Cromwell International Hotel — Hotel in London

⚠Don't stay here, even for ONE night! We didn't expect a good place ofc, but a clean and safe splace.

General state of the whole hotel: Not clean or healthy to be in. Dirty/dusty and grimy in the entry, common area, stairs and hallways. We noticed someone had left a applepit in a windowsill in the entry/reception and it stayed there for at least two days. Glass was cracked in a hallway partitiondoor, loose doornobs and locks on some rooms. Marks, stains, dust, dirt and scrathes/holes on almost all the walls, doors, floors, furniture etc. Non functioning lightbulbs in some places.

The staff did their best with their very limited/non existent resources and the problems were clearly not the receptionists faults. But the management didn't fix any of the real problems, if you believe the state of the place, reviews, our experience and between the lines of what the receptionists said and did.

Day 1 Evening: We got rooms 107 and 108. 107 didn't have a wardrobe, or desk or drawers, only a bed and bedside table. Reception did not know why since the owner doesn't change it when mentioned. This seemed to be a recurring theme during our stay. The rooms where 2x2m and bathroom 0.5x2m, and it was hard to open the doors and open your luggage (especially in 107), but it was managable and not unexpected for the price. We weren't given any way to activate the lights in the rooms and had to go and ask. We where told to just use any card we had in the sensor slot, or a piece of paper. They then gave us a folded post it note each to use. The same applies for all the rooms soon to be mentioned (exept the size of 205). We noticed that 107 had cockroaches in the bathroom and in the bed. So 107 got changed to 308. When checking 308, the window was open and it smelled a lot of sewage, ammonia and generally unhealthy to be in. And it became even worse with the bathroom fan on. We noticed that 108 had mold in the bathroom. The electric went out in 107 and 108 when trying to charge a phone in 108.

So as a last solution, instead of 107/308 and 108, we got 205 (or 206) to share for the night as a last minute fix so we could go to sleep. No other choice where available for single rooms. This whole process with the diffenrent rooms and problems was between 22.00-23.40.

The bathroom door in 205 didn't close unless you locked it and the rest where in the "general state" of the place. Sharing a room disturbed our sleep a lot, and therefore affected out plans the next day.

And we got a promis to have two new rooms fixed for the rest of the stay from the receptionist.

Day 2 Morning: Got som rubble on us from the ongoing construction as we walked to the reception. We talked with reception about the problems from the night before and where promised room 207 and 208 to be available when we came back in the afternoon/evening.

Day 2 Evening: When we came back we got 207 and 108 (not 208).

207 where available but needed new sheets. The new sheets had old mold stains on them. 108 still didn't have electricty and where changed to 308. 308 still had the problem with the unhealthy smell (of ammonia etc) and therefore still not an option.

This process was between 21.00-22.00. Waited for a total hour for a handyman/electrician to fix 108.

Got help with the lock in 207 from the handyman, who ranted racist opinions the whole time. Electrical sockets by the entry wall in didn't work. Crumbs in the drawers, dust, water damage stains over the shower, mold, lots of spots/stains on the walls, window and appliances, towelrack tilting/loose. Ripped, dust bunnies and dirt in the carpet. Cold rooms.

The pillow in 108 was just dirty fluff in a pillowcase and there wasn't any other pillow to get. The moldspots in the bathroom were still there from the night before.

Day 2 Night (1.20-2am) Noticed cockroaches in 207 bathroom. No other room available and told to wait until morning.

Day 3 We gave up on this place since we couldn't sleep even a whole night and tried to find another place.

Asked for a refund and it's now impossible to...

I stayed in the Cromwell International for 3 nights (Friday - Monday) in order to attend an event at the Olympia. It was interesting to say the least

Pros *Easy walking distance of tube and bus stops for transport to event.

Cons

*Check in - was a bit of a nightmare. Spent 10 minutes with a staff member who didn't really know what they were doing. Someone else eventually came over and finished check in. Was given overly complicated instructions to find room. Told there was a lift. Whilst waiting for lift I was told by another member of staff that it was broken. After spending a good 10 minutes attempting to find my room - please label your corridors properly!!! - I find the key doesn't work. Back down I go, with all my luggage, to get the key fixed.

*The room - I honestly felt like Harry Potter in the cupboard under the stairs. The room was like a sauna. The air con was useless. The curtain didn't open properly. The smallest of rooms was dominated by a gigantic wardrobe, which I saw no real need for. The wardrobe doors also didn't shut properly. The bedside lamp was hanging off. The cable for the TV had pretty much totally disintegrated, and the TV was stuck on one volume with only one channel. The bed felt like lying on springs with two terrible pillows. The flush on the toilet had fall off leaving a hole in the wall. Every time I used the towel holder it fell apart. There were several interesting stains on the carpet.

*My friend was also staying in the same hotel. When she checked in she was told that the lift did work it is just temperamental. She was on the fifth floor and the lift only went to floor four. We decided to leave her suitcase in my room on floor three, a slight mistake as this then meant there was barely any floor space or room to move. When walking up to floor 5 we noticed a pretty strong smell that just seemed to be getting worse. By the time we opened the door to the fifth floor the smell of sewage was vile. It was just as bad in her room. We opened the windows and left pretty much straight away and informed a staff member at reception about the problem. We stayed in my minature room most of the evening, and I woke up to texts asking if she could come down and use my shower as the smell in her room was too bad and she felt ill.

*Communication - my friend checked out before me and asked me to check at reception for something she'd left behind. After waiting at reception and being ignored for 10 minutes I finally enquired. I said I didn't remember her room number but told it what floor it was on and which numbers I thought it might be. He didn't bother to properly double check to find out the room info. Looked in a drawer and said there was nothing for a room I didn't even know was the right one. I also mentioned she'd tried ringing but had got no answer - the response was the phones were broken.

*The lift - was a genuinely terrifying experience. This seriously needs modernising and updating. This downstairs lift corridor also smelt of wee.

Overall, with the bad room, uncomfortable bed, terrible stench, and unhelpful staff not a place I would ever return to...

EDIT: 2022: This hotel has really fallen into disrepair. I stayed her two nights in two different rooms and both rooms showed severe signs of damage, wear and dirt.

The walls were all scratched and dirty. The bathrooms have multiple tiles damaged and the shower units are faulty.

The only good thing about these rooms was clean sheets and pillows.

Add onto this is the smell in both bathrooms' drains.

The service is also pretty poor, with the staff I spoke to most of the time acting like they didn't want to be there.

Thing is, many of the room issues I mentioned would be fixable with minimum DIY and a couple pounds spent at a DIY store.

The fact they haven't shows the owners do not care how far this building and what it provides falls.

I cannot give a recommendation to stay at this time except if you are on an extreme budget and need at least a room with a private bathroom.

2018: I gave the Cromwell 4-stars based on what you get for such a low price.

Building: Old style building converted into a Hotel like all the other hotels round it. Looks great on the outside but needs to be touched up as its showing its age, and not just a paint job.

Room: As in the pictures I posted the room is basic, a bed a desk a TV and a private bathroom. Most hotels of this style in the area dont have private bathrooms at this price so the room deserves its stars for this. That said the room is run down, the walls needed a sponge wash and the mattress needs to be replaced.

I had a great view of the street from my 5th floor room but the windows paint was nearly gone.

Bathroom was great, except for the elaborate water shower system which is a bit big for a small shower.

Ease of access: 5 floors and 1 lift that's very small so don't expect much, lift is basic and best of two at a time. No wheelchair access that I saw. The stairs have new carpet but the steps are sunken and showing their age and should be maintained and repaired by an expert carpenter. Stairs dont seem important to many but when they are the primary movement method for this hotel having perfect ones sets the bar.

Lobby: The lobby needs work, the furniture is old and drab with broken bases, first impressions and so important the hotel should focus on this.

Food/Drink: A very limited bar but the hotels surrounded by places to drink. Didn't eat breakfast but it had everything needed as a low price so that's a plus

Service: Was pretty basic, reception was nice and polite and the checkin/checkout process was very fast and simple but surprised they didn't check my ID.

All in all its was a super cheap stay with my own private bathroom, and I was on holiday, I have a room to change, shower and sleep, that's it and this hotel provided all three.

Will return to this hotel for the location alone so close to the Albert Hall at such a cheap rate per night with all...