Grand Plaza Serviced Apartments — Hotel in London

I would never stay here again and recommend you avoid this hotel.

We arrived at midnight and immediately had problems when the £200 “hold” took forever to go through. We had 2 rooms and 2 bookings, and the same problem with each - the £200 for our through twice, so we each had a £400 hold on our cards!! The staff member said he would have the morning staff contact the bank the next day to check on this issue. Surprise surprise when we checked out, this hadn’t been done. We again explained what happened, showing our bank statements with the 2 transactions. This other staff member repeatedly stated there was only 1 transaction each on his system, therefore it was not his problem and we needed to contact our banks! Did not acknowledge at all what his colleague had previously promised or that he could actually contact the hotel bank. No empathy for the situation, no acknowledgment that having £400 hold was a lot of money or the stress it caused us. This man appeared to be the manager and provided zero customer service, did not listen at all or offer any apology for the system causing 2 transactions each. We’re still waiting for the second hold to be released which is done after 30 days - Hotel could not have cared less.

Aside from this issue, we had multiple other problems. The toilet did not flush properly for the whole 3 days we were there. I asked at reception every single day for it to be looked at and specified it wasn’t clogged, it actually didn’t flush. Still not rectified when we left and I suggested they not book anyone else in that room until an actual plumber had come. I also want to note that inside the room comes a “maintenance required” door hanger (like do not disturb one) that we used - the fact that these are placed in each room shows it’s an old hotel with a lot of problems, regularly requiring maintenance. No offer to change rooms to one with a working toilet either.

The WiFi was out for at least 12 hours. When they fixed it they changed the password but there was no communication of this to the guests, so we had assumed it was still broken. It wouldn’t have been hard to put a note under each door advising of the new password. We later realised it on a noticeboard in the foyer but why not have an actual stand at the entrance which everyone could visibly see? The foyer area is like a hostel with only 2 couches and you had to deliberately stop at the side to even see the WiFi instructions. Ridiculous. Again no offer of compensation.

The hallways are long and you have to go through multiple doors to get back and forth. There are also lots of 3 stairs at various points. Navigating the doors and stairs with luggage, at midnight, was ridiculous. Again no offer of support from the staff and I’m pretty sure we woke other residents up trying to manage the luggage up and down stairs.

My friend was also woken up on the day of checkout, by housekeeping asking when he was checking out so they could service the room. This was 2hrs before the checkout time!! So rude and inappropriate, completely uncalled for.

Even the rooms weren’t given correctly. Me and my sister were in 1 room, my friend in another, and they gave my solo friend a much bigger room than us despite us booking the same room type. Complete lack of logic.

I have travelled a lot and this was easily the worst accommodation experience I’ve ever had across the world. Complete lack of any customer service, they couldn’t care less about your experience. Imagine not having a properly working toilet for 3 days!!

I hate leaving reviews like this and this is the first 1 star hotel review I’ve ever given. But I’d hate for someone else to have the same...

With a name like the Grand Plaza Hotel, a four star rating, and a room described as a Double Executive Studio, you can’t go wrong right?

Our room was reached by walking down several winding corridors filled with the aroma of stale food and mildew. It’s in the basement and there’s barely any natural light coming from the street level above. Imagine an inside cabin on a cruise ship with a kitchenette. Now imagine something smaller.

The room has no dresser and the only drawers are in two small night stands and a desk. The “closet” can barely fit four hangers. All the furniture is cheap plastic and some is starting to delaminate. Climate control consists of opening a creaky window, a space heater, and the ample heat provided by six overhead halogen lights. A portable air conditioner is available for an insanely expensive 50 pounds a day.

The kitchenette has no paper towels, dishwashing liquid, sponge, or condiments or spices of any kind. There’s a kettle, cheap plastic cooking utensils, three pans, and a basic service for two. If you are planning to cook, you will need to build a kitchen from scratch.

The bed has four cheap poly filled pillows. There are also a couple of decorative pillows and coverlet that probably haven’t been washed in a long time. There’s also a couch that folds flat with some stains that I can’t identify. The carpet is well vacuumed but feels sticky to the touch.

There are trip hazards everywhere. A large metal spike rises out of the middle of the floor to keep the door from hitting the closet. The pain of stubbing my toe was a sufficient reminder to never do it again. There is steep drop into the bathroom. It took a little more conditioning but after three or four jolts walking into the bathroom, I learned to avoid the step.

The bathroom is a bright spot and it looks quite modern. The water pressure is good and it’s hot. However, it’s spoiled by the cheap, thin cotton towels. There are no hand towels and the soaps are size of a pat of butter.

The TV is about the size of a laptop. There’s room for a much bigger one but management decided to buy the cheapest set possible. I am sure the entertainment system is awesome but I was never able to turn it on after trying for 15 minutes.

I asked to cancel my reservation but the manager refused. He said the apartment was in a four star AREA and helpfully reminded me that this was a serviced apartment and not a hotel. I asked him how it was possible that they got so many positive reviews and he said “anyone is free to write whatever they want”. So “anyone” must be friends and family of management and staff.

Exposing this dump with a bad review doesn’t go far enough. I will be contacting AA and Visit Britain who determine the star ratings in England. I will also be contact Google about...

Beautiful on the outside, old and dated on the inside. We stayed in a one bedroom with kitchen . To get to your room you have to go up and down many sets of 3 or 4 steps and down a series of long hallways, which is tricky with luggage. Thankfully there was good signage so we didn't get lost. Watch your head going up some of the steps if you are taller than 6' . Once you get in your room, be prepared for a tiny dated college dorm style. There are very heavy fire doors between each of the rooms of the suite as well as the entrance to the suite itself. The wardrobe was beaten up and you couldn't open one of the doors. The safe was broken. Broken light bulbs in the bedside table lamps. The double bed was pushed against one wall and there was 16 inches between the other side of the bed and the wardrobe which made it difficult to walk around and also to unpack. Very cramped quarters. The sofa was a very small uncomfortable love seat, not like what the website shows. The windows only open a bit and the A/C doesn't work. The cleaning staff brought fans. |The front desk staff are rude and uninterested in doing their job, they won't even look a woman in the eye. They asked to photocopy our passports which I have never heard of a hotel doing, it seemed sketchy.|Now for the good things: great location close to the tube and Hyde Park. Attractive building from the outside with flowers. Very clean, the cleaning staff are excellent and helpful. The kitchen was well equipped and everything worked, and it was nice to have a dining table, even though the chairs wobbled. Lots of food shops close by to pick up something for breakfast or dinner. The bed was comfortable.|We didn't eat at the...