The Hoxton, Southwark — Hotel in London

Terrible night reception service. Staying at a hotel should at least come with equal treatment, but the night manager gave off an air of superiority over the guests. Extremely unpleasant communication that ruined our vacation. I checked in at your hotel on the afternoon of the 14th. Initially, I was impressed by the service and design aesthetics. However, my experience took a downturn when I encountered your night reception manager, he told me his name is JC.（sound）

After attending a show with my girlfriend, we returned to the hotel at night and realized we had misplaced our room key. We approached the front desk to request a replacement. One of the staff members, a sturdily built male who resembled a bartender (the other was a female), assisted us. He asked for my passport, but I informed him that it was locked in the room. He chuckled and said he had many questions to “interrogate” me with, as he couldn’t just let anyone claiming to have lost their key into a room. I agreed, and he proceeded to ask about my booking details, email, and phone number. I believe I answered four questions correctly. As he was pondering a fifth question, my girlfriend and I suggested that I could provide other identification, such as my driver’s license. He smile and retorted, “Why didn’t you offer that earlier? It would have saved us both some trouble.” I thought to myself, why didn’t he ask if I had other ID? Who is serving whom here? He seemed more suited for interrogations at a police station than hospitality.

Despite his arrogance, we didn’t want to argue, especially since it was Valentine’s Day. We resolved the issue, obtained the new key, and returned to our room.

Later, I encountered another issue: my phone couldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi. I called the front desk for assistance. The staff member advised me to reopen the login page. When I explained that it wasn’t working, he became impatient and insisted I come down so he could handle my phone himself. Valuing my privacy, and having already been unnecessarily questioned about my phone, email, and bank details earlier, I asked if he could guide me through the process over the phone. He responded, “If you come down, I can help you; if not, there’s nothing I can do.” I was taken aback. Having stayed in numerous hotels worldwide, most strive to assist their guests. It’s rare to encounter such unhelpful staff. I calmly asked for his name, and he proudly declared, “I’m JC, the night manager.” I suspect this JC is the same individual who earlier questioned my service professionalism.

I understand everyone has off days, but guests shouldn’t feel they’re being hassled, especially on special occasions when they’ve chosen your hotel for a memorable experience. It’s disappointing. Although a friend recommended your hotel, after this experience, I doubt I’ll return, as the service doesn’t align with the reputation and...

Worst stay in 45 years of business travel. ||So, I'm, sitting at lunch, away from the hotel, when I get an email to the effect of:||"Just checking to see if you have checked out early, as we have been up to service your room, and we noticed it was empty."||WTF? I respond to the email, asking them to go and double check, as I have not checked out, and still had seven days remaining. No response.||So I leave my lunch, return to the hotel, and approach the front desk, identifying myself, and telling them that I have not been up to the room, and that I wanted to do that in their presence so we both could survey the scene.||I'm told: "Oh, our bad. We just sent you and email saying that our email was sent in error, and that it was a different room that was empty."||After expressing my dismay at their unprofessionalism, I requested to see the Manager. Yep, you guessed it...I was, in fact, talking to the Manager.||Now, this was so wrong on so many levels:||1. Did they double check that it was my room, and that it was, in fact, empty, before sending me an email to that effect? Uh, no.||2. Did they reply to my reply in a timely manner? Uh, no.||3. When they saw my reply, and my obvious distress, did they think (think being the operative word...a skill set which I don't think they applied, mind you) to PHONE me with the outcome of their double checking the room (only done after my having requested it), rather than emailing me? Uh, no (and yes, they did have my phone number on their records).||4. Do they think I will ever stay there again? Uh, hard for me to tell what they think, but to be crystal clear...that answer is no. As they used to say in Texas - "If a dog bites you once, it's the dog's fault. If it bites you a second time, it's your fault."||||The pity is the lack of professionalism displayed colours my views about all other aspects of the service provided by some individuals who might otherwise be worthy of recognition.||||Given the number of higher-rated hotel options in London at that price, do think twice about staying at the Hoxton (if service is one of your...

The Hoxton Southwark is a truly beautiful location with incredibly impressive interiors which are definitely the highlight of the venue. The interior style is generally dark and sophisticated modern aesthetic with elements of nature running through the place. There are trees outside which perfectly frame the windows and copious foliage running throughout also, a stand out example of which is the open stairway which has real Devil’s Ivy spilling out of it into the open space below - a true gem of detail. There are elements of luxury in the velvet seating and the art-deco style light fixtures but also elements of rustic such as in the fabulous farm-style sinks and antique-effect mirrors in the bathroom (great for a selfie 😋)

I got a lovely seat in a comfortable armchair in the mezzanine, the ideal location for me to relax and open up my book.

I ordered Pesto Pasta from their in-house restaurant Albie, which whilst rather standard, was served perfectly al dente and was enjoyable. The ordering was completely seamless due to it being done via a QR code, and payment being taken online, and delivered by a waiter when it was ready - that was a completely fuss-free experience and I enjoyed the seamlessness of it and the fact that I didn’t need to signal to anyone when I wanted the bill, rather I was able to just leave when I felt like it.

I was told it was a work free environment though, so I had to put my laptop away (though I wasn’t doing work 😋) but I had a book which I was able to sit back with and enjoy peacefully to the background of ambient noise.

It is wonderful place with lots of purpose and many floors! The Seabird rooftop is gorgeous and I spoke to one of the guests who had booked a private room for a wedding which looked breathtaking and it was a delight to see the children running back and forth from the room!

Overall it was a mellow, relaxing and lovely experience and it’s the kind of place that you can enjoy on your own or with friends for many...