Meliá White House Apartments — Hotel in London

All the rumours are true. Apparently apartment is owned separately by hotel, which is the only explanation for how the concierge was so lovely and yet the rooms such an utter disaster. The carpet was covered in white dog fur when we checked in. We do not have a dog. There was a loaf of expiring bread and expired milk in the fridge, which seemed to be barely working. The kitchen sink was about the size of an airplane bathroom sink, and along with the kettle, covered in chalk stains. I felt uneasy even walking in. Only an ancient hotplate to cook on, which appeared very unsafe, and I didn't dare to open the microwave. Not that I could have - there was barely enough room for me (an average-sized woman) to stand, much less cook and move, and no counter room to even prepare a salad or coffee, and my husband could not squeeze into the kitchen at all. Further, the kitchen had no washing up liquid, no sponge, no room even to dry pots, and we were given a single bowl with one teaspoon. When I rang to ask for additional bowls and teaspoons, I was told I would be charged GBP 2-3 each time room service came up to my room. Insane! I did not end up getting charged because I voiced extreme dissatisfaction, and never rang again. The hallway was so small that one of our friends, a large and athletic person, was unable to fit in, which caused great embarrassment. It looks like a hotel room retrofitted to be called an "apartment". The shower was so small we could not bathe our toddler properly, and I could barely soap myself (again, I am a short UK size 10) without the shower curtain sticking uncomfortably to me. We asked for a baby cot. We had to ask twice, after waiting about half an hour between. When we asked for the baby cot to be taken away on our last day, no one came for 2 hours. The store downstairs is also utterly perplexing. It has a person-less cashier, and requires an age voucher to purchase alcohol. The first age voucher I got from reception (after lining up after some checking-in guests) did not work. There was no bottle opener at the cashier, so I had to go to the restaurant to request that they help open my beer. I was told there was a bottle opener in my kitchen - there was none, or if there was, it was so filthy that it was unrecognisable. Why not just staff a person to check IDs? Surely it can't cost more than having two staff involved in procuring and obtaining a single beer. Concierge was great and very friendly. Staff seems to be doing their best under truly crappy conditions. Pity about the apartments and management. Apparently the hotel rooms are nicer, but we won't be coming back...

The apartments side of the business is decidedly less nice than the hotel - the rooms are older, smaller, and incredibly tiny. Even the hallways for these rooms are darker and older. It's a weird situation. Everything down to the check-in process is different/worse and you get older locks and the key cards sometimes fail after a while. If you want an ironing board and iron for a room in the apartment, you ask at the front desk and they deliver it to your room, which shows how incredibly tiny the room is, and how little effort is made by the owners.

I stayed here for a little over a week in July. I could not crack the code on how to get the room cleaned, and how often it was supposed to be. In desperation after four nights I put a Tesco bag of rubbish in the hallway hoping someone would take it. The desk staff are lovely! The room, less so.

The shower was so small (about 1m squared) that the cheap plastic shower curtain was almost always touching me. I am not a big person, and I'm not sure how you would cope if you were anything bigger than a size medium. The conditioner in my shower had been refilled with moisturiser before I arrived, which was a fun surprise.

The cutlery in the kitchenette was a knife and a spoon. Both were filthy. The kitchenette was so small I would prop the door open to be able to move around in it.

The bed/room itself was clean. There were so many mirrors in the bedroom, finding a picture of the bed without me in a reflection was not possible for the review. I can't tell you how confronting that was after a 24 hour flight.

I didn't complain about any of this to the staff, I'm not a monster and most of it is the result of the bad choices of the business/management. Despite the fantastic location I have not been recommending this apartment...

There’s a very big distinction between the hotel and the apartments, evident already from the abrupt change in the hallway from the sleek modern look to the frumpy dated carpeting. But I was aware that I was getting an older room when I was booking the apartment.

What I wasn’t aware of until it was too late was that the apartments are only cleaned 2 times a week. This was not clearly stated during the online booking process (as admitted by the Duty Manager) and was never mentioned to me during my check in. I only found out about it this after coming home after a long day with the room unmade. If 2x a week cleaning is the policy then fine, but it’s deeply unfair to not state this during the booking process, particularly if (like me) one pays the non-refundable rate.

I appreciate the managerial staff trying their best to find solutions for me, but the rest of the staff (all very young and green) clearly couldn’t care less.

The state of the apartment - not great. Yes I expected old, I did not expect bleach stains on the carpet, burn marks on the counters, a kitchen that made me want to close the door and forget it was there.

Location is good if one walks towards Great Portland Street where the essentials and some nice places to eat are located, but it gets more questionable if walking the opposite direction. I wouldn’t walk that way as a woman...