Harbour Hotel Richmond — Hotel in London

I did a two night solo stay here, for some relaxtion and downtime.

I booked the Superior Double Room which included a "January Special - Breakfast on Us" as well as "complimentary use of the spa". Overall I had a positive stay but this was overshadowed by a few things, which for me meant the booking did not amount to value for money (£350 for 2 nights).

The hotel itself is nice, as is the decor but there are definitely signs of wear and tear throughout. Every member of staff I came into the contact with was friendly and helpful.

The room itself was spacious and nicely decorated, and the bed and arm chair were comfortable. Again, signs of wear and tear with marks on the walls, areas of stained carpet, small amounts of rust on the chrome taps, chips in the wooden furniture + a misaligned wardrobe door, and a sizable gap between the glass shower screen and the trim which meant the shower rapidly leaked on to the floor. The towel radiator did not work which meant I was unable to return to the spa later in the evening as my swimwear was still wet from using it in the morning and I had no way of drying it in the room.

The cleanliness of the room could have been improved. There was dust on surfaces (not visible at a glance but once the spotlights were off and only lamps were in use), the shower appeared to not have been cleaned thoroughly and the kettle and cups available for tea and coffee were dirty.

Room Service is available but includes a "tray charge" of £5, along with a service charge. Personally I find these to be unnecessary charges, but I know it is not completely uncommon at hotels.

On the first morning I ordered Breakfast Room Service, which included a pot of lemon tea.The pot was full of old coffee/coffee stains, which ended up as various-sized brown 'bits' in the tea cup. I called Reception and a replacement pot of team was delivered within 5-10 minutes.

In the Spa I only used the swimming pool and sauna, once each day - both were average but suitably clean. The water in the pool was a little colder than expected, but fit for purpose.

Onsite parking is available but on a first come first served basis. The rates are not displayed anywhere on entrance or at the hotel reception, only on exit where you pay by scanning a QR code. I had to ask staff for rates etc and was informed that there is a charge of £15 for upto 24 hours.

I have never ever paid for parking at a hotel and remain of the view that it should be free. In this case I understand the hotel spa is open to the public, so complimentary or heavily discounted rates ought to be offered to overnight guests, in my opinion.

When I arrived on the first day of my stay there was no parking available so I found and paid for on street parking for that day and for a few hours the next morning (amounting to around £16), until a space became available in the hotel car park.

On checking out at the end of my stay and scanning the QR code as instructed by staff, I was requested to pay £30 instead of £15. When querying this with the hotel manager at Reception, only then was I informed that after 24 hours, the tariff is doubled and automatically charged at £15 for the next 24 hours. At this time I was 3 minutes over the 24 hour period! Again, this information is not displayed anywhere visually in the car park or hotel, until you reach the exit and can select to view tariffs on a touchscreen. (The manager insisted tarriffs were displayed throughout the car park was but on a final inspection I can confirm they are not on any of the 3 signage boards). This pricing strategy is extortionate and I have since written to YourParkingSpace to request a refund. The manager communicated that the car park was run privately, but I don't think that should be of concern to guests and ultimately reflects pooly on Harbour Hotel.

All in all, I did have a good stay but do not believe it was value for money based the state of the room and all of the added extras. I would only look to stay here again if rates were drastically reduced to more accuraltey reflect the...

We recently stayed at The Harbour Hotel Richmond and unfortunately found the experience to be quite inconsistent.||Booking & Check-In|The booking process was unnecessarily complicated. I tried to add afternoon tea to our stay and the system applied it across both nights. When I called directly, I was passed between the restaurant and spa because there seemed to be no centralised system. On arrival, check-in was lacklustre — instead of being shown to our room, we were just given verbal directions at the foot of the stairs. To make matters worse, reception later double-charged me for the afternoon tea add-on; thankfully I spotted it in time and requested a refund.||Room|The room was spacious with a comfortable bed, but the décor and attention to detail didn’t justify the price. There was a stale, damp smell in the corridor and room, which we tried to clear by opening windows. The headboard had questionable stains, and the sofa was old and unappealing with a single scatter cushion. Furnishings felt mismatched and basic, with some stained carpet and no floor lamp. A complimentary “gin” offering amounted to two small measures with tonic — a nice gesture but underwhelming. The WiFi did not work during our stay. The mini bar included drinks in the fridge, but no prices or information were provided in the room, which made it unclear what was complimentary beyond the tonic. On the positive side, the room was clean and quite spacious.||Afternoon Tea|The restaurant interiors were pleasant (fake ferns aside), and the food was delicate but a little one-note, with some flavourless sweets. Service was poor — only one waitress on, no explanation of the menu, and no fresh plates/cutlery provided between savoury and sweet until the manager intervened. The billing process was messy, as the restaurant couldn’t find a record of our add-on booking, leading to an awkward back-and-forth with reception.||Spa & Treatments|The HarSPA was enjoyable overall. The jacuzzi and steam room were nice, and the relaxation room with lemon water and hammock beds was a highlight. However, the sauna was far too small, robes weren’t provided (you were expected to fetch them from your room), and some facilities weren’t working (e.g., pool fountain). It would have been much clearer to let guests know this in advance — I certainly didn’t want to trek back up five flights of stairs just to retrieve a robe, so I went without. Sadly, we never got to experience the outdoor jacuzzis as the same guests occupied them for hours. On the positive side, I did have an excellent full-body Temple Spa massage with Artim, which was one of the highlights of the whole stay.||Dining|Room service arrived within 30 minutes but carried a £5 tray charge — the food itself was very basic, nothing special. Unfortunately, the restaurant experience was equally disappointing. At Sunday lunch there was no host to greet us, starters arrived before drinks, and staff seemed disinterested. The roast chicken arrived without the advertised stuffing, and the vegetables and potatoes were bland — I’ve had better at a Toby Carvery. To top it off, my dessert (chocolate tart) was completely frozen inside and had to be sent back.||There was also a clear mood in the restaurant: a family of eight next to us were openly complaining about the poor quality of their meals, and a table of three went to reception to complain as we were leaving. To make matters worse, at 1pm on a bank holiday weekend — one of the first sittings for the set menu — we ordered the prawn cocktail starter only to be told 10 minutes later that it wasn’t available. It’s hard to believe they were already “out” so early, and it summed up how unprepared the restaurant felt.||Overall|The hotel has potential — spacious rooms, a good spa concept, and a nice setting — but execution and service let it down. From double-charging at reception to poor communication, patchy dining, and a lack of attention to detail, it simply doesn’t live up to its premium price point. At present, it feels more frustrating...

Friday 27th May 2022 Richmond Harbour Hotel

Sadly, this fabulous hotel is being run into the ground by senior management who, over the past six months (since unfairly removing one of the nicest and most professional general managers I have ever known, Attila) have created a toxic environment where staff work in fear.

I know these things because I visit or stay at the hotel regularly and greet my clients and colleagues over lunch or dinner at this once fabulous place.

I have lived on Richmond Hill for more than 20 years and I’ve been coming here for many years (it has been the newly refurbished Harbour Hotel for a few years and The Richmond Gate Hotel for 20 years before that)

Some of the members of staff have become friends and have regularly told me how much they detest the “culture” the new management (Andrew, Charles) have created.

There have been FIVE resignations in the past four months of disgruntled and unmotivated senior staff (Moreno, Rachel, Tyric, Massimo, David) with more to follow.

The hotel is a mess, and the downward trend looks set to continue unless a new senior management team is brought in soon.

Other than that, it’s a lovely hotel and one that I have enjoyed staying at and visiting. The bar and restaurant are to die for, and the spa is sumptuous (apart from the outdoor hot tubs which are regularly closed) but sadly the management and the Spa staff are extremely rude and self-obsessed and are often rude to guests , including myself.

They also hold “internal” meetings in the hotel restaurant and bar areas and even conduct interviews in the public areas of the hotel which is a bit unprofessional and unnecessary (there are plenty of coffee shops nearby where these interviews could be conducted away from the glare of the hotel guests).

The hotel also regularly closes the entire restaurant and bar area for private hire that can last up to several days so guests who have prepaid for dinner, bed and breakfast or who have booked a spa break which includes lunch find out on arrival that they have to eat elsewhere and that there is no late-night bar but only room service.

This has led to a huge number of complaints and the hotel is losing a lot of regular guests like myself because of its short-term greed to take money for private hire and deprive guests from enjoying food and beverage facilities whilst staying at the hotel)

On Sunday 22nd May 2022, I was verbally insulted by one of the spa yoga teachers and one of the spa Personal Trainers (Rodney) which led to a heated exchange of words that left me deeply upset and disturbed because I had done nothing wrong to warrant the unprovoked attack from these two members of staff.

I cannot say it was a racist attack but let's just say that over the past few years some of the staff at the Harbour have been unfairly shouted at and insulted by unhappy (and wealthy) guests and as a result these guests are usually offered huge discounts on their bill or complimentary spa treatments in compensation for their complaints.

I wasn’t offered any.

Not only was I NOT be offered any kind of compensation but I was also asked to leave the premises and never return by the General manager, Andrew.

His exact words were "you don't fit in around here, please stay away" and followed up with an email suggesting that I find an alternative hotel and gym to use because I wasn’t welcome at the Harbour Hotel anymore.

And this comes after I have spent more than £5,000 in the past five months on hotel room charges and food and beverage expenses whilst entertaining clients.

Please do not join this club or stay at this hotel until the senior management have been removed and replaced.

It’s a toxic place in a beautiful setting run by very unprofessional senior managers.

I shall not...