The Lalit London — Hotel in London

Absolutely not worth the 5 star rating this hotel has. Poor service/communication- staff ignore personal requests. No room service. No restaurant. No housekeeping. Staff discard (or steal??) lost and found items. Saving grace is nice decor and comfy beds.

I booked this hotel for two nights for my wedding night, hoping to have a relaxing and beautiful stay. Ahead of our check in we called the hotel to let them know our booking is for our wedding night and maybe they could do something special for us in the room for when we arrive. When we arrived, the room was clean but nothing special had been done for us, despite having checked in after 6pm. It was the first red flag but we brushed it off not wanting to make a fuss.

My husband requested that housekeeping leave a nice surprise for us for when we got back after our wedding. Maybe some towel swans or something. We came back from the wedding, exhausted, only to find that our room had not been serviced AT ALL. All the mess from getting ready earlier in the day was still there.

They couldn’t service the room at the usual time as we were getting ready for the wedding, however we were out of the room for at least 8+ hours from 3pm onwards which would have been plenty of time to fulfil our request or even just clean. We were basically the only guests at the hotel as well and they were quite clearly not busy. They knew our situation. They were aware of our request and AGREED to it but yet again, failed to follow through, which was just incredibly disappointing and frustrating.

After a long day, my husband and I tried to order room service, only to be told there is no room service. We went downstairs hoping to go to the restaurant, only to find out that was also not functioning. We were told to just order takeaway. None of this was not mentioned on their website or during check in. (We did end up ordering takeaway and even that we had to go downstairs to collect ourselves, it would have been a nice gesture of the staff to at least bring it to our room)

Breakfast was very sub par. Akin to something from holiday inn- stale and dry English breakfast buffet. They had none of the food options that were advertised on their website either- no breakfast menu, no Indian breakfast, nothing. At least the decor of the eating area was nice.

Multiple times housekeeping was impossible to reach as no one answered the phone. Even when we managed to get through to request an ironing board, we had to do it twice as they forgot the first time.

Last but not least, amongst all the chaos of packing up to check out, I ended up forgetting my wedding lingerie in the room. I called the hotel the next day and even told them exactly where I had left it (a very obvious and visible place). They passed me on to the lost and found department who told me someone would call me back but no one ever did (common trend with this place it seems.) I called again the following day and was told that nothing had been found and there were new people in the room now. So the hotel staff must have either thrown away my brand new silk and lace lingerie or someone pocketed it for themselves, OR they do such a poor job at cleaning that they do not notice personal clothing hanging up in the bathroom. In either case, it is extremely unprofessional.

In summary, I had high expectations of this place and they managed to spectacularly fail at every turn, failing to meet even basic expectations let alone high ones. I will never stay here again and I would not recommend that anyone else does unless things...

Charged double without authorisation for mostly awful customer service and minimal facilities. I wish I had read the google reviews before booking Lalit London. A lesson learned….

When we arrived Fabrice the receptionist asked me to sign some unreadable forms. He said they were for the room booking and to keep a charge on my card of £300, which I was not really happy about. No copies were given to me, and he was unwelcoming and didn’t tell us the bar was going to be shut shortly and there was no room service. Not great after a long journey.

I related these concerns to the checked suit wearing manager on Saturday morning who was extremely pleasant. He made apologies and thanked me for my input, and sent a delightful man from the security team to help me with the safe which I could not get working.

I also did email about 2 weeks prior to ask if my sons could have separate quilts for the double bed, as my sons are not used to sharing. This did not happen, but they managed, so I did not mention it as I was conscious of a long list building up.

Also, I was extremely disappointed to find that the restaurant was not open for lunch, and neither was the spa available. There was not even a bath in the ensuite, and only 2 tiny milk cartons for the tea and coffee. LaLit London looks splendid, and is in a really special location, but actually that’s all there is, looks and location.

The receptionist on checking out said that the £300 charge on my account would be available for me in 3-5 working days, which I found shocking since I had nothing to pay, and this unavailability of my own money was not made clear to me ever. The charge was in fact for 7 days. I am not comfortable with giving my card number out like this, and my feelings have been justified by the following: On my return home I checked my bank account to find that £873.70 has been removed by LalIt hotel from my account when I had already paid the full amount weeks in advance via paypal. This really lent insult to injury. I phoned the accounts team, emailed the receipt and was phoned to say that the money was indeed taken in error, and would be put back in my account in the next day or two. It was back in my account 8 days later. Unacceptable. A transfer should have been immediate. Harshit the general manager did email to apologise, but has disregarded my numerous emails asking for comments on the other things I mentioned. I also emailed Lalit’s head office in India, and they have also ignored me.

Overall my experience of LaLit London has been awful. I have spent extra time chasing up my own money because of a mistake by the hotel, and just feel I should have booked a different hotel with a restaurant available for lunch and dinner, a spa, room service, a bar, enthusiastic reception staff that don’t overcharge me by £823.70....

I will never ever visit again, and definitely would not recommend it to anyone. They have a few charming staff members (not enough name badges worn), but however charming they are does not make up for the disappointment I have in LaLit London and its lack of facilities and absolutely awful...

I am very conflicted about my stay at the lalit. If I was told this was a 4-star hotel, I would have been very happy. There's a lot to like. But I was told it was a five star hotel, and in the top fraction of a percent in london, and that level of expectation was not met.

First, the plusses. It's a interesting and quirky property. Being a converted school, you'll never think you were in just another business hotel. The room I had was to my taste. Poorly laid out due to the conversion, but these amazing huge windows with a great view of the shard from bed. Small things: free snacks in the room instead of nickel and diming from the "minibar". Wifi wasn't spectacular speed but was solid enough for video conference. One night that I had a unwinding beer at the bar was pleasant ( although no beer on tap ).

Then, a set of minuses. While people in review sites rave about the staff, the front door was usually unmanned, no door opening for you. The heat in the room would not go above 22 degrees, and when I discussed with staff, they blamed my inability to use the equipment ( but did no better themselves ). 22 wasn't cold, but isn't warm either. My colleague tried to host a dinner at the restaurant, but was told there was a technical difficulty and - if I have the story right - they weren't serving dinner ( he should have called ahead, but I wouldn't have expected! ), the phone didn't work when I first came ( easily rectified by staff ). No overnight laundry, laundry bags initially not in the room, and when I turned in laundry in my own bag, they lost the bag ( a fancy compression bag ). And it turns out walls are thin: one morning I could clearly hear the occupant of the next room's conference call and what they were saying, and I wondered what they had been hearing of mine! Finally, the location is only half-good because the nearest tube stop is a full 10 minute walk ( the 9 minutes on google doesn't include the extra distance into the station ), even though the river walk is a few minutes away. Maintenance is a problem: the table with tea and coffee had divots and chips and should have been replaced far earlier.

I think if you go in with the expectation that you're getting a quirky experience in the 4-star quality range, and upgrade your room to the slightly larger ones, you'll have a good stay. 5-star level it is not, your expectations will not be met.

This place is a great antidote to the "standard business hotel" blues, I think I'll try a few other places to find someplace...