I was awake before 6:30 a.m. The bathroom, while modern in design, was marred by poor finishing, including badly applied sealant and rust-stained tiles.

Despite reaching out to management directly to give them the opportunity to address the situation privately, the response I received was appalling — defensive, accusatory, and completely lacking in professionalism. Rather than acknowledge the legitimate concerns raised, they shifted blame onto me and accused me of rudeness, which is frankly beyond belief.

Overall, this was an extremely poor experience from a company that clearly does not value genuine customer feedback or understand the fundamentals of hospitality. Needless to say, we will not be returning, and I hope this review encourages future guests to consider alternative accommodation where service and quality are taken seriously. Try Malmaison, it's cheaper and far...