Merit Kensington Hotel — Hotel in London

I dont understand why all the nitpicky reviews. We recently stayed here two nights and had a great stay. -Location is great- near the metro, pubs, resturants, actuvities and a grocery. The neighborhood has a residential vibe so if you're looking for a party or hopping area this is not it. One train from Heathrow. -Room we had, 216 I guess in the main building since you entered thru the lobby and wound around for a minute, was lovely. Two twin beds, a little desk, closet area, mini fridge, kettle with warm drink supplies, safe, high ceilings, all areas are super clean, etc. Compared to US standards, yes the room was small. Compared to tokyo standards it was well sized. Did we have a view? No, we were below street level but we had a window which provided light. There was a little area outside the window that I could see the hotel storing stuff in, which they shouldn't because it would be ugly, but ours had nothing there. The bathroom was tight but I'd rather have more living space and less bathroom. I liked the hallway lights and when you enter your room motion sensing lights, the little beep that tells you the door is opened and heated bathroom floors were a nice touch. Beds were neither too firm nor too soft. Our room was in great shape. Looked brand new. -Noise. I am a light sleep and noise really bothers me. I heard the minimum of noise. If the bathroom door was open i could here toilet or shower noises a little. The rest of the noise I heard was fellow residents fault not the hotel. For example: don't talk loudly in the hallway or just let the door slam shut behind you, guide it closed. Everyone complains about both and yet still they do it. A few times I could hear the people above maybe drop something heavy or take a heavy step, but all in all the noise level was minimal. I slept great. -Staff. All the staff I saw were men, young, well dressed, spoke well and were friendly and attentive. They answered any questions I had or requests I had. -Negatives. I only had a few issues. First, this is for the rooms and something the hotel could fix but it would cost some money, install soft close door hinges to prevent the doors from just swinging shut. That would stop some nosie complaints. But, as I mention above, that's really a guest misbehavior. Second, apparently there is a continental breakfast. This was not mentioned to us. We probably wouldn't have eaten anyway because we grabbed bread and cheese for room snacks from the grocery but the info should be provided. Third, which is also a very small thing, two trash cans in the living area would be nice. Since there is a grocery and resturants near we accumulated packaging trash. And finally, Check out time posted or maybe printed on the room key envelope, would be nice as it was also not mentioned or posted anywhere i could readily see. I think it's 11. -Conclusion. I would stay here again for sure and I would recommend to people. The room rate is comparable to london prices and its very quiet which is...

Where do I start?! Firstly me and my partner had been woken up numerous times in the night throughout mine and my partners stay from the 1st of April to the 3rd of April; people running up and down stairs, making sure their steps are very loud on top of our room, doors being slammed waking us up as well as being able to hear shouting/talking from other rooms. All ranging from 2am, 4am, 6am, 10am.

I did inform the reception of this matter in the morning after the first night and they said they will inform the room upstairs. However, it still happened that second night and myself and my partner had a poor sleep especially since we came all the way from Lincoln, a 6 hour coach trip, and had a flight in the afternoon to catch for a 12 hour flight on the 3rd of April so we NEEDED the rest.

As well as that, there was no microwave and we were denied use of a microwave multiple times throughout our stay which i find is very poor even though they had one. When you do not serve dinner, meaning myself and my partner HAVE to purchase food from outside, taking time from the destination back to the hotel, we had the idea that you would be able to warm it up, like in any other hotel. However that was not the case which i find very poor for a hotel of this "standard".

In addition I find it very unsatisfactory that there are no three pin plugs nearby the bedside, instead all the way on the other side of the room. It is unacceptable. Why is there only a USB port on the bedside? Due to the new times and everyone is moving from USB ports and it has been known that USB ports are now out of the equation, I find it very poor for a hotel like this to only have USB ports at the bedside table.

Moreover, our room was not cleaned after the first night whereas I saw on Booking . com that the hotel stated rooms would be cleaned everyday, as well as that, I also read on the Booking . com site that the hotel stated a late checkout was able for 1pm however we was only granted until 12pm. I feel like our whole negative experience in this hotel was due to the fact of how me and my partner looked; the reason me and my partner believe this is as there is no other reason for any of this stuff to happen to us/be denied. Everything that was originally stated in the "Questions & Answers" section from the hotel was not the answers for us, the real customers.

I am very disappointed and dissatisfied with this whole hotel and situation. I find it appalling how all this stuff can be let go of at such a...

If I could rate 0 star, I would.

I booked the hotel for 10 Oct to 15 Oct 2023 (5 Nights). Our plan was to travel from Iceland to London via flight on 10 Oct. Unfortunately, I met with a medical emergency in Iceland and was not able to check-in on 10 Oct. We wrote in via email to Merit Kensington in the late afternoon of 10 Oct to inform them on our situation as soon as we were discharged from the hospital. We told the hotel that we will arrive on 11 Oct instead, and to keep our booking/room.

We arrived on 11 Oct as informed. However, we were told that there was no room for us. First, they accused us for not informing in advance (we have proof that we sent an email to them). Then, they told us that we can stay somewhere else and come back for the next 3 nights. Otherwise, they offered to charge us for only ONE (1) night as we did not turn up, and refund the next 4 nights (11 to 15 Oct). We agreed as it was our problem that we missed the first night.

Left with no better choice, we scrambled to book another hotel for our 4 nights in London because we did not want the hassle of switching hotel, after we were told that we would get a 4 nights refund since Merit Kesington does not have a room for us on 11 Oct. We had to pay a premium for another hotel due to last minute booking, but we accept it with no grudge as we met with an emergency that no one can predict.

However, what we never knew was that the hotel would back out from their promise. They wrote in to Agoda to charge us for TWO (2) nights instead of the promised ONE (1) night.

For what reason should we be charged for the second night?! Merit Kensington was the party who could not fulfil their part of the transaction to offer us a room on the second day when we arrived. We find this immensely unfair to us as customers, as we did our part to inform in advance, but they gave away our room. We even willingly agreed to pay for the first night due to the no show. Agoda policy does not seem to side with the customer as well, even though we provided proof to explain the situation. I was charged for TWO (2) nights for no reason that could justify this. I did not stay in the room for the second night but I have to pay for it in the end.

I am writing down my experience to warn people who might be interested in this seemingly affordable, but unethical hotel. Book at...