The Sumner Hotel — Hotel in London

The Sumner has not retained any of its former glory – although remnants are noticeable. I see it is still billing itself as a 4-star hotel, and I could see why that might have been once-upon-a-time. But not now. It is fading, and fading quickly. It’s a 2-star level place now. Kind of like a cheap Motel 6. The water from the shower came out hot and then cold, but not mixed. And if you showered at the same time as anyone in any other room, it just trickled out. It’s still clean, but not pristine. I mean, adequately clean – I would not criticize it for that alone. My assessment is that they just did not have the funds to weather the pandemic, and that pushed them over the brink. Nothing is updated. The downstairs study/library and entrance are still really nice. But the rest has aged. The pillows were old, thin, flat, and hard. The bedding and beds were fine, but old and not high quality. The temp control in this room was not as nice as other hotels we stayed at – it managed, but lots of swirling air that felt breezy. But here’s where it all fell apart and the main reason for my complaint – no elevators. We were on the 5th floor (58 steps up). Not nice, open, wide stairways. But a narrow, winding staircase with steep steps. It took me 10 minutes every time to get up to the room, and I had to stop twice each time (I'm older, but even in my younger days, that amount of stair-climbing would have been irritating). They have 2 elevators, but neither was operational. And from how the staff talked, it sounded like they are not going to be back in service any time soon. I had the distinct impression they could not afford the semi-annual inspection. I begged for a room on a lower floor, but they said they did not have one. If we had planned to stay any longer, I would have gone somewhere else. You could see the hints of what it once was, but I really think the pandemic brought them to their knees. If I were in the hotel business, this would be a prime opportunity to buy and fix up, because all the potential is still there. But in the meantime….I would not recommend...

A charming hotel with excellent service! From the moment we arrived we were treated with a personal and charming attitude, and there is always someone at the counter who is ready to help us. The rooms are very large and spacious, and it is always warm and cozy. In addition, the rooms and bathroom are very clean and each morning the towels are changed, and the bedding is rearranged. Every morning a friendly hostess asked us which type of bread we wanted our toast, full or white, as far as I was concerned, this upgraded the hospitality experience. The breakfast service in the modest dining room gives a pleasant feeling of a homey and pleasant hotel. The breakfast itself is excellent, with a large selection (two types of eggs, bacon, various salads and 4-5 types of cheese and more). There are 4 different types of milk substitutes and for me it was really a paradise. So the list of advantages: The location is a walking distance from the Underground Station and Hyde Park (although if you come in the winter I would not be planning to go there, really freezing). Excellent breakfast A very kind and generous service desk Clean and spacious rooms In conclusion, in relation to the price we received excellent value. warmly recommended! Hope you have an...

While the accommodations were adequate, the reaction and service exhibited were less than stellar. I booked a room for four nights for our daughters tripe to Europe to celebrate their graduations.

Our daughters came back to the hotel after a day of sight seeing to a room that smelled of smoke. They were told by the front desk personnel that their smoke alarm had gone off and they had to enter their room four times throughout the day to and stop the alarm from going off and open windows to disperse the smoke.

They were unable to explain where the smoke came from. The hotel was at capacity and could not move them to a new room. They were told to sleep with the window open. My daughters are pretty easy going and knew there weren’t a lot of options so they asked for extra blankets (which they never received).

Upon checkout they asked for a rate reduction on the room and were told that management would need to approve it. I contacted management and after two weeks the manager decided a good gesture would be a 10% discount on another stay and a bottle of wine.

Definitely not the “gesture” I would expect from a hotel that holds itself out to be of a better caliber.

I would book at your own risk and hope that you don’t...