ibis London Sutton Point — Hotel in London

This hotel is the most amateurish and petty that I have ever encountered. We booked two nights for a Chelsea v Manchester United match which was postponed. I spoke to several staff members and the manager Saira about swapping the dates for an alternative match a fortnight later but received a level of disinterest and "computer says no" approach which I have never encountered before from anybody in the hospitality sector. Most people would try and assist, but the team led by Saira are incredibly cold and robotic. Upon further investigation, it appears that Ibis, and the Accor group are simply a shop-front for independent hotels trading under uniform branding. This explains the poor attitude and lack of interest in assisting customers who are victim of a football match being rescheduled. They are not accountable to anybody hence the lack of interest in finding any kind of resolution or compromise. A David Walliams style "computer says no" accent which featured on the hit BBC tv comedy sketch show Little Britain is the very best you can expect here, sadly.

Upon realising that the hotel were unwilling to swap the reservation for (cheaper) dates a fortnight later, despite still having 4 days to resell the original dates on all of their various platforms, I asked if I could donate the two night stay to a local homeless charity who could make excellent use of the room by taking a person or couple off the streets for two nights. Once again, a complete apathy was shown to me and a rather toxic attitude towards homeless people.

Several friends and family members work in the hospitality profession and cannot believe the level of unprofessionalism I have encountered. Most people who work in the trade have a can-do attitude and will try to help customers in this kind of circumstance. Not "Ibis" Sutton Point I'm afraid.

This hotel ought to stop advertising their rooms on Booking Dot Com if they detest the customers buying via the discount sites. Saira told me that we should have booked directly through them and that she is always getting these problems via Booking Dot Com, implying that I am a fool for purchasing via third party vendors. She also told me that all phone calls are recorded so I have sent in a Subject Access Request under GDPR legislation. Booking dot Com are surprised, but powerless, following three of their own conversations with Saira and her team. The agents I spoke with at Booking Dot Com have not previously experienced such a peculiar attitude towards customers before. All three apologised on "Ibis" Sutton Point's behalf, explaining that on the rare occassions that these types of events happen, the hotel generally tries to find a resolution.

All in all, a reminder to all that small print on websites should be made a bit bigger if customers are to lose hundreds of pounds.

"Ibis" hotel staff who are professional, courteous and helpful should be very disappointed by the actions of the team at Ibis Sutton Point.

I hope Saira does not reply to this in an attempt to water down the effect of her egregious attitude by quoting computer says no style word salads. She knows that a click of a mouse could have resolved this incredibly easily, and she knows that Booking dot Com staff can confirm that clicking a mouse is usually the outcome, with a smile and a...

A mixed bag at Ibis Sutton Point. We were attending a wedding nearby and specifically chose the hotel because it offered parking in a built-up location. In actual fact there were a total of 16 parking spaces for a large hotel, offered on a first come, first served basis.

Pros: Modern building, close to rail station, shops and eateries. Beds were comfortable and bedding was very clean and fresh. Large white towels, and an immaculate modern bathroom with excellent shower. Shampoo, soap and paper cups (only one pair per stay!) are provided. A limited selection of tea and coffee sachets which were refreshed on day 2. Very friendly staff throughout.

Cons: No signage for reception when you get inside, and very tight for space on the ground floor. It's very awkward to get back past the queue once you've checked in, to reach the lifts. Our room (315) was extremely gloomy, even with the minimal ceiling lights on, and a large window giving onto an internal space between adjacent buildings. These were about five storeys high so they block out all daylight. Hand prints all over the bathroom door and frame. The spot lighting in the room is located behind your head for every mirror, casting the entire face into shadow. Incredibly difficult for applying makeup - bring a ring light ladies - given the fact that there was no natural light either. I put my makeup on by sitting on the closed lid of the loo and looking up at a spotlight using my own mirror. Felt ridiculous in such a highly designed space. There was a task light towards the rear of the desk with a very limited range of movement, and a tiny light fixed to the wall at each side of the bed which hardly moved. They light the top of your head only, but cannot be used for reading. A single hard plywood chair in the room. When my husband took a work call he couldn't use video because his face was in total darkness. No hand towel in the bathroom. Mugs not cleaned/changed for day 2. Very limited parking, and it's also paid parking. Parking info only on one side of Reception desk, and printed in dark blue. We're not visually impaired, but it was hard to read across another person checking in. Tried to pay for a day's parking but it did not cost the £8/day that was advertised at reception, so I reduced the time by several hours to try and get the cost down to that kind of level. Good thing we were off premises the next day.

The room was ok for sleeping and showering but dark and oppressive with nowhere comfortable to sit if you had an hour or two to spare. And nowhere to read at all. On night 2 we returned to find no parking on site. We had a chat with the guys on reception who couldn't help because the parking is run by an external company, who are keen to slap tickets on cars in the middle of the night if you give them a reason. So in his smart wedding clothes and -1 temperatures my husband drove round to the station, and paid for (confusing) parking there. Should have cost £2.50 for a Sunday as it was after midnight but the machine charged him £6.60. Had to go back and collect the car in the morning of course. Not at all what we had in mind when we booked. We...

I have not stayed at the Ibis Sutton but on a couple of occasions had planned to, but circumstances changed that resulted in cancellations. Like most hotels Ibis take your card details as a guarantee for the booking, part of the guarantee process is that at some stage during the day prior to arrival the charge for the first night is preauthorised and used in the case of a no show. If you arrive as planned my understanding from the hotel is that the said amount is voided and will not show as pending with your bank. What I have had issues with is that the preauthorised/pending charge has not been returned promptly following cancellation, the cancellations where within the time window that meant no penalty. On the first occasion I spoke with the hotel, and they reversed the authorised amount, and it appeared back in my account more or less instantly. On the second and most recent occasion this is not the case, and I am still trying to get the funds released by Ibis. I had a booking that had a preauthorised amount taken, a few days after the booking was cancelled, I noticed there was still an amount pending on my bank account. I emailed the hotel and was told that as it was outside the 48-hour window for voiding/reversing the preauthorisations they would need to do a preauthorisation for 1p and this would then allow them to reactivate the preauthorised first night stay and in turn allow them to void/reverse. They sent me copies of the authorisation slips for the first night and the 1p and dated accordingly with date authorised, in addition both are marked voided. I was assured this would release both amounts back to my bank account and no longer show as pending, not the case. The booking was 5 June, and we are now 22 June, despite about 10 emails to the hotel and several telephone calls nothing has been resolved, likewise numerous calls to my bank and they are saying the hotel has not supplied them with the reversal codes for the two transactions. I think the issue is around not being voided/reversed within the 48-hour window after the date of arrival, this is the hotel issue not mine and despite them taking the 1p to reactivate the original preauthorised amount it has not had effect. I would add they sent me an email informing me they are taking the 1p not asking if they can preauthorise additional funds, all be it 1p. It is very frustrating; we are talking about a relatively small amount, but it is not acceptable that the hotel is showing such disregard and noncompliance in getting my funds released. The hotel asked for contact details for my bank, supplied them with a telephone number but despite two or three emails to the hotel asking for an update they do not have the courtesy to reply. My point to all future guests is ensure your preauthorised amount is paid back promptly and within 48 hours of the planned stay, do not assume it has been returned, check your bank statements, this was my second occasion and will be the last with Ibis. I informed them I would be posting a review online to this effect but even that had...