Leonardo Royal London St Paul's — Hotel in London

If I could give this a zero rating, I would.||We stayed here at the end of October/beginning of November. We picked this hotel because of the rave reviews and the fact that it had a spa facility. The location looked spectacular being in the shadow of St Paul’s and indeed it was. Sadly, we left very, very disappointed and underwhelmed. We will not be staying here again and I will be avoiding the Leonardo brand in future.||We arrived early and the concierge was happy to look after our bags until check-in. ||My partner needed to use the toilet before we headed off to visit St Paul’s. She came out horrified - and in fact did not use them they were apparently so bad.||We left to visit St Paul’s before returning to the hotel to check in. We were greeted with a glass of prosecco and check-in was friendly and efficient. ||We were allocated a room in a separate block to the main block - walk through the bar area, out through sliding double doors, into the fresh air and then into a standalone block.||We were allocated room 573 - which, for the reader’s reference (because the hotel don’t know and wont be able to tell you), is an ‘accessible room’ - the bathroom being a wet room complete with very low level sink etc. Apparently - the hotel do not know which rooms are accessible rooms! Of course - I don’t buy that excuse for having allocated us an accessible room; how on earth are they going to allocate someone who needs an accessible room such a room if they don’t know where they are?||We were in a rush to get out to eat before the theatre so couldn’t complain about the room. Unfortunately the shower head just threw water everywhere apart from directly down and the bathroom quickly became the (very) ‘wet room’ it was.||On return to the hotel after the theatre, we walked through Leo’s bar when a mouse brazenly ran across our path. Of course, with the sliding doors constantly opening and closing with people having to get to the other accommodation block, I don’t suppose it should come as a surprise that vermin will get into the place but it was not what you expect especially with the bar serving food and having food on display.||We used the spa area the next day and whilst the steam room was plenty hot enough and steamy and the sauna also good and hot - the pool was fairly small with lots of young children around. There were no loungers or anything around the pool - as far as I could see - and it was not exactly what we were expecting. People were using the jacuzzi without showering after coming out of the sauna/steam room and there was brown scum floating on the surface.||The Sabine rooftop bar - the terrace was fabulous with the view out to St Paul’s.||Breakfast was plentiful but average. The food was not particularly hot, the hash browns rubbery etc. The breakfast restaurant is on the first floor and had the feel of a school canteen. The omelettes were freshly made and good but I’m not sure I would recommend opting for the breakfast as there are plenty of other options nearby.||What was quite bizarre, however, was when you came out of the lifts onto on of the ‘bridges’ - you were not permitted to take the direct route into the restaurant - you were forced to take the parallel ‘bridge’. That necessitated walking out into a lobby area that doubled as a games room (a table tennis table and a pool table) and you were forced to have your wits about you as you navigated young children wildly smashing the ping pong balls anywhere but on the table and then chasing around to find the ball oblivious of people trying to make their way to breakfast. A quite bizarre set-up, I have to say.||A nice touch in the rooms is the ability to ‘cast’ to the TVs - the first time I have encountered such a feature in hotel rooms.||On checking-out we raised the issue of our ‘accessible room’ to be told (as mentioned above) that it was because they have no idea what rooms are and are not accessible and if we were unhappy we should have complained (of course, we were in a rush so that wasn’t really practical) but it defies credulity to say that the location of accessible rooms is unknown! In all honesty - the reception staff gave the impression that they couldn’t really care less. When we mentioned the mouse, another receptionist interjected and expressed concern but we have since read another review on here that ALSO mentions a mouse loose on the ground floor!||What really upset my partner - and indeed me - is that we arrived home to find that my partner had left a souvenir from St Paul’s on the bed. She unpacked her bag when checking out to find something and forgot to re-pack it. She phoned the hotel at 6pm to be told that the room had not yet been allocated to anyone else and that they would get housekeeping to retain it for her and arrange for return. I should say that it took her the best part of an hour to get anyone to answer the phone. In the period she was trying to raise someone on the phone - I used the email contact form. I received an acknowledgement but more than 24 hours later I have not had a response!||My partner has called again tonight to be told that housekeeping did not hand the item in! This is of course appalling.||We paid far more for this stay than what we have ever done before. We could have stayed at the usual hotel we stay at in London for nearly half the price but we thought we’d extend ourselves because of the rave reviews and the spa facility but never again.||The poor room, the lack of interest on check-out and the joke of a suggestion that they do not know where the accessible rooms are coupled with the appalling level of response to telephone calls/email and the failure to secure my partner’s lost property leaves me wondering how this place has secured the positive reviews it has!||Thoroughly disappointed and not...

I have stayed at and dined in your hotel many times over the years, but sadly, this most recent visit will be my last.|The inconsistency in your customer service has become unacceptable. I visited on Thursday, June 12th, to raise several concerns with one of your duty managers, Carlo. While he was initially empathetic and engaging, his explanations for the appalling management and service we experienced came across as insincere. Shockingly, mid-conversation, another duty manager—the very person I was there to complain about—interrupted us to fist bump Carlo. That level of unprofessionalism is beyond rude.|During our stay, my daughter and I were entirely ignored by the three young gentlemen of your concierge team. At check-in, the receptionist was unhelpful and rude. Housekeeping did clean the room, but left us with a shower that smelled strongly of sewage and milk cartons that had already turned sour. Our request for fresh milk was dismissed by room service, who told us to wait for housekeeping. When we asked for a pot of tea, we received teabags and sachets of instant coffee instead. Thank goodness for Deliveroo. Housekeeping also failed to service our room.|To make matters worse, the physical condition of the room was disappointing. Our door had a deep gouge in it, and the floor-to-ceiling window had chips that someone had marked over with a black marker—an unprofessional and unsightly solution. The hotel overall is looking tired, and one of the lifts was out of order for our entire stay.|One of your duty managers, the same gentleman who interrupted our conversation, needs urgent retraining in customer service. At one point, he nearly called me a liar when I raised an issue about the extremely small robes left in our room. For the record, your hotel absolutely has robes of varying sizes, and being challenged like that was unacceptable.|We visited you spa during our stay, after less than a 20 minutes we witnessed one of your male guests undress poolside to then go into the sauna, we reported this to the spa staff who were rude .|I mentioned to Carlo that we witnessed a guest smoking marijuana in your smoking area of your hotel , the area between Leo’s Bar and your other rooms, this is most certainly part of your hotel and should be managed accordingly.|I do want to sincerely thank the three concierge staff who were on duty the afternoon I made my complaint, as well as the gentleman at reception who treated me with professionalism and kindness. That is the standard of service I had come to expect from your hotel in the past.|I do not expect a response or compensation. I simply want you to understand how far the guest experience has declined. The only thing I’ll truly miss is the view—which, frankly, seems to be what you're...

Great hotel staff, location & spa! November 2022 The hotel itself is lovely with its modern facade, 360 degrees glass lift and welcoming reception area. Friday evening check-in provided us with welcoming drinks and snacks. There is also a permanent snack area in the lobby with fruits, water & biscuits so very hand if you have children or want a sip of water. When we checked in, the hotel hadn't received our notification that our stay was for a celebration but they arranged a message to be put on the mirror in the suite there & then as the lovely gentleman checking us in, named Ahmed, disappeared soon after & returned to say they had sorted it & apologised for the wait. Ahmed was very helpful, attentive & had great customer service skills through out our stay & always with a positive aura from him, so Thank you for going that extra mile! compared to a night receptionist whom customer service skills needs looking at. We stayed for a weekend and found the room was sufficient for our use but the décor could be little better (guess this comes down to taste) After a call down to reception & a long wait they rectified the number of towels, robes, cups etc for our party size. The beds was one of the best we've had in a hotel, the rooms appear to be sound proof as we barely herd any outside noise & we never got a complaint. The bathroom had everything we needed & the shower was powerful. Due to our plans, we didn't have time to book any Spa treatments but we made use of the spa facilities; the European receptionist (was there in the evening & day time) in the spa had great customer service skills but the Indian receptionist(in the morning & during the day) was not very helpful. We did see the spa area being cleaned at closing time & the spa, changing room areas was clean, tidy & well maintained. We visited Sabines rooftop restaurant & bar one late night. We tried to order from the waitress & had missed the food options as the kitchen had closed. However, later on as we was enjoying the night time air a waiter named Hyng approached us to ask if we wanted more drinks etc. Hyng's customer service skills is at the top end, as clearly he understands that sometimes going the extra mile can make or break a persons weekend/holiday/ hotel or restaurant experience. We asked Hyng if there was any chance of us ordering a few of the dessert platters as that's what we wanted to have to round off our lovely night & boy he delivered! So, thank you Hyng! We ended up having a great time on the roof, enjoying the night sky & fresh air! Also the doorman was lovely to chat too! We didn't use the room service or have their breakfast for our stay, so cant comment on these. However We would definitely return and also look at other Leaonardo Royal Hotels...