Sanctum London Maida Vale Luxury Serviced Apartments — Hotel in London

I booked Sanctum last minute and was grateful to find furnished lodging with a spacious living area, good size bedroom with a lot of storage space as well as a kitchen and large bathroom. The bathroom was remodeled and looked gorgeous and was very modern with a lot of room to put your toiletries.

I’m perplexed by negative reviews of the reception because I found them to be friendly and nice and they remember their guests.

The location was great for me because I could walk to St John’s Wood, Swiss Cottage, Maida Vale and Finchley Road quickly. At no point did I feel unsafe. There a many small grocery stores including M&S, Tesco Express, and Sainsbury’s. There is also a Boots very close by as well as many restaurants and coffee shops. There is an overground and underground station nearby within a short walking distance. There is also a bus stop right by Sanctum so location was convenient for sure.

The kitchen has a washing machine which came in handy, cutlery, an electric kettle, a toaster, knives (very dull in need of sharpening), etc. What was missing was a strainer or slotted spoon for making pasta. There was also no sink drain cover so food particles went down the drain. The last day I was there I noticed the refrigerator was dripping inside. I changed the setting to make it colder but that didn’t help. The area for the hob is small and though there is a hooded vent (a very powerful one) just boiling water made steam come up quickly (see my photos) and with the vent it goes all over. Not sure how to rectify that but it wasn’t a big deal just odd.

The apartment had a horrible smell upon entering which I assumed came from the drain but it also smelled musty throughout so I had to get air fresheners to stand on the nightstand and living room table.

The king bed was comfortable and there was a sitting desk with mirror above which made blow drying my hair easy.

My two big complaints were lack of sound insulation (I can see some others have written about the same issue) and air conditioning. I could hear the common hall door slam so hard that it would rattle the bathroom door. I also heard the guests above me running around, jumping and screaming well into the night. Because this isn’t a hotel I didn’t know how to handle this. If it was a hotel I would’ve complained with a phone call to reception but with short term furnished apartments it was confusing as to what to do but I did let reception know upon checkout so now I know that they were the ones to call just like at a hotel. If you experience noise issues at night I advise you to tell reception. I thought about confronting the noisy guests myself like I would’ve at any other apartment building.

The air conditioning in my room didn’t work properly. When I was shown the room I was told it was just turned on and would cool off. Well that never happened. I complained to reception after my first night and they were swift to send the maintenance man up. Unfortunately he was useless. He looked at the control panel, pressed a few things and said it is working. I told him to feel the air coming out of the vents for himself to see that no cool air was coming out but he wouldn’t. I know their ac works because it worked well in the halls and reception. Unfortunately for me it was very humid when I stayed there.

Oh and the balcony. It’s a good size and nice to have. The bathroom also had a sprayer bidet which was unexpected and appreciated. I think that had I gotten a different room I would’ve enjoyed my stay more.

What I didn’t appreciate was reception calling twice in the span of 20 minutes starting at 10 am the day of departure to remind me I have to checkout and ask me exactly when I was leaving. Very uncool to do that. If checkout is at 11 am then don’t harass guests an hour before then making them feel uncomfortable and demanding to know when they’re checking out exactly. We’re adults and are more than capable of understanding checkout time. No hotel would do that an hour...

Our stay at Sanctum London Maida Vale in May 2023 was filled with disappointment and frustration. From the very first day, it seemed that something was constantly going wrong, and the customer service we received was absolutely terrible.|Upon arrival, we discovered that one of the two showers in the apartment didn't work properly. Only hot water was available, while the cold water faucet was malfunctioning. The maintenance person who came to address the issue advised us to shower in the hot water, claiming it wasn't boiling. |One of the major issues we encountered was with the so-called "fully equipped kitchen." However, none of the kitchen appliances were functional. The stove top failed to heat up, rendering it useless for cooking, and the toaster didn't work at all. It was incredibly frustrating to have a kitchen that was advertised as fully equipped but lacked even the most basic functionality.|Even worse, the dishwasher was connected to the sewer through a flexible pipe that was carelessly dropped into the sink sewage system. As a result, the dishwasher leaked and drained wastewater onto the kitchen floor. This not only created an unhygienic environment but also posed a safety hazard.|The inclusion of (3) pool and gym vouchers seemed promising, but even this aspect was marred by the hotel's disorganization. When we inquired about the vouchers, we were informed that the manager had already left for the day (at 6 pm), and it took significant effort and argumentation to obtain them. However, upon reaching the pool, we were shocked to learn that children were not allowed after 6 pm, although we were specifically told by the reception that the pool is open until 9pm. This lack of communication and mismanagement of the facilities ruined our evening plans and further highlighted the hotel's incompetence. |To top it all off, we requested a one-hour late checkout, asking for a checkout time of 12 pm instead of the standard 11 am. Despite the hotel being virtually empty, our request was inexplicably denied. This inflexibility and unwillingness to accommodate a simple request demonstrated a disregard for guest satisfaction.|To top it all off, we requested a one-hour late checkout, asking for a checkout time of 12 pm instead of the standard 11 am. Despite the hotel being virtually empty, our request was inexplicably denied. This inflexibility and unwillingness to accommodate a simple request demonstrated a disregard for guest...

Our stay at Sanctum London Maida Vale in May 2023 was filled with disappointment and frustration. From the very first day, it seemed that something was constantly going wrong, and the customer service we received was absolutely terrible. Upon arrival, we discovered that one of the two showers in the apartment didn't work properly. Only hot water was available, while the cold water faucet was malfunctioning. The maintenance person who came to address the issue advised us to shower in the hot water, claiming it wasn't boiling. One of the major issues we encountered was with the so-called "fully equipped kitchen." However, none of the kitchen appliances were functional. The stove top failed to heat up, rendering it useless for cooking, and the toaster didn't work at all. It was incredibly frustrating to have a kitchen that was advertised as fully equipped but lacked even the most basic functionality. Even worse, the dishwasher was connected to the sewer through a flexible pipe that was carelessly dropped into the sink sewage system. As a result, the dishwasher leaked and drained wastewater onto the kitchen floor. This not only created an unhygienic environment but also posed a safety hazard. The inclusion of (3) pool and gym vouchers seemed promising, but even this aspect was marred by the hotel's disorganization. When we inquired about the vouchers, we were informed that the manager had already left for the day (at 6 pm), and it took significant effort and argumentation to obtain them. However, upon reaching the pool, we were shocked to learn that children were not allowed after 6 pm, although we were specifically told by the reception that the pool is open until 9pm. This lack of communication and mismanagement of the facilities ruined our evening plans and further highlighted the hotel's incompetence. To top it all off, we requested a one-hour late checkout, asking for a checkout time of 12 pm instead of the standard 11 am. Despite the hotel being virtually empty, our request was inexplicably denied. This inflexibility and unwillingness to accommodate a simple request demonstrated a disregard for guest satisfaction. To top it all off, we requested a one-hour late checkout, asking for a checkout time of 12 pm instead of the standard 11 am. Despite the hotel being virtually empty, our request was inexplicably denied. This inflexibility and unwillingness to accommodate a simple request demonstrated a disregard for guest...