Bob W Tower of London — Hotel in London

When I first saw this apartment, I thought we'd struck lucky. The space and location were perfect. We were only in the apartment for 15 minutes before we had to head out so did not immediately spot the other problems which would quickly become evident upon our return.

When we returned early evening, the apartment was so cold...16.5c degrees (it was -3 outside). We had a child with us so we needed to quickly rectify the situation. There was also no socket power and the boiler was entirely off with no power to it. We quickly figured, that a fuse had tripped. We contacted Bob who said they would get in touch with maintenance to find out where the fuse box was held in the building. Our daughter found it in the kids den. My husband sorted it and then got the boiler working. Unfortunately, the power tripped again in the middle of the night and so again the boiler was not working at all. We checked with other guests, they were not having the same problems that we were.

However, this was just the start. The apartment could have been perfect except the lack of maintenance really let it down. The bathroom extractor fan didn't work. We discovered that this was clearly a problem in other apartments. Apartment 4a had a shower with the door shut but because his fan wasn't working either, as soon as he opened the door, the steam from his shower, set off the fire alarms. We all had to evacuate the building and wait safely outside whilst four fire engines turned up just to explain the shower problem!

Returning to the apartment, further problems became apparent. The dishwasher didn't work. In fact, the door wouldn't even close, the door had been damaged. The bin was broken (suspect it just needed batteries) but because the wrong sized bin bags were supplied, every time you needed to use the bin, you had to remove the lid which resulted in garbage being spilt. We settled with the bin frequently open to the fresh air.

The shower temperature control was also broken. I'm not a weedy female but I couldn't turn it, my husband even struggled with it which meant the shower operated at either scalding or luke warm. It would appear there was a problem with the internal mechanism.

There were silver fish in the bathroom and some of the towels smelt awful. Skirting boards were not secured, leaning at a 45 degree angle against the cupboards. I know these are first world problems but it highlights the lack of maintenance.

Fortunately we were out of the apartment when the picture hook and relatively large picture fell off the wall above the sofa bed where our daughter would have been sleeping. The blind cords were also not secured with the P clips to comply with child safety regulations. The P clips were present but were just hanging on the blind cords having never been secured.

Having to deal with the team constantly throughout our trip was not relaxing although they were available. It could have all been avoided if they were on top of their maintenance.

Finally, when I asked about a partial refund, I was told they would look into it. I asked again when no feedback on my request was received. I was offered a 15% refund on our NEXT booking. I pointed out that the state of the apartment was hardly an enticement to use them again and if they knew anything about customer service, then a refund would be offered instead. I then received 15% (approx £31).

The positives as previously mentioned were the size and location of the apartment plus the responsiveness of the team. They did deliver a heater the day after the boiler kept failing. Oh and the fire alarms work.

The negatives, the lack of maintenance and my concerns about child safety.

I really hope that 'Bob' can sort out these simple issues because their concept is fabulous, it's just a shame that they are letting themselves down at the moment.

FOLLOW UP: Bob W has been having problems with contractors returning to finish & correct work which we've all experienced. I'm very happy with the follow up response & will definitely...

During our stay, we reported a loud noise, similar to that of a compressor or machine, which was running constantly and made it impossible for us to sleep. It would stop occasionally, but it operated throughout the night. The cleanliness of the apartment was also disappointing. There was mould in the bathroom, dust balls on the beds, and the chairs were covered in stains. You advertise it as a luxury aparthotel, but that’s simply not the case. We didn’t feel comfortable and were unable to get any proper rest.

We wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. We felt ripped off and disappointed with the stay.

The girl who attended to us was very friendly, but the issue was not resolved.

The accommodation was in poor condition and poorly maintained. The chairs were covered in stains and it was unpleasant to sit on them.

It wasn’t...

Gorgeous apartment and wonderful service from the Bob W team, especially Mandy who welcomed us in person and was helpful with little requests we had over the time of our stay. We visited London a few months ago and couldn’t have found a better place to stay! The apartment is fitted with everything you need, including a fully equipped kitchen, which meant we didn’t need to eat out every night which was nice! We took home some beautiful post cards and stickers provided by Bob W, and there was even a Polaroid camera that we could use to take some photos. Absolutely loved our stay, made our holiday so much better. Cannot recommend enough, and we’ll...